(a) A municipality or county may improve land for park purposes and may operate and maintain parks. The authority to improve the land includes the authority to construct buildings, lay out and pave driveways and walks, construct ditches or lakes, and set out trees and shrubs.
(b) A municipality or county may by gift, devise, purchase, or eminent domain proceeding acquire:
(1) land and buildings to be used for public parks, playgrounds, or historical museums; or
(2) land on which are located:
(A) historic buildings, sites, or landmarks of statewide historical significance associated with historic events or personalities;
(B) prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, or archaeological or vertebrate paleontological sites; or
(C) sites including fossilized footprints, inscriptions made by human agency, or any other archaeological, paleontological, or historic buildings, markers, monuments, or historical features.

Terms Used In Texas Local Government Code 331.001

  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Municipality: means a general-law municipality, home-rule municipality, or special-law municipality. See Texas Local Government Code 1.005

(c) Land acquired by a municipality under Subsection (b) may be situated inside or outside the municipality but must be within the county in which the municipality is situated, and land acquired by a county under Subsection (b) must be within the limits of the county. The land may be acquired in any size tract considered suitable by the governing body of the municipality or county.