Displaying items by tag: maryville parks
Maryville honors East Tennessee conservation giant with fields and forests
A public park planned along U.S. 321 in Maryville will honor East Tennessee conservation legend Billy Minser. Linda Albert via social media
The park will host hiking trails and natural areas for the public to enjoy
MARYVILLE — The city and Foothills Land Conservancy (FLC) have partnered on the creation of Billy Minser Park, a new 23-acre public green space set to open in 2025 off U.S. 321 in Blount County.
The property for the park was donated by the late Catherine Gilreath to FLC and the City of Maryville with the shared goal of creating a space for public enjoyment and environmental education. The park is under a conservation easement — meaning it will be protected from development forever.
When complete, Billy Minser Park will feature hiking and walking trails along a scenic creek corridor through forests and open fields. It will serve as a place for the community to connect with nature while preserving local habitat.
The park honors William “Billy” Minser — a beloved conservationist, educator and long-time FLC board member whose career has spanned decades in forestry, wildlife management and land preservation.
New Jarvis Park in Maryville could total nearly 50 acres
Go check out the ancient oaks in Maryville’s new park
Jarvis Park is 1.5 miles southeast of downtown off South Court Street and includes nearly 10 acres owned by Maryville doctor Craig Jarvis that were protected under a conservation easement via Foothills Land Conservancy in 2018 and transferred to the city a year later.
Park highlights include two 250-year-old oak trees, a mile of walking trails and a creek near Duncan Spring.
An additional 37 acres, consisting of two lots adjacent to the park, will be transferred for preservation to the city in the future, per current expansion plans, according to a conservancy digital newsletter. That acreage would adjoin the park.
“Jarvis Park ... is one of the few remaining intact woodlands in the area,” according to the conservancy, which added it was “bordered by open farm fields, residential development, and a rock quarry operation.”
The park is one of 20 other such easements held by the conservancy that total more than 4,000 acres in the immediate Blount County area.