The small zoo, which was built in the mid 1930’s, was located on the park's west side of Dalrymple Drive, and to the south of the railroad overpass. The zoo was home to two black bears, one of which was donated to Catholic High School, as well as LSU’s original cage for Mike the Tiger. Other animals included deer, foxes, rabbits, pheasants, and an alligator that was caught in the nearby lakes. The zoo had a caretaker who lived in a house on the City Park property. In 1949, the animals were removed from the zoo and most of the zoo's structures were torn down.

Bartholomew Murphy, an Irish immigrant, brought City Park's popular carousel to Baton Rouge. Murphy, a wood carver by trade, was employed by the famed Charles Looff carousel factory on Long Island. At the turn of the 19th century Murphy and his Looff flying horses came to Louisiana, first to Spanish Fort in New Orleans and later in 1927 to City Park in Baton Rouge. Complete with a brass organ played with air pressure and controlled by cardboard sheet music, the City Park Carousel was big. There were 54 hand-crafted horses and three chariots for mothers to sit with their children. Half of the horses were jumpers; the remainder were stationary. Those who rode on the outside horses got a chance to grab for the brass ring...and if caught, a free ride. Tickets were a nickel for children and a dime for adults. Each year in the fall when school started, the horses were stored in the loft above the Murphy's living quarters. The Carousel House, a large pagoda style building, was converted to a skating rink. In 1943 the predecessor to BREC took over the building and used it for a clubhouse until the mid 1950s when it was torn down and replaced by a brick gymnasium. However, Bartholomew Murphy's and Charles Looff's famed flying horses survived to ride another day at Pontchartrain Beach in New Orleans and then at New Orleans City Park.

This pavilion was a spot for many family and group picnics and Brownie and Cub Scout outings. The Picnic Hill Pavilion provided a place where one could get out of the sun and enjoy an oasis of shade in which to cool off. Picnic Hill itself offered a great place for children to run up and down, play chase, or to use the swings and slides. There was no interstate overpass at that time, so the area of City Park known as Picnic Hill had an unbroken vista to the south.

From 1930 to 1964, City Park contained a 20,000 square foot, lagoon shaped swimming pool located behind the Art Gallery that served as the pool's bath house at the time. The pool's gently sloped edges allowed swimmers to walk into the pool like a natural beach. The pool was quite a sight on many summer days as it was filled with scores of young people cooling off from the Louisiana heat. The pool was also the site to many pageants, contests, and summer events. After several deaths due to drowning, as well as overcrowding, and other safety concerns, the pool was closed in 1964. The painful challenges that racial issues presented at this turbulent time in American history also contributed to its ultimate closure.

Betty Claiborne was arrested while attempting to integrate the City Park pool on July 23, 1963. She was a 20-year-old college student at the time and was convicted of simple battery, spending 10 days in jail in connection with the arrest. She was stopped by police and a lifeguard in the pool's bathhouse with her sister, Pearl George, and three others. Ms. Claiborne was granted a pardon for the 1963 conviction in 2005. "...I thought that it would speak to the way Louisiana has changed, and it also speaks to certain injustices of the past" - Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, commenting on the pardon of Betty Claiborne.

Golf came to America in 1890 and by 1930 American golf, golfers and golf courses grew from virtual non-existence to a position of international preeminence. A Scottish golf course designer, Tom Bendelow, brought his expertise to America in 1894. With his knowledge and pioneering spirit, the game of golf was carried to 30 states across the country. It is said more Americans learned to play golf on Bendelow-designed courses than those of any other golf course architect. Designed in 1926 by Tom Bendelow, City Park golf course is the oldest public course in Baton Rouge and among the oldest in the country. The BREC course is on the National Register of Historic Places.