Overton Park
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Overton Park Historic District
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Overton Park Billboard
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| Location | Memphis, Tennessee (Midtown) |
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| Coordinates | 35°8′46.87″N 89°59′21.22″W / 35.1463528°N 89.9892278°WCoordinates: 35°8′46.87″N 89°59′21.22″W / 35.1463528°N 89.9892278°W |
| Area | 342 acres (138 ha) |
| Architect | George E. Kessler |
| NRHP Reference # | 79002475 |
| Added to NRHP | October 25, 1979 |
Overton Park is a large, 342-acre (138 ha) public park in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee. The park grounds contain the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis Zoo, a 9-hole golf course, Memphis College of Art, Rainbow Lake, Veterans Plaza, Greensward, and other features. 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.
The property, once known locally as Lea’s Woods, was purchased by Memphis on November 14, 1901 for $110,000; it was located along the city's eastern boundary at that time. Overton Park was designed by landscape architect George Kessler as part of a comprehensive plan that also included M.L. King Riverside Park and the Memphis Parkway System. The planning began in 1901, and Overton Park was established in 1906. The park is named for John Overton, a co-founder of Memphis. Overton’s name was selected in a competition to name the new park conducted by the Evening Scimitar, a local newspaper; the three choices in the voting were Memphis founding fathers Andrew Jackson, Overton, and James Winchester. The official naming occurred on July 25, 1902.
In the 1960s and 1970s Overton Park was the subject of controversy when 26 of its 342 acres (138 ha) were slated by highway planners to be demolished to build Interstate Highway 40 through the park to make it easier for suburban commuters to get to downtown. However, a small number of residents of midtown formed a group known as Citizens to Preserve Overton Park and challenged the plan in court. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court ruled in their favor in the landmark case Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe.
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