Discovery Park, U.S.A.
One of the centerpieces at Discovery Park
Union City is the home of Discovery Park, U.S.A., one of Tennessee’s newest tourist attractions.
Were it located in Nashville or Memphis, this wonderful children’s, natural history, science, military and local history museum would not seem that unusual. But its presence in (relatively rural) Obion County is the result of an $80 million contribution by Union City resident Robert Kirkland.
We HIGHLY recommend a trip to Discovery Park!
Reelfoot Lake
Obion County is also one of two Tennessee counties (the other is Lake County) that borders Reelfoot Lake.
Reelfoot is unique in many ways. It is Tennessee’s only natural lake — formed during the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811 and 1812. The lake and the area around it made national news in 1907 and 1908, during the Night Riders era mentioned on the Lake County page. Since Reelfoot is surrounded by flat land and has cypress trees growing in it, it doesn’t look anything like the man-made lakes found elsewhere in Tennessee.
The original Obion County Courthouse in Troy
Union City is the county seat of Obion County, but it hasn’t always been that way. Troy was originally the county seat of Obion County; in fact, David Crockett was present when Troy was first laid out in 1825.
There is a park where the Obion County Courthouse in Troy used to be
However, when the railroads were built a few years later, the Nashville & Northwestern railroad line intersected with the Mobile & Ohio line in a place about 10 miles north of Troy. Because the train tracks met there, they organized a town there called Union City. In 1890 the county seat moved there.
Today there is a park where the Obion County Courthouse used to be located, in Troy.
