On May 8, 1925, the M.E. Norman embarked from Memphis with 72 men, women and children onboard for a trip to inspect revetment work at Pinckney Landing, two miles downriver of Memphis. The trip passed without incident until the boat ran into trouble on its return journey.

The steamer capsized and its passengers were thrown into the fast and chilly current of the Mississippi River. Tom Lee, passing by in his small wooden skiff Zev, rescued 32 passengers from the numbing waters. His rescue was all the more remarkable because he could not swim.

Lee was quickly recognized as a hero. Tributes and gifts poured in from across the country. Lee was awarded with a job as a City of Memphis sanitation worker and the Engineers Club of Memphis purchased a home for him at 923 North Mansfield in north Memphis. Lee was even celebrated at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge. Lee died from cancer in 1952. Astor Park was dedicated as Tom Lee Park in 1954 and, in 1991, expanded by the Corps of Engineers to the size it is today.

“I didn’t do any more than anyone else would have done in my place.”

-Tom Lee

Memphis was founded as a river city. Like many American cities, it turned its back on the then-industrial waterfront. For 100 years, studies and reports have recommended a vibrant, joyful riverfront. Tom Lee Park is where Memphis returns to the river.

Tom Lee Park was expanded to its current size by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1991.

The construction of a dike wall expanded the nine-acre, unremarkable patch of grass at the foot of Beale Street to the 31-acres we know today. For years, the park sat mostly empty with few trees, little shade and no amenities.

In 2O17, Mayor Strickland and the City of Memphis created a task force to reimagine the riverfront and called on Memphis River Parks to make the concept plan a reality.

That task force commissioned Studio Gang to develop a concept for the transformation of five miles of mostly underused public space and 11 river parks into a connected network of beautiful, welcoming, natural spaces that would reconnect Memphians with their river. More than 4,000 Memphians were engaged in the production of the Memphis Riverfront Concept.

Memphis River Parks reinvented two former Confederate-named parks into River Garden and Fourth Bluff Park, completed in 2O18 and 2O19. River Line—a five-mile walking and biking trail that connects all river parks—opened in 2O18. 

The design process for Tom Lee Park began in 2019 and was informed by stakeholders, including local teens - Youth Design Leadership program - embedded as part of an extensive public input process that guided the design of the park. Final design for the park was unveiled in March 2O2O. Construction on the $61 million project began in December of 2020 with the park opening to the public on Labor Day Weekend, September 2O23. In its first two years, it had more than 2.5 million visitors and was awarded eight national and international design awards from American Society of Landscape Architects, Fast Company magazine, American Institute of Architects New York, Urban Land Institute, Architect’s Newspaper, Architizer, the Bay Awards, and World Urban Parks.

Gumption (noun): A spirited initiative, courageous, level-headedness, resourcefulness, get-up-and-go that make undertaking difficult things possible.

Celebrated on the first Saturday in October, officially proclaimed by the City of Memphis as Tom Lee Day, the Tom Lee Mississippi River Gumption Revival Lantern Parade celebrates Tom Lee’s courage on the Mississippi River that inspired Memphis and the nation over a century ago.

Learn more about how to get involved in this year’s parade.

The Tom Lee Poetry & Spoken Word Contest recognizes outstanding poetry and spoken word inspired by Tom Lee and his qualities of courage, generosity and humanity. Read previous winners’ works, and learn more about how to enter the contest here.

Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award, Urban Design, 2024

American Society of Landscape Architects LaGasse Medal to Carol Coletta, 2024

Honorable Mention, The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards, Unbuilt – Landscape Category, 2019

Top 100 projects in the world, Bilbao Metropoli 30

American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award for General Design, Tom Lee Park, 2024

Memphis and Shelby County EDGE Golden Shovel Award, 2024

Building Memphis 2024 Project of the Year Award

Finalist, Architizer A+ Awards, Public Parks and Green Spaces Category, 2024

SITES designation for sustainable land design

Honor Award, Urban Design, 2025 AIA New York Design Awards

2025 Urban Land Institute Americas Awards for Excellence Winner

World Urban Parks 2025 International Large Urban Park Award

The approximately five mile riverwalk connects all Memphis River Parks. Explore Bike share stations are located throughout the parks.

There is on-street parking on Riverside Drive as well as throughout downtown. For additional parking options, visit the Downtown Memphis Commission’s parking guide.