Situated along the Wolf River, the park contains the farm and gristmill once owned by decorated World War I soldier Alvin C. York (1887–1964), who lived in the Pall Mall area for his entire life.

He joined the pacifist Church of Christ in Christian Union in 1915, and when drafted for service in World War I in 1917, he applied for conscientious objector status, but was denied.

York was awarded the Medal of Honor and became an instant celebrity, and upon his return to the United States he was barraged with offers for endorsements (both commercial and political), movies, and books, most of which he initially rejected, believing it was wrong to profit from an act of war.

Conrad "Old Coonrod" Pile (1766–1849), a great-great-grandfather of York, arrived in the upper Wolf River area around 1800 and gradually accumulated over a thousand acres (4 km2) in the valley, including what is now Sgt.

York's maternal grandfather, a Union Army veteran named William Brooks, arrived in Pall Mall at the end of the U.S. Civil War and married Conrad Pile's granddaughter, Nancy.

In June 1919, after his triumphant homecoming, York married Gracie Williams in a massive ceremony conducted at Pall Mall by Tennessee Governor A.H. Roberts.

[6] In November 1919, the Rotary Club purchased the 400-acre (160 ha) Wright farm— which contained some of the most prized farmland in the Wolf River valley— by writing several promissory notes.