On February 17, 1925, the Board of Park Commissioners, City of Huntington, first began to operate under a special act of the Legislature passed January 26.  The six park board members, appointed by the Governor, were Mike Broh, John W. Chaffee, John Ensign, Boyd Jerrell, G.A. Northcott, and C. W. Campbell.  The meeting was called by Mayor Floyd S. Chapman in the Commissioners Room at Huntington City Hall.  Shortly thereafter, the City of Huntington conveyed all park and boulevard assets to the Park Board.  From that time on, the Park Board, as the agency has normally been referred to, has functioned as an independent, political and public body.

Until July 1, 1983, the Park Board operated under the name of Board of Park Commissioners, City of Huntington.  At that time it was expanded by the West Virginia Legislature to include all of Cabell County and the Westmoreland Magisterial District of Wayne County.  The elected commission was expanded from six to eleven unpaid persons.  Today, while each commissioner is elected at large, only two may sit on the commission from each of Cabell County's five Magisterial Districts.  One Commissioner is elected from the Wayne County Magisterial District.

The Park District is comprised of thousands of acres of parks, greenways, and cemeteries, the most prominent being; Ritter, Rotary, St. Clouds Commons, Camp Mad Anthony Wayne, Spring Hill Cemetery, and the boulevard landscapes along Four Pole Creek.  Neighborhood parks such as; April Dawn in Milton, Altizer, McClelland, Harveytown, and Westmoreland have in recent years become important and popular parts of the system.  The District also owns Heritage Village, the Madie Carroll House, and the Veterans Memorial Field House.  Its four cemeteries include Guyandotte, Highland, Pat's Branch and Spring Hill.  In addition, it leases the Guyandotte Boat Lunching Ramp Park from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and David W. Harris Park from the City of Huntington.

Since the early leadership of its Commissioners, especially Colonel George Wallace, and the dedication for exceptional landscape design begun by landscape architect Gus Wofford, the Park Board has become know throughout the region and state for its beautiful, functional spaces.