This route was named for Walter K. Singleton, a Memphis native, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor as a result of the Vietnam War.

Singleton Parkway continues north into Naval Support Activity Mid-South and further on to SR 205 (Navy Road) in Millington, ending on the east side of the Millington-Memphis Airport.

Up until the 1970s, Covington Pike ran from Raleigh–Lagrange Road to just south of its current junction with Austin Peay Highway (SR 14).

Covington Pike crossed over SR 14 several times in somewhat discontinuous sections, over the Loosahatchie River, and past the community of Rosemark.

Singleton Parkway was built in the 1970s from Austin Peay to Egypt Central Road, and was extended north to Millington in the 1980s.