BIRCHWOOD — Tennessee’s 65th state park offers the opportunity for the public to connect with one of the darkest episodes in this state’s history.
Just over the Hamilton County line, where the Hiwassee and Tennessee rivers meet, the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park has existed for nearly three decades, standing as a tribute to the Cherokee people forcibly removed from their homelands along the Trail of Tears. The site has been a Meigs County park for some time, but as of Tuesday, it has been elevated to state park status, which comes with a new name — Cherokee Trail of Tears State Park.
“By allowing the state to come in and elevate it to a state park, we will have a broader reach, a greater opportunity for people from afar to come and experience what this site means, not only to Tennessee history but to U.S. history,” Tennessee State Parks Director Chris Padgett said in an interview before Tuesday’s dedication ceremony.
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Encompassing 29 acres in Meigs County, the state park has an annual operating budget of $551,000 and will have six full-time employees, according to state officials.