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Area 2
3B50 On August 12, 1862, 2.7 miles north of here, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and his raiders, aided by citizens of Gallatin, demolished the Big South Tunnel on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad by crashing a locomotive into a barrier of timbers. The resulting explosion, fires and collapse of the tunnel cut off United States Army supply lines to Nashville for 98 days. The marker is on TN 109, 8.0 miles south of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109 at the intersection of South Tunnel Road.
3B64 [side 1] This community's roots began with the 19th century rise of the Seventh-Day Adventist movement. Ellen White, one of the founders of Adventism, advocated church members start work in the South. Their mission included spreading Christianity through teaching agricultural methods and healthful living to the community and providing work-study opportunities for youths. To this end, a school began .3 mile east of here in 1907, a church in 1909, and a sanitarium in 1913. [side 2] Braden and Pearl Mulford, with Forrest and Lulu West, started Fountain Head Industrial School and Sanitarium as extensions of an Adventist school begun in Madison, Tennessee, in 1904. The sanitarium was destroyed by fires in 1928 and 1935. Russell Crutcher supervised the second rebuilding. By 1940, the new facility opened with Dr. Reuben Johnson as medical director. The Kentucky-Tennessee Conference of SDA assumed management in 1945, renaming the institutions Highland Academy and Highland Hospital. The marker is on TN 109, 3.9 miles south of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109 at the intersection of Highland Circle.
3B76 One and one-half miles east on the L & N Railroad at Buck Lodge stood the fortifications traditionally known as Fort Mitchell. In November 1862, Union troops occupied the Buck Lodge to protect two railroad bridges and a water tank from Confederate guerrillas. These fortifications served as headquarters for the 106th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment and a four-gun battery from the 13th Indiana Field Artillery. Garrisoned for the remainder of the war, Buck Lodge and the surrounding area was the site of extensive guerrilla activity. The marker is on TN 109, 3.0 miles south of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109.
3A171 [side 1] Fountain Head was named for a large spring which emerged 2.4 miles northeast of here near Drake's Creek. Long hunters had explored the area, but James Gwin and family, who came in 1792, were among the first permanent settlers. Gwin fought in the Revolution and later served as a chaplain with Andrew Jackson at New Orleans in the War of 1812. Gwin had several sons who contributed to the growth of Fountain Head and of the nation. His son, Samuel Gwin became the first postmaster of Fountain Head in 1828. [side 2] Another son, William M., settled in the West and became one of the first U.S. Senators from California. Among other early settlers was William McKendree, who became bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In Nov. 1812, at the home of Micajah House, he and Bishop Francis Asbury presided over the formation of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. A school, McKendree Academy, was opened in 1874 and was named for the bishop. The marker is on TN 109, 2.0 miles south of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109 at the intersection of TN 76.
3B77 [side 1] One and eight-tenths miles west of here was the home of Bishop William McKendree, who was born in King William County, Virginia. During the American Revolution, he served as Adjutant in the commissary department supplying the armies of Generals George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau. Present at Yorktown in 1781, McKendree witnessed Cornwallis' surrender. Nine years later, he was ordained a deacon and subsequently "set apart to the office of an Elder" by Bishop Francis Asbury. [side 2] At Baltimore, Maryland, McKendree was elected the first American-born bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1808. Two years later, he moved here with his father and other family members. Near here, Bishops McKendree and Asbury presided over the formation of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1812. Before reinterment at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Bishop McKendree's body was buried locally in the McKendree family cemetery. The marker is on TN 109, 1.1 miles south of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the west side of TN 109.
3B65 [side 1] On September 17, 1861, Confederate forces from nearby Camp Trousdale, under the command of Colonel John C. Brown, entrained for the invasion of Kentucky at Richland Station, located approximately 100 yards east of here.. Colonel Brown’s forces consisted of elements of the 3rd, 18th, 23rd and 24th Tennessee infantry regiments and Lieutenant Thomas Porter’s artillery company. [side 2] The 2nd Tennessee Cavalry Battalion advanced over land as far north as Munfordville. Confederate forces occupied Bowling Green on September 18, linking up with a Kentucky brigade from Camp Boone near Clarksville. The combined force of 4,500 men was under the command of Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner. The marker is on TN 109, 0.3 miles north of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109 at the intersection of Main Street.
