Martyr’s Park
Memphis Green
If you’ve lived in Memphis for very long, you may have forgotten to admire all of our trees.
It’s true, our terrain is fairly flat and there’s not an ocean or a mountain in sight, but one thing that comes in spades in our fair city is green space. Since its founding in 1900, the Memphis Park Commission has created and guarded parks all around the city, breaking up the hustle and bustle of roadways and buildings to protect areas of rest and recreation. Parks dot our neighborhoods and line our river. Some are tucked between houses while others host millions of guests each year. But while we’ve got no shortage of public green space, it’s no surprise that some are more visited than others.
Solitary Green
There are multiple parks along the shoreline of the Mighty Mississippi. While the beautiful newly renovated Tom Lee Park boasts basketball courts and playgrounds, there are a few that seem set aside for solitude. Martyr’s Park is one of these. Just south of Tom Lee Park, Martyr’s Park sits on a higher bluff overlooking the river. To the immediate left is Big River Crossing where foot traffic and bikes are constantly coming and going, taking in the consistent breeze over the water. But up on Martyr’s Park, things are quiet. There are a few benches overlooking the river by a winding path, and the park is positioned as a backyard of sorts for several beautiful homes whose back patios have stunning river views.
The quiet peace of the area gives you a moment to catch your breath, especially if you’ve walked up from Tom Lee Park on a quest to Big River Crossing. This is a good moment to stop and look around, take in the cityscape on your right and the Old Bridge on the left. But chances are, you’ll be drawn to a captivating sculpture in the center of the park. This towering structure stretches up in a concrete frame that encapsulates metal human forms, growing smaller the higher they seem to float upwards. The park, founded in 1972, exists as a memorial to the true heroes of the city…those who stayed behind during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878. Of these 20,000 Memphians who kept back to tend the sick and bury the dead, 80% caught the fever, and a quarter of those perished. On the backs of these martyrs, the city we now have was built.
Those who survived the epidemic must have had more grit than we can ever imagine. Finding themselves in a city just a fraction of the size it had been, facing both the devastating loss of people and provision, and yet still holding hope for a future and future city must have been overwhelmingly difficult.
Yet here we are, standing on a bluff lined with gorgeous homes, watching barges slowly meander down the Mississippi while the lights in the windows of skyscrapers flicker on. There’s no better place to take in Memphis history than Martyr’s Park. Standing still for a moment as the breeze comes off the River, thinking about the Memphians who sacrificed it all to stay, to care, to die, or to rebuild.
It’s that staying power that makes Memphians as loyal as we are today.
Image via Downtown Memphis Commission