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by Leland R. Johnson (Author)
A history of Nashville's parks system from its inception at the 1897 Centennial Exposition through its official founding in 1901 and its rapid expansion throughout the twentieth century into the 1980s. Union Station had opened with fanfare the previous year. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, starring sharp-shooter Annie Oakley, came to town. The Nashville Railway boasted twenty new electrically heated streetcars. Andrew Carnegie offered Nashville $100,000 for a public library, and the city rushed to accept. It was 1901, and Nashville had entered the twentieth century with energy and optimism. That year also marked the birth of Nashville's public park system. It was a modest beginning, not front-page news. The newly appointed Park Board could lay claim to one park, one mule, a few seasonal employees, and no money for land purchase. But the same strong leadership and farsighted vision shown in the grander happenings of the time were present in that beginning. From the outset, the Board recognized the importance of recreation and natural areas to the city's development and, for a comprehensive system, charting a direction still being followed. Visionary as they were, they could not have foreseen the growth of the park system to include seventy parks and nearly 7,000 acres. They certainly could not have predicted the range of recreational and cultural experiences offered by the present Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation-from golf, softball, polo, and soccer to wildflower hikes, concerts, ballet, and Greek drama. A recent public opinion poll asked Nashvillians what we like best about our city. In our top five choices, we consistently listed our parks. That's a strong endorsement of the work of the many people who shaped- and continue to shape-the park system of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. This is their story.
