COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — The park in Collierville’s quaint town square could officially have a name soon.
City officials said, believe it or not, it doesn’t have one now.
This all reverts back to a marker in the square where at the bottom it says “Confederate Park.” However, the city of Collierville says, after extensive historical records searches, the park was never given the name.
A spokesperson with the city, Mark Heuberger, said it all started with a question. Someone reached out to Collierville administration asking about a marker and the name of the park.
Heuberger with the town of Collierville says what’s on the marker isn’t right; in fact, it’s never been officially named.
“All of the maps and documentation and minutes and et cetera that we have found simply reference the area as the public park. It has never been called anything else,” he explained.
Larry Leerskov, a Collierville resident, was at the park waiting to watch trains with his wife and grandson.
“I just called it the park on the square,” he said.
However, pretty soon the Collierville Board of Aldermen is expected to officially give the popular place a name.
According to Heuberger, it’s Town Square Park.
As for the stone marker, Heuberger says it was gifted back in the 1940s by the Daughters of the Confederacy in memory of the battles fought in the city.
The city itself has no Confederate statues like the Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue or Jefferson Davis. The future of what happens to those statues in the city of Memphis is now hotly contested.
WREG was able to get in contact with the president of the Collierville NAACP chapter, who said she’s been having good conversations with the mayor but could not discuss the issue further.
As for when the board of alderman will officially name this square, that will happen September 25.
