POWELL, Tenn. — The Powell community has a new place where children and families can get lost inside the pages of a storybook, following the adventures of "Arvin the Angora Frog." It's named the Angora Frog Farm, and it's located across from the boat launch near Powell High School.
Work on the park began after Arvin Brown and Sabra Brown donated around 14 acres of green space. According to Legacy Parks, the Brown family has a history in Powell dating back hundreds of years. It said the Browns School House was among the first gathering places in Powell, built sometime between 1820 and 1830.
That schoolhouse is still on the property, and Legacy Parks said Arvin grew up inside it. His father, Horace Brown, was a mail clerk on the L&N Railway and often told railroad workers tales about his angora frogs. Brown’s mother also named a bullfrog from the creek in the new park, “Angora” when he was a child. Legacy Parks said that after around a year, Horace had around 2,000 frogs and registered a farm named "Angora Frog Farm" in December 1927.
The park is designed to follow the tales that Horace would tell railroad workers, according to Legacy Parks. Storybook trail guides lead children on adventures with Arvin the Angora Frog. It also has play structures, and Arvin will ask visitors to participate in his adventure with him as he makes his way through the park.
“We took a different approach with this park by creating a linear playground where you can enjoy a walk in the woods, climb and play, read a story, and sit by a little creek all in one experience,” said Carol Evans said in a release, Legacy Parks’ Executive Director.
Illustrations of Arvin were done by Daniel Wiseman, an illustrator of several children's books. He designed characters along the storybook trail after members of the Brown family.
Additionally, a dog park funded by University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd’s Family Foundation, adds the sixth Knoxville Neighborhood Dog Park to the county.
The park also features a lookout tower and slide, spider swing, wobble bridge, and seesaw, along with other features. It is now open to the public, sunrise to sunset, at 7323 Brickyard Road.