Old Forest Arboretum of Overton Park

Last updated

Old Forest Arboretum of Overton Park
USA Tennessee location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationMemphis, Tennessee
Coordinates 35°8′48″N89°59′21″W / 35.14667°N 89.98917°W / 35.14667; -89.98917
Built1900
ArchitectKessler, George E.
Part of Overton Park Historic District (ID79002475 [1] )
Added to NRHPOctober 25, 1979

The Old Forest Arboretum of Overton Park (172 acres) is a forest tract and natural arboretum located in Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee. It is open to the public daily without charge. The forest was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 as part of the Overton Park Historic District. [2] Tree identification began in 1997, with some 70 tree species identified by 2002 when it was certified as an arboretum. Today the arboretum contains walking trails with 49 tree markers identifying 32 species. Approximately three-fourths of the Arboretum was designated as the Old Forest State Natural Area in 2011.

Contents

History

Conservation of the Old Forest began in 1901, when Overton Park was created when the 342 acres (1.38 km2) Lea Woods was purchased by the City of Memphis. 172 acres (0.70 km2) of its original climax oak-hickory cover was preserved as the Old Forest.

In 1912, the area was described as follows:

More than thirty kinds of native timber are found there. Rare wild plants, vines, grasses and flowers spring up in bewildering luxuriance and infinite variety to attract the scientist and lover of nature and where children can roam next to Mother Earth and her own immediate handiwork as in the days of our first parents. [3]

Plant taxonomist Dr. Tom Heineke was hired by Memphis to inventory the Old Forest during 2008 and 2009. [4] Large trees measured for possible inclusion as Tennessee Champion Trees included a 27-inch-diameter (690 mm) (DBH) black cherry, a 46-inch southern red oak, a 62-inch shumard oak, and 9-inch pawpaw. A total of 332 flowering plant species were recorded in 85 families; three-quarters of the species were native. [5] Heineke's management recommendation was removal of evergreen exotic species, such as Chinese privet and Japanese honeysuckle, which are severely competing with native vegetation.

The Old Forest Trail Overton Park Old Forest Trail Memphis TN 1.jpg
The Old Forest Trail

Tennessee State Natural Area status

On June 8, 2011, Governor Bill Haslam signed the Old Forest State Natural Area bill into law, designating 126 of the Arboretum's 172 acres as Tennessee's 82nd State Natural Area. [6] The Natural Areas Program is run by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, while the natural areas themselves are often not TDEC property and are generally managed through cooperative agreements with other agencies and organizations. [7] The bill creating the State Natural Area originally designated 142 acres for protection. To ease opposition from Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and Memphis Zoo officials, 14 acres of forest adjacent to the zoo were removed from the protective area. [8]

Environmental threats

During the development of Interstate 40 through Memphis in the 1960s, 26 acres of the Old Forest were slated to be destroyed to make way for the new highway, which would have also severed the Memphis Zoo from the rest of Overton Park. A grassroots organization, the Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, rallied to protect the forest. In Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe the U.S. Supreme Court finally saved the Old Forest from highway construction plans in 1971. In 1987, the Tennessee Department of Transportation deeded the 26-acre corridor back to the City of Memphis.

In 2008, the Memphis Zoo clear-cut 4 acres (16,000 m2) to make way for a new exhibit, Teton Trek. The destruction sparked the revival of CPOP to prevent further expansion of the zoo into the Old Forest.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arboretum</span> Botanical collection composed exclusively of trees

An arboretum is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arboreta are in botanical gardens as living collections of woody plants and is intended at least in part for scientific study.

