Warner Parks

Edwin Warner Park and Percy Warner Park, collectively known as Warner Parks, are two major public parks in Nashville, Tennessee. They are part of the park system managed by the Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation of Nashville and Davidson County. Percy Warner Park's front entrance is located at the corner of Belle Meade Boulevard and Page Road, at coordinates: coord|36.083095|-86.866837|format=dms (36.083095, -86.866837).

The two parks are adjacent to each other, separated by Old Hickory Boulevard, and are located approximately convert|9|mi|km|lk=on|abbr=on from downtown Nashville. They are bounded on the northwest by Tennessee State Route 100, on the east and north by Chickering Road, and partially on the south by Old Hickory Blvd. and Vaughn Road. The two parks cover Convert|2684|acre|ha|1, making the combined parks the largest municipal parks in the state. [ [http://www.nashville.gov/parks/locations/warner.htm Nashville.gov: Warner Parks] ]

They were opened in 1927, and are comprised of land donated by Percie Warner Lea and her husband, Luke. The parks were named for her father, Percy, a member of the old Nashville Board of Park Commissioners and former head of the city's streetcar lines and electric utility, and her uncle Edwin, who was also a park commissioner. The commission developed the parks into their present layout through 1930. [ [http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=W020 Tennessee Encyclopedia: Percy Warner] ]

The parks were named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. [ [http://www.nashville.gov/mc/ordinances/prev/o99_1698.htm City ordinance O99-1698] ]

The parks are home to a steeplechase course that hosts the Iroquois Steeplechase, run annually each May since 1941 (with one year off for World War II) and a fixture on the National Steeplechase Association circuit. It is the only graded horse race, steeplechase or flat, that is currently run in the state. [ [http://www.iroquoissteeplechase.org/html/races.html Iroquois Steeplechase official web site] ]

The parks are also home to two golf courses, the Warner Park Nature Center and the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon [ [http://www.harpethhillsmarathon.com Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon Website] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.tnbirds.org/IBA/SitePages/WarnerParks.htm TNbirds.org: Warner Parks]
* [http://harpethhillsmarathon.com/WarnerParkMaps/ Maps of the asphalt and dirt trails in the Warner Parks]
* [http://www.friendsofwarnerparks.com/ The Friends of Warner Parks]