The 1930 McFarland Bell/Clock Tower is near the Memphis College of Art in Overton Park. The plaque reads:
A Gift To
The People Of Memphis
By
Judge Louis Burchette Mcfarland
First Chairman Of Park Commission
Founded In 1898
Judge Louis Burchette McFarland was a self-avowed "great believer in the aesthetic as applied to cities." Jimmy Ogle talks about the influence McFarland had over the city's early park system in an article titled "Park Place: Establishing Recreation System Was Linchpin of Improving Memphis".
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Very ncie, thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteyou're welcome. glad you liked it :)
DeleteI've only been through Memphis once and it seemed bleak by the river where we stopped at the visitor center. Although the visitor center was bright and at least at the time like a small museum dedicated to B.B. King and Elvis.
ReplyDeletei've never actually been to that visitor center. our downtown area has had its ups and downs but has been on an upswing since... oh i don't know... years ago. quite the renaissance, with a lot of emphasis on people-friendly spaces and encouraging businesses to relocate there and renovating old buildings to turn them into condos. if i had to guess, i'd say the worst of things downtown came in the 70's, when we just never went down there.
Deleteoverton park (where this bell tower is) is in our midtown area, directly east of downtown, maybe a 10-15 minute drive from the river.
we are very proud of our 2 kings (bb king and elvis ;) ) and i'm not surprised they'd be featured prominently at the visitor center.