Taylor Spring Park

Taylor’s Spring Park is a historic park located at 285 1st Street in Cleveland, Tennessee. The park is named after the city’s first settler, Andrew Taylor. The name also refers to a spring on Taylor’s property that attracted other settlers to the area.

Taylor Spring Park Nov 18

The park was in the planning stages for over 30 years on an area of land that has been called the “birthplace” of the city of Cleveland. It is named after a spring that was located on settler Andrew Taylor’s property in 1836 and was the deciding factor in where the city of Cleveland would be located.

According to historical records, Andrew Taylor erected a log cabin near the spring. The park features a historically accurate recreation of the Taylor Spring House, made of round logs 12 feet by 12 feet. The Spring House is an exact replica built on information obtained from an 1836 property assessment discovered by researcher Debbie Moore during work on the book “The 1836 Cherokee Nation Property Evaluations.”

In 1940, the spring was covered by a business called Gannaway Hardware. The owner of the store used the spring as an air conditioner by pumping water to a radiator with a fan. After the hardware store closed a law office opened on the site, owned by local attorney Jim Webb. Businessman Allan Jones has been credited with finding the location of the spring in Webb’s basement and leading the campaign to build Taylor’s Spring Park. Prior to his death, Webb donated the land to the city so that a park could be erected.

CAPTION: Taylor Spring Park in Cleveland, Tennessee at its grand opening on Nov. 18, 2020 One: Source: Cleveland Daily Banner, Nov. 19, 2020