Nolensville Historical Society ~ 7248 Nolensville Rd ~ Nolensville, TN 37135
Sunset Park
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Sunset Park
Ben Chrismon (1877-1963), a highly respected and successful shoe cobbler, with the help of his wife, Mary Polk Chrismon, founded Sunset Park in Nolensville sometime between 1909 and 1929. Before integration, this park was a popular recreation center for the African-American community throughout Middle Tennessee, but almost a century ago, this land was more than just a sports field. Hundreds of people gathered there every weekend for games and picnics because they had nowhere else to go. It was a time of segregation in the South, and this lot, known as Sunset Park, was a meeting place for the black community throughout Middle Tennessee in the early part of the last century.
From the horse and wagon era to chartered buses, this 11-acre park was a place of enjoyment for many generations. Sunset Park was the site for many outings, including golfing on the 3-hole golf course, picnics, ballgames, and family reunions. Concession stands offered fried fish and homemade ice cream. Greeting visitors to the park were an historical rock fence and whitewashed tree trunks. In 1947, The Tennessean printed articles announcing a Fourth of July picnic, under sponsorship of the Nolensville Baseball Club, featuring a prize-winning baseball game between the Nolensville Giants and C. B. Ragland club, where pit barbecue and refreshments of all kinds would be served.
On September 5, 6, and 7, 1929, the second Annual Williamson County Colored Agricultural Exhibition was held at this park and sponsored by the Williamson Fair Association. Progress and achievements along agricultural and other lines of industry were exhibited. Show events spotlighted horses, cattle, and automobiles and there were contests in canned and baked goods and produce. Special entertainment included a band concert and a carnival. Admission to the fair was 15 and 25 cents; children free.
At the park was the first ball diamond in Middle Tennessee that was for African-Americans; due to segregation, they were not allowed to play in the community parks. Among the ballplayers that played at this park was Woodrow Williams (1917-1990), a native of Nolensville. He began his career with the Nashville Stars Southern Association and went on to play professional baseball as a pitcher with the Baltimore Elite Giants, a Negro National Triple League, from 1935 to 1941. His career ended when he was hit by a ball that broke his arm.
Ted Rhodes (1913-1969), the nation’s first black professional golfer, was born in Nashville. He attended the city’s public schools and learned the game of golf in his teenage years while working as a caddie at the Belle Meade Country Club, where African-Americans were not allowed to play golf or even belong as a member. Ted practiced the game with other caddies and developed his swing by hitting shag balls at Sunset Park, as well as practicing in East Nashville’s Douglas Park and North Nashville’s Watkins Park. He became recognized as the first African-American professional golfer when he was invited to play in the U. S. Open at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles in 1948. That same year, Rhodes and fellow golfer Bill Spiller initiated litigation against the PGA seeking removal of the association’s “Caucasian only” clause (it was rescinded in November, 1961, the last major sport to desegregate its ranks). Rhodes won over 150 United Golfers Association tournaments, as well as collecting crowns in the Negro National Open in 1957 and the Gotham Open and Progressive GC Championship the following year. Rhodes was inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in 1998 and was granted posthumous membership in the PGA in 2009.
The park was purchased in 1965 by Thomas A. Brown and his wife, Jessie Boyd Brown, and remained in operation for 10 years. The Browns raised their family in a home adjacent to the park. As time passed, fewer people visited the park and the area is now being utilized for livestock grazing.
A sign for Sunset Park stands just down the road from the park and notes its importance in segregated recreation in the county’s history. On October 1, 2006, more than 100 people from the Nolensville Historical Society, the Williamson County Historical Society, and the African-American Heritage Society of Franklin and Williamson County were on hand to dedicate the site’s marker.
Sunset Park
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