Island Home Park History

Island Home was built as a subdivision between 1915 and 1930, and featured a trolley line down the center of Island Home Boulevard. The Island Home Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 10, 1994.

In 1917, the City annexed the previously incorporated towns of Lonsdale, Mountain View, Park City, Beaumont, Island Home, Oakwood, and part of Vestal, as well as large unincorporated areas such as South Knoxville and Sequoyah Hills. The land area of the City was thus increased from four to twenty six square miles. The census of 1920 reflected this dramatic growth in figures that showed that the City’s population had more than doubled in ten years. The population rose from 36,346 in 1910 to 77,818 in 1920.

Chloe Chitwood, a retired optometrist, loved the park and designed and donated a bench to it in 1994. The bench is made of Tennessee marble and was built by South Knoxvillian Jim LeCompte. The inscription on the back says “Vita Abundantior” meaning “more abundant life”.