Shelby Farms

19th century

In 1825, Frances Wright's Nashoba Experiment was formed on 670 acres of modern-day Shelby Farms Park north of Wolf River with the remainder in today's Germantown, Tennessee, south of Wolf River. On 1,940 acres (790 ha) of woodland, humanist reformer Frances Wright, an opponent of slavery, founded a multi-racial commune of slaves, free blacks and whites to prepare slaves and former slaves for their future freedom. Wright believed in the emancipation of slaves by providing education for them in practical and cultural skills.^[1]

Remains of an early settlement from the late 19th century can be found at the eastern tip of Shelby Farms Park, consisting of ruins of a residential building, a disintegrated barn, car wrecks dating from the 1950s and 1960s, old fences and a family burial site.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, the family burial site of the Mann family exists with just one grave marker remaining. The last two documented deaths, as indicated on that remaining gravestone, date back to November 25, 1891, for Robert W. Mann and December 5, 1891, for Mary S. Mann. Five or more graves are marked only by their base stones.^[2]

Shelby County acquired 1,600 acres (650 ha) of land in 1928 for use as a penal farm.^[1] The remaining formerly private property of 2,900 acres (1,200 ha) was incorporated into the Penal Farm between then and December 1940, when the Shelby County Commission authorized the purchase of the final 1,383 acres (560 ha), bringing the total to 4,450 acres (1,800 ha).^[3]

20th century

From 1929 until 1964, Shelby Farms was used as a penal farm, in which the prisoners of the Shelby County Corrections Center were involved in agricultural labor to provide food for inmates and staff, or to sell overproduction for profit on behalf of the state of Tennessee.^[4]

In 1966, the county planning commission proposed developing the former penal farm into a planned community.^[5] In 1967, the city and county officials listened to nine proposals from companies on various uses for the land.^[6] In 1970, the county created the nine-member Shelby Farms Development Board to oversee the project.^[6] On February 14, 1973, the Development Board approved a joint proposal by The Rouse Company, Boyle Investment Co, and First Tennessee National.^[6] On January 29, 1974, the group formally withdrew their proposal due to growing opposition from members of the Shelby County Court, who would need to approve the development. However, the court supported reserving the land for public use.^[5] In 1977, Plough Park, named in honor of local philanthropist Abe Plough, opened in the northeast portion of Shelby Farms. It included two fishing lakes, a horse stable, and picnic areas.^[7]

21st century

The Shelby Farms Park Alliance (SFPA) was granted a conservation easement by the Shelby County Commission in December 2006. The easement restricts commercial and residential development in the park area for 50 years.^[8][9]

In 2007, an agreement was signed between the Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton and the SFPA, forming the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy (SFPC), a public and private non-profit partnership established by Shelby County government to help provide day-to-day operations of the park and to develop a planning process for the future of Shelby Farms Park.^[10][11]

A master plan was put in place in 2008 to direct a major re-design of the park. This came to fruition in 2016, when Shelby Farms opened a $52 million expansion that included an enlargement of Patriot Lake (renamed Hyde Lake), the addition of new walking and biking trails, the construction of a new visitors center, and the planting of more than 1 million new trees across the park. In the year after Heart of the Park opened, park staff estimated that visitation to Shelby Farms had more than doubled.^[12] James Corner Field Operations (JCFO) located in New York won the SFPC's competition for the park's master plan. JCFO also partnered with Marlon Blackwell Architects (MBA) to design half-dozen new buildings.^[13]

Greenline

The Shelby Farms Greenline is a 12.49-mile (20.10 km) multi-use urban rail trail running from Shelby Farms to Tillman Street in the Binghampton neighborhood, near Midtown, Memphis.^[23] The trail was constructed over a closed CSX railway line. Shelby Farms Greenline is managed and operated by Shelby Farms Park Conservancy. The Greenline is the longest continuous urban trail in Shelby County.^[24] It is also the first trail in Tennessee to use a pedestrian hybrid beacon at two major crossings: Highland and Graham.^{[citation needed]}

SFPC purchased the initial section of property for the Greenline from CSX in 2008.^[25] The section opened in October 2010.^[26] Construction on a $4.3 million extension to Cordova began in August 2015, with the section opening in June 2016.^[24] The trail was extended east again in October 2025, bringing the total length to 12.49 miles (20.10 km).^[27] There are plans to extend the Greenline west to Tobey Park, but construction has not begun yet as of 2024^[update].^[28]