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Discovery Park of America

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Discovery Park of America is a one-of-a-kind, 100,000-square-foot museum and 50-acre heritage park in Northwest Tennessee. With the mission to inspire children and adults to see beyond, Discovery Park provides fun and entertaining exhibits that cover a variety of topics including science, technology, transportation, space, history, art and more. It's like a curio cabinet of inspiration for you and your family to explore.


Images

  • Discovery Park of America
  • Dino Hall and the Giant Man Slide at Discovery Park of America
  • What did you discover?
  • Children at Discovery Park of America's Chapel
  • Children learning about wildlife at Discovery Park of America
  • Children and adults learning about wildlife at Discovery Park of America
  • A group of scouts at Discovery Park of America
  • Fun and entertaining experiences for all ages at Discovery Park of America
  • Wooly Mammoth at Discovery Park of America
  • A view of Discovery Center, the Chapel and the the Titan Missile at STEM Landing at Discovery Park of America
  • The Civil War gallery at Discovery Park of America
  • Mill Ridge at Discovery Park of America includes a schoolhouse, feed store, windmill, gristmill and blacksmith shop.
  • The Transportation Gallery at Discovery Park of America
  • One of the education specialists you'll find at Discovery Park showing a group the meteor that can be seen at the museum.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Inspiring Children and Adults to See Beyond

In the late 1990s, successful businessman, Robert Kirkland, and his wife Jenny sold their business holdings to concentrate on philanthropic efforts, including leading their community of Union City, Tenn. in the building of a museum and heritage park. It was intended to, in Kirkland’s own words, “enhance education for children as well as adults and to do it in an entertaining way.” He added, “I hope it will be a destination that people will visit again and again and walk away each time with an expectation for continued innovation.”

The combined efforts of experts, novices and volunteers were fully realized on Nov. 1, 2013 as Robert and Jenny Kirkland cut the red ribbon. The public was impressed from the start. Not only had there never been anything like this in Obion County, there had never been anything quite like Discovery Park in the world. Although Kirkland and his wife have passed away, their vision has been realized, and each year since opening more than 250,000 guests experience this 100-million-dollar masterpiece now sitting in what was once a quiet cornfield. 

Additional Information