The J.D. Chason Memorial Park in Bainbridge was given to the city on December 29, 1921 by members of Doctor J.D. Chason’s immediate family as a permanent honor in his memory. About two acres in size, it is an historic location whose use is restricted to park purposes. More than three centuries earlier, DeSoto and his men crossed the Flint River here, and El Camino Real, the King’s Highway, also crossed the grounds. Within the park are the site of Fort Hughes, built in 1817 by U.S. soldiers under the command of Capt. John M. McIntosh, and the grave of Bugler Hughes, the first soldier killed in the Seminole Indian War.