Happy 65th birthday, David Crockett State Park!

On this day in 1959, David Crockett State Park was officially dedicated by Governor Buford Ellington in a ceremony attended by more than 3,000 people.

The park’s origins begin with a casual remark by a president of the United States…at a festival honoring a wild onion.

In 1955, former president Harry Truman was the guest of honor at the Ramp Festival in Cosby, Tennessee. At that time, the 1954 release of Walt Disney’s television miniseries version of David Crockett’s life had created a Crockett mania among the nation’s youngsters. During remarks made at the Ramp Festival, Truman publicly commented on the Crockett mania sweeping the country, and suggested that the state of Tennessee should build a monument to memorialize Crockett.

Governor Frank B. Clement, who was present at the festival, replied that he would ask the General Assembly to appropriate some funds for a memorial to Crockett, apparently unaware that a statue of Crockett had stood in the Lawrenceburg Public Square for more than thirty years.

When the Nashville ‘Tennessean’ ran a front-page story about the statue two days later, the Lawrence County Historical Society went into action. The Historical Society had planned to build a replica of Crockett’s mill operation near Crockett Falls on Shoal Creek for several years, but when the governor publicly committed to memorializing Crockett further, the society requested that the State of Tennessee build a state park dedicated to Crockett’s time spent in Lawrenceburg. Crockett lived in Lawrence County from 1817 to 1822. He operated a gristmill, powder mill, and distillery on Shoal Creek, and he also began his political career in Lawrence County.

And so, in 1957, the State of Tennessee purchased 1,000 acres of land west of Lawrenceburg for $33,819.10, encompassing the historical area of Crockett’s washed-out mill and distillery operation. The project included the construction of a replica of Crockett’s mill in addition to a museum devoted to his life. Ground was broken for the park on January 10, 1958, and it was officially dedicated in a ceremony on May 31, 1959.

B&W Images: Old Jail Museum