<i>Quercus garryana</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus garryana is an oak tree species of the Pacific Northwest, with a range stretching from southern California to southwestern British Columbia. It is commonly known as the Oregon white oak or Oregon oak or, in Canada, the Garry oak. It grows from sea level to an altitude of 690 feet in the northern part of its range, and from 980 to 5,900 ft in the south of the range in California. The eponymous Nicholas Garry was deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallgrass prairie</span> Ecosystem native to central North America

The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroachment of trees, recycling soil nutrients, and facilitating seed dispersal and germination. Prior to widespread use of the steel plow, which enabled large scale conversion to agricultural land use, tallgrass prairies extended throughout the American Midwest and smaller portions of southern central Canada, from the transitional ecotones out of eastern North American forests, west to a climatic threshold based on precipitation and soils, to the southern reaches of the Flint Hills in Oklahoma, to a transition into forest in Manitoba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis Zoo</span> Zoo in Memphis, USA

The Memphis Zoo, located in Midtown, Memphis, Tennessee, United States, is home to more than 3,500 animals representing over 500 different species. Created in April 1906, the zoo has been a major tenant of Overton Park for more than 100 years. The land currently designated to the Memphis Zoo was defined by the Overton Park master plan in 1888, it is owned by the City of Memphis. The zoo is set on 76 acres (31 ha), of which approximately 55 acres (22 ha) are developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald E. Davis Arboretum</span> Public garden in Alabama, U.S.

The Donald E. Davis Arboretum, in Auburn, Alabama, United States, is a public native plants museum, and botanical arboretum with educational facilities, event spaces, and a conservation program. Its grounds, covering 13.5 acres of Auburn University's campus, include cataloged living collections of associated tree and plant communities representative of Alabama's ecosystems, among which is mixed oak forest, carnivorous bog, and longleaf pine savanna. The living collections include more than 1,000 plant types, including 500 different plant species, with over 3,000 cataloged specimens. The Arboretum contains over a mile (2 km) of interwoven walking trails that meander through various southeastern biotopes.

The Hayes Arboretum is an arboretum of 330 acres (130 ha) located in Richmond, Indiana, United States. It is open free to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. It is the primary project of the Stanley W. Hayes Research Foundation, a private operating foundation. The Foundation owns a total of 466 acres (189 ha) of property in Wayne County, IN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Gardens, Memphis</span>

Central Gardens is a historic Memphis neighborhood in Midtown. It has been named one of North America's best "Old House Neighborhoods."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Park (Portland, Oregon)</span> Public urban park in Portland, Oregon

Washington Park is a public urban park in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It includes a zoo, forestry museum, arboretum, rose garden, Japanese garden, amphitheatre, memorials, archery range, tennis courts, soccer field, picnic areas, playgrounds, public art and many acres of wild forest with miles of trails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morton Arboretum</span> Public garden in Illinois, U.S.

The Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, Illinois, United States, is a public garden, and outdoor museum with a library, herbarium, and program in tree research including the Center for Tree Science. Its grounds, covering 1,700 acres, include cataloged collections of trees and other living plants, gardens, and restored areas, among which is a restored tallgrass prairie. The living collections include more than 4,100 different plant species. There are more than 200,000 cataloged plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural burial</span> Method of burial

Natural burial is the interment of the body of a dead person in the soil in a manner that does not inhibit decomposition but allows the body to be naturally recycled. It is an alternative to typical contemporary Western burial methods and modern funerary customs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum</span> National Historic Landmark

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum is a teaching and research facility of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the site of historic research in ecological restoration. In addition to its 1,260 acres (5 km2) in Madison, Wisconsin, the Arboretum also manages 520 acres (210 ha) of remnant forests and prairies throughout Wisconsin. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2021, in recognition for its role as a pioneer in the field of ecological restoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornell Botanic Gardens</span> Botanical garden

The Cornell Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden located adjacent to the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. The Botanic Gardens proper consist of 25 acres (10 ha) of botanical gardens and 150 acres (61 ha) of the F. R. Newman Arboretum. The greater Botanic Gardens includes 40 different nature areas around Cornell and Ithaca, covering 4,300 acres (1,700 ha).

