Cultivated as farmland by some of the earliest families in Nashville, the territory became controlled by the state and used as a park after the American Civil War. In the last decade, it was used as a racetrack. It was redeveloped as the site of the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition in 1897. Afterward most of the temporary exhibit structures were removed, but the replica of the Parthenon remained. Centennial Park was opened in 1903. Due to the popularity of the Parthenon, it was rebuilt in the 1920s in steel and concrete.
History
The 132-acre (0.53km2) park was originally farmland that had belonged to John Cockrill and his wife, Anne Robertson Johnson Cockrill (1757–1821), the sister of General James Robertson.[1] She and her family came from Wake County, North Carolina to Fort Nashborough (now Nashville) in the Donelson Flotilla, led by John Donelson. (His daughter Rachel married Andrew Jackson.)[1] Anne Cockrill was the first woman to be given a land grant in Tennessee.[2] Their son Mark R. Cockrill became known as the "Wool King of the World", as he had a large sheep herd in Nashville. He owned up to 300 slaves prior to the Civil War, with most of them assigned to his Mississippi cotton plantation.[3] Cockrill loaned gold and wool to the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. After the Union Army occupied Tennessee, he was arrested and jailed for his Confederate support.[3]
Some of the land was part of the Burlington plantation established by Joseph T. Elliston, who served as the fourth mayor of Nashville from 1814 to 1817. It was later owned by his son, William R. Elliston, a Whig politician.[4] The Ellistons were slaveholders,[5] and their plantation extended into what are now part of the campus of Vanderbilt University and West End Park.[4] Their mansion, on modern-day Elliston Place, was torn down in the 1930s.[6]
Lake Watauga is a small artificial lake in Centennial Park.
After the Civil War, this land was adapted for the state fairgrounds. From 1884 to 1895, more of the site was devoted to a racetrack and was known as West Side Park. In 1897, it was developed as the site of the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition and was renamed as Centennial Park. In preparation for the exposition, the area was landscaped and new, temporary buildings were constructed for exhibit space. An artificial lake, Lake Watauga, was developed in the park, as were sunken gardens and a bandshell for music performances. The lake was named for an area in western North Carolina that was the origin of a number of early settlers of Nashville.
A replica of the Parthenon was also built, to honor Nashville's status as "The Athens of the South", and was intended to be longterm. It was designed by William Crawford Smith.[7][8]
As was common with such expositions, afterward most of the temporary buildings and exhibits were dismantled. Lake Watauga, the gardens, bandshell and the Parthenon were the most prominent features when the park was officially dedicated in May 1903.[8] Consistent with Jim Crow laws, African Americans were prohibited from using Centennial Park, as they had been excluded from its previous manifestations as parks.
Centennial Park became an important recreation site for whites of Nashville. As African-American activism increased for renewed civil rights, the park became a site of conflicts. On July 18, 1961, six African Americans were turned away when they tried to use the public swimming pool in the park, which, was, of course, supported by their tax dollars.[10][11] The next day, all Nashville public pools were closed under the pretext of "financial reasons".[12] It was not until after passage in 1964 of a national civil rights law ending discrimination that African Americans were allowed to use the park. In 1972, the pool was redeveloped as an arts center.[13]
Steam engine 576, which has since moved out of the parkF-86L Sabre Jet
The Parthenon replica had been built as a temporary building to house the Nashville pavilion. As it deteriorated, it was proposed for demolition but residents favored keeping it. Finally, in the 1920s the city and park officials agreed to replace the temporary plaster building with a permanent, concrete and steel structure. It is still standing and has been renovated as needed.
From 1954 to 1967, the Parthenon was the backdrop for an enormous nativity scene sponsored by Harveys department store. (This has since gone out of business.) The scene was approximately 280 feet (85m) long, 75 feet (23m) deep and was flooded with colorful lights. However, by 1968, it was sold to a Cincinnati shopping center. According to the Nashville Banner, the nativity scene was shown only two Christmas seasons in Cincinnati before it collapsed and was discarded.[citation needed]
In the 1960s, the park was the site of Sunday afternoon concerts; Pat Boone was among the early performers in this series.[14] In 1975, Robert Altman shot the climactic scene of his film Nashville in the park.
In 1990, a statue of Pallas Athena, designed by Nashville sculptorAlan LeQuire, was added to the art gallery inside the Parthenon. It is dedicated to the women's suffrage movement.[15]
By the late 20th century, the park had many mature shade trees. The 1998 Nashville tornado outbreak damaged or destroyed most of them, a loss that would take generations to replace. A Vanderbilt ROTC cadet died in the park during the storm; he was the only fatality.[16]
On November 11, 2005, Centennial Park became Nashville's first wireless internet park by offering free Wi-Fi internet access to park patrons.[17] The park's bandshell was the site of the annual "Shakespeare in the Park" presented by the Nashville Shakespeare Festival for thirty years until its move to Nashville's oneC1TY in 2019.[citation needed]
In 2012, workers found the source of the spring that was a major feature during Anne Robertson Johnson Cockrill's ownership of the land. For 100 years, it had been capped and piped to the sewer, with a flow of more than 100 gallons of water per minute.[18] What is now called Cockrill Springs is a new natural feature of the park.[19]
The park also contains a recreation center. It is also the site of the administrative offices of the city's Department of Parks and Recreation, but these area being relocated to the East Bank of the Cumberland River and the offices of the former Nashville Bridge Company.[citation needed]
Popular culture
American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift mentioned Centennial Park twice in her song "Invisible String" from her eighth studio album Folklore. Swift lived in Nashville during the beginning of her music career.[22] When she returned in 2023 for The Eras Tour, a bench was put in the park to honor her time in the city.
