Community Collaborations

In August of 2026, an agreement was signed by the board of the Clarksville Community Foundation and the board of Historic Clarksville, Inc. (HCI) to fund improvements, starting with the Odd Fellows Building, in order to place downtown buildings into private hands with covenants to protect the foundation’s grants - as the flood wall now enables business owners to more safely invest in Clarksville.

Historic Clarksville, Inc.

With a population peak of 1500 Clarksville residents in the 1880s, by the 1980s there were only 500 persons living in town. 

The loss of major employers like the Clarksville Cider Company, the Imperial Mill and more – as well as the lack of a crossroads or a bridge across the river – contributed to the loss of businesses downtown as shopping centers and travel to growing communities took trade farther afield.

In 1987, however, a small group of volunteers decided that something needed to change in Clarksville, and they formed a non-profit called Historic Clarksville, Inc.  The mission was to revitalize the remaining historic buildings and downtown through beautification, infrastructure repair, saving buildings, and creating jobs by forming new businesses.

The first project was to solicit financial support and labor to create a small “pocket park” in an unkempt vacant lot owned by Southwestern Bell telephone company that had previously been the site of the “Feree House”.  The lot was donated to the city, funds were raised from selling straw and firewood, holding fish fries, and asking for gifts.  Labor and materials were donated for fill dirt, greenery, benches and bricks.

Bel-Rose Park became a symbol for, “what is next?”, as HCI became the nucleus for “Main Street Clarksville”, a cooperative of business owners and community organizations.

What came after was raising $675,000 to purchase fourteen commercial buildings in the downtown area, and a multi-year effort to utilize tax credits and grants to improve residential exteriors and supplement the struggling city budget with infrastructure improvement funds.

Water distribution, sidewalks, citizen engagement, business development and more began 40 years ago with the development of this park.  And the cycle renews in 2026, as a flood wall enables Clarksville to invest and grow yet again.