Beall Woods State Park is an Illinois state park on 635 acres (257 ha) bordering the Wabash River and Keensburg in Wabash County, Illinois in the United States. 329 acres (133 ha) of the state park is an old-growth forest designated as a Natural Area by the state of Illinois. The trees within the forest consist overwhelmingly of hardwoods of the former Eastern Woodlands ecosystem. Portions of Beall Woods State Park have been designated a National Natural Landmark as the Forest of the Wabash. The state park was created in 1966. The nearest towns with any sizable commercial infrastructure, including hotels and grocery stores, are Grayville and Mount Carmel. The park does host a small primitive campground and maintains a visitor center which opened in April 2001. The park maintains 6+14 miles (10.1 km) of hiking trails, primarily through the Forest of the Wabash portion of the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overton Park</span> United States historic place

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, the Memphis College of Art, Rainbow Lake, Veterans Plaza, the 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.

Clark State Forest, located just north of Henryville, Indiana in the United States, is Indiana's oldest state forest, formed in 1903 as a forest research facility and a nursery and later expanded by the Works Progress Administration. Originally 2,028 acres (8 km²) of total land area, it is now almost 24,000 acres (100 km2) and is bisected by Interstate 65. It features three trails used exclusively for hikers trails: two internal trails, and the 59-mile (95 km) Knobstone Trail. There are nine horse trails, and five miles (8 km) of mountain bike trails. Two nature preserves are also situated within the forest. The forest also contains a 100-yard (91 m) outdoor gun range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Standing Stone State Park</span> State Park in Overton County, Tennessee, United States of America

Standing Stone State Park is a state park in Overton County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park consists of 855 acres (3.46 km2) along the shoreline of the man-made 69-acre (0.28 km2) Standing Stone Lake. The 11,000-acre (45 km2) Standing Stone State Forest surrounds the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoar Valley</span>

Zoar Valley is an area of deep gorges along the Main and South branches of Cattaraugus Creek in western New York, United States. The valley is located along the border of Erie County and Cattaraugus County, roughly between the villages of Gowanda to the west and Springville to the east.

Citizens to Preserve Overton Park (CPOP) was a 501(c)(4) nonprofit advocacy group founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957. CPOP is best known for its success at preventing the extension of Interstate 40 through Overton Park adjacent to the Memphis Zoo, through the landmark 1971 Supreme Court case Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe. The nonprofit status was revoked by the IRS on 15th of May 2010 and posted 09 June 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve</span>

Hoosier Prairie is a unit of Indiana Dunes National Park in Lake County, Indiana. It began in the 1970s as wasteland that conservation organization found of a unique interest. From a core of 304 acres (123 ha), it has grown to 1,547 acres (626 ha) of important prairie habitat. The area was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974 and a State Nature Preserve in 1977 The sandy soil creates a variety of habitats, from oak barrens, wet prairie, including sedge meadows and prairie marshes. More than 350 native species of vascular plants have been identified. A minimum of 43 species are uncommon in the State of Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham's Woods</span> Forest in Wisconsin, United States

Abraham's Woods is a 40-acre (16 ha) forest in Green County, Wisconsin owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was designated a Wisconsin State Natural Area in 1961 and a National Natural Landmark in 1973.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "The Hidden Gem of West Tennessee (Found in Memphis' Overton Park)". May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  3. Judge J.P. Young (editor). 1912. Standard History of Memphis, Tennessee. Knoxville, TN: H.N. Crew and Company.
  4. Linda Moore. Foliage on file: Overton Park plants catalogued for future. The Commercial Appeal. October 19, 2009.
  5. Heineke, Thomas E. 2009. Floristic Study of the Overton Park Forest, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee
  6. Memphis Flyer: Haslam Signs "Old Forest" Bill
  7. "Official website, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Resource Management Division". Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  8. "Legislature Protects Overton Park Forest", 'The Commercial Appeal', May 21, 2011; accessed August 9, 2011.

See also