THE FATHER OF NASHVILLE'S CITY PARKS

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  Major Eugene Castner Lewis was born in Clarksville Tennessee in 1845 and he died in 1917. He became an industrial engineer for the Nashville, Chattanooga, & St. Louis Railroad. In 1895 he was tasked to design a worlds fair in what is now Centennial Park in Nashville. Until that time it was a horse racing track. The fair was supposed to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the state of Tennessee which was 1896. It was not ready, however; until the following year 1897. The Tennessee Centennial worlds fair was one of the most successful of all time. It made a profit when most fairs operated at a loss. The fair was visited by thousands of people including President William Mckinley. West Tennessee was represented by a giant pyramid because Memphis was named after the ancient Egytian city by the same name. Nashville was nicknamed the Athens of the South because of it's colleges and it was a medical center. A giant plaster of Paris replica of the Parthenon in Greece was built. The Parthenon was so popular with Nashvillian's that it was the only building that wasn't torn down after the fair. A permanent building that exists now was started in 1920 and finished in 1931. Major Lewis was buried in Nashville's Mt. Olivet cemetery and he has one of the cemeteries most unique monuments. It is shaped like a pyramid. 

Map of the Centennial Exposition
Shelby Park

Shelby Park

My father and his 1st wife Mamie at Shelby Park

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