T. O. Fuller State Park – Memphis TN

Description

“T.O. Fuller State Park is a state park in the city of Memphis in West Tennessee. It consists of 1,138 acres (4.6 km²) of mostly forest located in South Memphis on Mitchell Road. It is the only state park within the city limits and is one of the few locations within the city suitable for wildlife.

The park is named in honor of Dr. Thomas O. Fuller, who spent his life empowering and educating African Americans.^[4] The park facilities were originally built for the use of African Americans in the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was the second state park in the nation that was open to African Americans.^[5]

Civilian Conservation Corps camp number 1464-SP-10, which was composed of African Americans, initiated construction of the park facilities in 1938. During excavation for a proposed swimming pool in 1940, CCC workers unearthed evidence of a prehistoric village. The site has since been developed as Chucalissa Indian Village, and includes a village, preserved archeological excavations, and the C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa.^[6]“