Fairview, in northwest Williamson County, is largely rural with wide open spaces. STEVE HARMAN
A 722-acre park
“METRO FAIRVIEW” HAS ALL THE BASICS, PLUS THE COUNTY’S BIGGEST PARK BY SUSAN LEATH ER S
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ebby Rainey has called Metro Fairview home for more than 40 years. Never heard of “Metro Fairview”? Then you obviously don’t know Debby, a firstterm City of Fairview commissioner. “When they started calling Nashville ‘Metro Nashville,’ I decided Fairview should be a ‘Metro’ too,” Rainey says, and the moniker stuck. At least for her.
Anyone driving through the city of 8,700 residents would hardly call it metropolitan. There’s no historic “downtown.” Instead the commercial district is spread along an eightmile-or-so section of Hwy. 100 with a healthy mix of well-worn businesses and strip malls sprinkled between a growing mix of new fastfood chains, shopping centers and municipal buildings.
City Hall, built in 2001, stands near the entrance to the city’s crown jewel. Dr. Evangeline Bowie deeded 722 acres of restored and re-imagined forests and lakes to Fairview prior to her 1992 death. Bowie Nature Park today is a hub of activity year-round. In 2008, the city secured the park’s future for generations to come when it was placed in conservation easement protected by the Land Trust for Tennessee. The park has a staffed nature center and 17 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. Three lakes offer fishing opportunities. Kids love the Treehouse Playground, built by community volunteers in 1998. Camp Bowie 2019, a summer day camp experience for kids ages 5 to 12, kicks off on June 10. For everyone else – plus children, of course – the park hosts a year-round schedule of events, from star-gazing parties and owl prowls to concerts and ecological programming. Nearby, Camp Marymount has seen thousands of children participate in its residential summer camp programs since it opened in 1939. The camp also serves as a popular retreat center and event venue. GUIDE TO WILLIAMSON COUNTY
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