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Item Name
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Patterson Park Community Center
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Creator
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Riley Muncher
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Lede
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A story of fulfilling community needs and individual leadership.
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Story-Subject
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Patterson Park Community Center has been a pillar of the Murfreesboro community since its opening in 1979 and expansion about two decades later. Today, the community center has many indoor and outdoor amenities such as mural and meeting rooms, a game room and a theater, as well as playgrounds, pools, and multipurpose fields and courts. It is also home to Myrtle Glanton Lord library, and pre-school and after school care programs. The community center itself was built and named in the honor of the late Dr. James Patterson. Patterson donated dental care to students at Bradley Elementary school, which served African American children in the community before desegregation. Gloria Bonner, a former student at Bradley Elementary, who volunteered after school at Dr. Patterson’s office stated that Patterson was a “servant leader to the community” who “touched a lot of lives.”
Prior to the construction of the community center, the land, referred to as Holloway Park, served a few other purposes, primarily for Holloway High School's track and football field. Every year, this land was used for the Mid-State Colored Fair, which was organized by Holloway High School and brought black residents of Middle Tennessee together. This fair, which started at least as early as 1910, had carnival rides, horse shows, and many other games and exhibits.
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Subtitle
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Dr. Patterson, Holloway Park, and the Mid-State Colored Fair
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Source
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File #30: Mid-state Colored Fair Participants
“Mid-state Colored Fair participants,” Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center Digitization Project, accessed December 1, 2021, https://bradleyacademy.omeka.net/items/show/76.
File #2: Patterson Park Community Center
Patterson Park Community Center. Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation. Accessed December 1, 2021. https://www.murfreesborotn.gov/168/Patterson-Park-Community-Center.
File #3: “Dr. James R. Patterson”
Dr. James R. Patterson. Photos: Dr. James R. Patterson, and Patterson Park. Daily News Journal, August 15, 2018. https://www.dnj.com/picture-gallery/news/2018/08/13/photos-dr-james-r-patterson-and-patterson-park/37465239/.
File #10: Mid-State Colored Fair Program
https://www.betweenthecovers.com/pages/books/76283/1956-premium-list-eighteenth-annual-mid-state-colored-fair-holloway-park-murfreesboro-tennessee
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Official Website of historic site/monument
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https://www.murfreesborotn.gov/168/Patterson-Park-Community-Center
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Related Resources
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Broden, Scott. “Patterson Park Will Celebrate Namesake Dentist at 15th Anniversary Event in Murfreesboro.” The Daily News Journal. Daily News Journal, August 16, 2018. https://www.dnj.com/story/news/2018/08/16/patterson-park-community-center-murfreesboro-celebration-ralph-patterson/992971002/.
Davis, Doug. “Fair Memories.” Rutherford County Tennessee Historical Society. Accessed November 20, 2021. http://rutherfordtnhistory.org/fair-memories/.
“Murfreesboro: Her Hustling Negro Citizens.” The Nashville Globe, May 13, 1910. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86064259/1910-05-13/ed-1/seq-6/.
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Bibliographic Citation
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Riley Muncher, “Patterson Park Community Center,” Momentous Murfreesboro , accessed September 11, 2025, https://momentous-murfreesboro.mtsu.edu/admin/items/show/4.
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Title/Location
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Patterson Park Community Center
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Address
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521 Dr. M.L.K. Jr Blvd, Murfreesboro, TN 37130
