The property, once known locally as Lea's Woods, was purchased by Memphis on November 14, 1901, for $110,000 (equivalent to $4,029,000 in 2023); it was located along the city's eastern and northern boundary at that time.

A small number of residents of midtown formed a group known as Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, and challenged the plan in court.

Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court ruled in their favor in the landmark case Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v.

[6] Nevertheless, the City of Memphis and Tennessee Department of Transportation continued to propose a number of alternatives for routing Interstate 40 through Overton Park, including building the highway in a tunnel, or in a deep trench.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal called the National Registration the "final nail in the coffin" of efforts to route Interstate 40 through Overton Park.

Beginning in June 1974, the road system within the interior of Overton Park was gradually closed to motorized vehicles on weekends and holidays, which were called "People's Days".

Although initially there were some objections, the new policy gained popularity, and the closures were made permanent on April 13, 1987, except for official vehicles.

[8] In 1981 a narrowly divided U.S. Supreme Court found the barrier was legal, although dissenting Justice Thurgood Marshall admonished that "a group of white citizens has decided to act to keep Negro citizens from traveling through their urban "utopia" and the city has placed its seal of approval on the scheme.

[10] This program "spotlights great places designed by seminal and regionally influential landscape figures, which are threatened with change."

Overton Park also includes the famous Shell theater, where Elvis Presley gave his first paid concert on July 30, 1954.

The Overton Park Shell was built in 1936 by the City of Memphis and the Works Progress Administration for $11,935, as part of the New Deal.

[12] The renovation was conducted by Memphis firm Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects with state-of-the-art audio and visual design.

It has enabled generations of leading artists, designers and educators to flourish professionally and contribute valuable ideas to society.

The zoo houses two pandas, who are local celebrities, as well as three polar bears, brought in to the Northwest Passage exhibition which opened in March 2006.

[16] The Teton Trek exhibit will feature animals native to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem such as grizzly bears, elk, gray wolves, trumpeter swans and sandhill crane.

[17] The Zoo's decision to clear old growth forest to build the Teton Trek exhibit has been criticized by Citizens to Preserve Overton Park[18] and Park Friends Inc,[19] who subsequently pursued a successful, 16-month campaign to have the Arboretum designated as a State Natural Area by the Tennessee General Assembly.

[23] Over one half of the area of Overton Park is dedicated to general outdoor recreation and/or environmental preservation.

Overton Bark, a fenced-in, 1.3-acre (0.53 ha) dog park, is located to the southeast of the Greensward; it opened in June 2012.

[26] It provides a safe place to play frisbee and soccer, jog, picnic, make music, ride bikes, romp with dogs, fly kites, and just hang out.

In March 2009, the public became aware[27] of a plan by the City of Memphis, Tennessee Engineering Division, under the name "Lick Creek Reroute," to reduce flooding in the Lick Creek watershed by diverting floodwater from the main channel of that stream—which flows through Overton Park—into a multi-acre detention basin in the Greensward.

The detention basin would slope downward to a maximum depth of approximately 18 ft (5.5 m), and is estimated by the City Government to be likely to be inundated by floodwater some five to seven times each year.

On June 8, 2011, 126 acres (51 ha) of the Aboretum were designated as the "Old Forest State Natural Area" by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly.

[32] An East Picnic Area (about 15 acres or 6.1 ha) is located along the eastern boundary of Overton Park.

Its name comes from the rainbow effect created by a series of spray-type fountains (no longer present) installed in the lake in 1929.

The Doughboy statue, which is the hallmark of the area, is one of the World War I memorials; it was made in 1926 of copper from pennies that were collected by local school children.

[35] The statue was designed and constructed by sculptor Nancy Hahn[36] at a cost of $15,000; it was sponsored by Daughters of the American Revolution.

[14] The Main Pavilion was the principal gathering place in Overton Park from its construction in 1902 until it was damaged beyond repair by a storm in 1936.

In 1914, the Japanese Garden was built around an existing pond in Overton Park, where the Memphis College of Arts is currently located.

A fountain was installed in the redesigned pond, which was retained until construction began on the Memphis College of Arts campus.