David Allen Coe also mentions Centennial Park in his song "Whips and Things."
Related Research Articles
The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition was an exposition held in Nashville from May 1 – October 31, 1897 in what is now Centennial Park. A year late, it celebrated the 100th anniversary of Tennessee's entry into the union in 1796. President William McKinley officially opened the event from the White House, where he pressed a button that started the machinery building at the fair; he would visit in person a month later.
Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital and largest city, Nashville, as well as Clarksville, the state's fifth largest city, and Murfreesboro, the state's sixth largest city and largest suburb of Nashville. The Nashville metropolitan area, located entirely within the region, is the most populous metropolitan area in the state, and the Clarksville metropolitan area is the state's sixth most populous. Middle Tennessee is both the largest, in terms of land area, and the most populous of the state's three Grand Divisions.
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The Parthenon in Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee, United States, is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. It was designed by architect William Crawford Smith and built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.
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Mark Robertson Cockrill (1788-1872) was an American cattleman, horse breeder and planter. He was the owner of a large farm in Davidson County, Tennessee and a cotton plantation with 300 slaves in Mississippi. He won many prizes for his sheep-rearing both nationally and internationally, and he became known as the "Wool King of the World". He was a multi-millionaire prior to the American Civil War, and he loaned gold to the Confederate States of America during the war.
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Burlington, also known as the Elliston-Farrell House, was a historic mansion on a plantation in mid-town Nashville, Tennessee, US. It stood on modern-day Elliston Place.
Joseph Thorpe Elliston was an American silversmith, planter and politician. He served as the fourth mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, from 1814 to 1817. He owned land in mid-town Nashville, on parts of modern-day Centennial Park, Vanderbilt University, and adjacent West End Park.
William R. Elliston (1815–1870) was an American planter, slaveholder and politician. He served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847. He owned Burlington Plantation in what is now Nashville, Tennessee. An investor in railroads and real estate, Elliston entered his horses in equestrian competitions. The former plantation property was later developed as modern-day Centennial Park, Vanderbilt University and West End Park.
Major John Cockrill was an American settler. A veteran of the American Revolutionary War, he was one of 13 explorers to modern-day Nashville, Tennessee in 1779, and he received a land grant in modern-day Centennial Park in 1784 Cockrill Springs named for him.
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1 2 Zollicoffer Bond, Octavia (November 28, 1909). "The Cockrill Family". The Tennessean. p.34. Retrieved April 15, 2018– via Newspapers.com. In anticipation of the ruin to Southern interests that his keen vision foresaw, he sold his large Mississippi plantation, to which he was in the habit of going every winter [...]. He also sold the 300 slaves on the plantation with the exception of about sixty selected "hands", whom he brought to Tennessee to watch and care for his sheep.
1 2 Coleman, Christopher K. (Fall 1990). "From Monument to Museum: The Role of the Parthenon in the Culture of the New South". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 49 (3): 140. JSTOR42626877. In May of 1903, Centennial Park was officially opened to the public.
↑ "Negroes Seek Admittance To Swimming Pools". The Kingsport Times. Kingsport, Tennessee. July 19, 1961. p.6. Retrieved April 22, 2017– via Newspapers.com. Jack Spore, city recreation director, said attendants at Centennial Park Pool refused to sell the Negroes tickets and the group left quietly.
↑ "Public Pressure Expected To Open Swimming Pools". The Kingsport Times. Kingsport, Tennessee. July 21, 1961. p.10. Retrieved April 22, 2017– via Newspapers.com. On Tuesday, six negroes were denied admission to a Centennial Park pool reserved for white persons.
↑ Houston, Benjamin (2012). The Nashville Way: Racial Etiquette and the Struggle for Social Justice in a Southern City. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. p.127. ISBN9780820343266. OCLC940632744.
↑ Evans, Jim (July 16, 1964). "'Music City' Tour Set Up". The Kingsport Times. Kingsport, Tennessee. p.11. Retrieved April 22, 2017– via Newspapers.com. The folks are shown where Pat Boone attended school and told how Pat got his start with the Sunday concerts in Centennial Park.
↑ Bliss, Jessica (August 24, 2016). "Alan LeQuire's Women Suffrage Monument unveiled in Nashville's Centennial Park". The Tennessean. Retrieved April 22, 2017. LeQuire has created numerous public commissions in his 35-year career. At age 26, he began Athena Parthenos, the looming sculpture inside the Parthenon at Centennial Park. It took eight years to complete and was unveiled in 1990.
Johnson, Leland R. (1986). The Parks of Nashville: A History of the Board of Parks and Recreation. Nashville: Metropolitan Nashville Board of Parks and Recreation.
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