Around the Town Tuesday - Parks

Welcome to our second Around the Town Tuesday post!  This week we are featuring the parks in your community.  To grab your Around the Town Tuesday button or read about Town Introductions (previous post), click the link above in the menubar.  We've extended MckLinky time to midnight, Wednesday, April 21st to give everyone more time.  Hope this helps!  Let's get it started!

My little town of Arlington, TN has one park, but it's really a great park.  Hughes-College Hill Park is where you'll find the majority or our community on pleasant days.  It's located very near our town square.  

There's a big, wide open space for frisbee, a friendly football game, or picnicking.

There is also and outdoor amphitheater down in a nice shady area of the park.  However, I don't believe this area has been used for much lately.  But the kids love to stomp around on it.

There are 3 total gazebos in the park.  You'll often see birthday celebrations held in one or more of these on a weekend.  These are the two smaller gazebos with only a couple of benches.

There are lots of gorgeous, mature trees throughout the park.  

This is the original playground.  There is a grill and picnic tables nearby.

We have a nice walking track with fitness stations along the way.  

And here is the third gazebo, the largest of the three in the park.  There are 2 large picnic tables and a grill nearby, great for an outdoor family event.

There is a lovely memorial dedicated to the citizens of Arlington who served in past United States wars.  

Hughes-College Hill Park is also home to the Playground of Dreams.  Now, this is kinda cool.  In 2006, Arlington residents as well as volunteers from other communities nearby came together to construct this awesome playground.  

This playground was conceived, constructed and named by the children of Arlington, TN  Below is their permanent stamp on their work.  A design firm from New York was brought in to make their ideas a reality.  It took months and months to complete the design itself and raise the money within the community to get ready to build it.  But it took only one week of vigorous work to complete the amazing project.

I, personally, love this at the entrance to the playground.  In mid to late summer, this trellis is covered by these honeysuckle bushes and they smell so good!  Reminds me of my childhood back in Kentucky.  Honeysuckle bushes were ample behind my grandparents' house.

If you know anything about Memphis, you'll know that FedEx is based here and is a major sponsor for many things.  Obviously, they were a big part in the Playground of Dreams project.  Keegan loves to play in this airplane.  

I also love that they have a few different touches - a tic-tac-toe board and chimes for some "lovely" music.

Gotta love that these are still around.  And still a hit with the kids!

And it's not really a playground without a tire swing, right?!

And swings galore.

While the kids love the playground, I love that there are big open spaces and trails to walk around and explore....

and experience nature....

I hope you enjoyed learning a little about my community park.  We sure love it and are very proud of it!  

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Around the Town Tuesday

Welcome to our first Around the Town Tuesday blog hop day!  YAY!  To grab your blog hop button, click on the graphic on the left sidebar.  Don't forget to link up!  If you find any snags, issues, etc. please email me ASAP so we can get it worked out immediately.  This is our first blog hop so don't be too surprised if there are some.  I won't be.  ;)

I really enjoyed getting out and taking some pictures of my little town and learning a bit more about it's history.  I currently live in Arlington, TN.  Arlington is a tiny town just northeast of Memphis, TN.  It has been called Shelby County's best kept secret for a while now because despite growth all around it, Arlington has remained a very small, very quiet little town.  According to the 2009 Census, Arlington was home to approximately 9,700 people.

Arlington was originally named Hayesville after Sameul Jackson Hayes, the original landowner and nephew to President Andrew Jackson.  Settlers began arriving in Hayesville in the 1830s.  Hayesville was renamed Arlington in 1883.  The charter was received from the State of Tennessee in December of 1900.  The name change was suggested by Captain Henry Pitman who had visited the national cemetery in Arlington, VA and thought it was the most beautiful place on earth.  So yes, my little town was named after Arlington cemetery.  I'm a huge history buff and could on and on but I promise to try to keep it brief.  To read more about Arlington's history, click here.  

Everyone here in town refers to our main part of town as Historic Depot Square.  Withe Depot was established as the Memphis and Ohio Railroad developed.  The trains still storm through town square.

This is the center of Historic Depot Square.  The large tree you see in the middle gets a huge makeover during Christmas.  This is our Rockefeller Center.  Everyone in town comes to see the tree lighting as well as the Christmas parade that goes right down the road to the left.  The building you see behind the tree is the old blacksmith.  It is actually still up and running but only on special occasions.  It's a treat for kids to see the blacksmith at work.  Wish I had thought to get a better picture.  Oops.  

This is Murray Gin, an old cotton gin that still stands.  However, it is very vacant.  No activity here these days.  Kind of a shame.  

This cabin is called the Harrell Farm Log Cabin and I can't really find any information on it except that it was built in the 1800s and it was moved here from it's original location.  I have no idea what the original location was or why it was moved.  But inside, there is a spinning wheel on display as well as a rope bed.  You can go inside by appointment only.

This is the original post office that was established in 1900.  It also has items on display and is viewable by appointment only.  I think it's so cool that it's still here in the middle of town.

Love this stuff!

Oliver's Barbershop.  

This is the next street over.  A few little business.  We definitely don't have much in Arlington.  They've kept it small.

Across the street from the picture above.

This is S.Y. Wilson & Company which was where residents of Arlington went for just about anything and everything in the early 1900s.  Now, it is a lovely antique store in the center of our town.  

I truly enjoy living in Arlington, TN because it is a small rural little town.  Growing up in a small town in Kentucky, this place reminds me of home a bit.  The people are friendly and we might not have much but we're just next door to Memphis, TN which I'm sure you'll get to learn a little about as this blog hop progresses.  However, I will try to stick to my little town as much as I can.

Looking forward to learning where y'all live!