1000 Cherry Rd. Memphis, TN
Circa 1931. 3 stories Colonial Williamsburg style with 34 rooms
Kingsland was built by (Cecil) Leroy King (1882-1953) and Charlotte S. King (1894-?). Originally, it had 160 acres and evidently is one of the finest examples of Georgian Revival style in Memphis.
King was a successful head of the southern division of J. B. Watkins Co. He had built up the Watkins sales force in the South and East U.S. from New York in the early 1900s. King made a fortune in the 1920s/30s as head of the Watkins The Kings then returned to Memphis to live on their estate and mansion. The Kings had a mile-long racetrack and stables on their farm as well. The King’s race horse operation was successful and famous. Leroy’s brother Charles Curtis King married Ramelle Van Vleet King of Chetolah (Van Vleet home).
Just after King’s death, in 1953, a local ministry bought the land and founded the Memphis Christian School, now Harding Academy-Memphis, and moved onto the land. A few years later, in 1957, Harding College from Arkansa opened a graduate school there - Harding University Graduate School of Theology. The rest of the land became a subdivision Kings Park with Kings Park Dr. - just east of Audubon Park. See also Chetolah (Van Vleet)
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