11 Facts About Overton Park

Overton Park is a large, 342-acre public park in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee.

The Old Forest Arboretum of Overton Park, one of the few remaining old growth forests in Tennessee, is a natural arboretum with labeled trees along trails.

Overton Park was designed by landscape architect George Kessler as part of a comprehensive plan that included Riverside Park and the Memphis Parkway System.

Nevertheless, the City of Memphis and Tennessee Department of Transportation continued to propose a number of alternatives for routing Interstate 40 through Overton Park, including building the highway in a tunnel, or in a deep trench.

In 1978, Citizens to Preserve Overton Park successfully nominated the park to the National Register of Historic Places, thus guaranteeing that without approval from the U S Department of the Interior, Federal funding could not be used for projects that damaged the park's historic integrity.

Related searches

Overton Park was selected for inclusion in the 2009 Landslide Program sponsored by The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Overton Park Zoo began in 1906, when a resident of Memphis couldn't keep his pet black bear in his backyard.

Overton Park had it put in a pen in the park, which attracted many people, inspiring the idea to place more animals on display.

Citizens to Preserve Overton Park opposes the proposed plan on the grounds that it would irreparably damage the park's value to the residents of Memphis, Tennessee.

The first playground in Overton Park was built in 1911; it was the first publicly accessible playground in Memphis.

George Kessler, who designed Overton Park, designed the Japanese Garden, which included pagodas, an arched bridge to a central island, and many decorative sculptures.