3A172 [side 1] On October 31, 1859, Richland Station was opened 318 feet east of here by Thomas Buntin on land later deeded by his heirs to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Five months later, a post office was established, and Buntin, already the station's agent, became the first postmaster. The town grew along the railroad. From May 1861 to February 1862, Camp Trousdale, a Confederate training camp named for Governor William Trousdale, was located in this vicinity. [side 2] On April 10, 1888, Richland Station's name was changed to Portland, to avoid confusion with Richland in Grainger County. Portland has been home to conservationist James L. Bailey, authors, Opie Read, Rebecca Caudill, writer-humorist Elmer Hinton, and scientist-inventor Dr. Samuel Collins. In 1915, Sumner County High School became the first four-year public high school in the county. Since 1941, Portland has held the annual Middle Tennessee Strawberry Festival. The marker is on TN 109, 0.3 miles north of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109 at the intersection of Main Street.
3B70 [side 1] Three-quarters of a mile northeast of here was the birthplace of Captain Ellis Harper. Harper's military service began with strong objection from his Unionist parents, Ezekiel and Sarah Ellis Harper, when he enlisted in Company I of the 30th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. Harper was captured at Fort Donelson on February 16, 1862, and was imprisoned at Camp Butler, Illinois. After five months there he escaped and returned to Tennessee. [side 2] Here Harper was commissioned by Colonel John Hunt Morgan to form a company of partisans to operate behind Union lines with the primary objective of disrupting the L & N Railroad. Harper's activities continued successfully throughout the war. On October 10, 1864, Harper with his guerrilla band killed four Union soldiers and two railroad laborers near South Tunnel. On June 25, 1908, Harper was fatally shot by William Suite in Lebanon. The marker is on TN 109, 0.6 miles north of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109.
3B69 [side 1] One-half mile southeast of here, near Maple Hill Cemetery, stood the home of Thomas Buntin, founder of Richland Station and a Confederate sympathizer. In the spring of 1861, the Buntin residence was headquarters of Brigadier General Felix K. Zollicoffer, commander of nearby Camp Trousdale, a Confederate training camp. On July 26, 1861, General Zollicoffer was ordered to East Tennessee to command that department. [side 2] His orders were "to preserve the peace, protect the railroad and repel invasion." On January 19, 1862, General Zollicoffer was killed at the Battle of Mill Springs (or Fishing Creek), Kentucky. The popular ex-congressman, newspaper editor, and orator became the first Confederate general to die in the Western theater. After lying in state at the State Capitol, he was buried in Nashville's old City Cemetery. The marker is on TN 109, 0.9 miles north of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109 at the intersection of Freedom Drive.
3B49 2.8 miles northeast is the site of Cold Springs School. It was built on land donated in May 1857 by Thomas Baskerville for a school and meeting-house. Early in the Civil War, it was used by Camp Trousdale as a military hospital. There, in 1866, David Lipscomb organized the Portland Church of Christ. Landowners Jim and Bill McGlothlin gave the schoolhouse to the citizens of Portland for a museum of local history. In September 1975, it was relocated to Richland Park. The marker is on TN 109, 1.5 miles north of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109 at the intersection of Victor Reiter Parkway. Cold Springs School still stands in Richland Park. Please click here for more information.
3B74 One and one-quarter miles northeast at Mitchellville Station on the L & N Railroad stood Fort Smith. There a railhead began as a Union Supply depot for General Rosecran's army at Nashville. With South Tunnel destroyed by General Morgan's Confederate raiders, supplies were transported over land by escorted wagon trains. When the railroad reopened on November 26, 1862, Fort Smith, under the command of Colonel George P. Smith, Commander of 129th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, served as a garrison for Union soldiers guarding the railroad from Confederate guerrilla activity. The marker is on TN 109, 3.4 miles north of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the east side of TN 109.
3B24 Served formerly by Richland Station on the L&N R.R., this was an early staging and training area for Tennessee Confederate units. Regiments trained here included the 7th Infantry (Hatton), 16th Infantry (Savage), 18th Infantry (Palmer), 20th Infantry (Battle), 32nd Infantry (Bushrod Johnson), 41st Infantry (Tillman), 44th Infantry (McDaniel); also, the 1st (McNairy) and 2nd (Samuel Jones) Cavalry Battalions, which (May, 1862) became the 1st Cavalry (Biffle), trained here after organizing at Nashville and Mt. Pleasant, respectively. The marker is on TN 109, 3.4 miles north of the intersection of TN 52. The marker is on the west side of TN 109. Note: the text on the marker does not match the text in the guide "Tennessee Historical Markers," published by the Tennessee Historical Commission in 1996. This normally indicates additional information was obtained after the sign was cast. The text we have typed above is from the 1996 guide.
3B19
[side 1] Established 1796, named in honor of MAJOR GEN. JETHRO SUMNER Officer in French and Indian War. Served in defense of Charleston, 1776; in the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown; and in the Army at Valley Forge. His last service was in the defense of North Carolina against Cornwallis. 3B19
[side 2] An Iroquois word meaning Meadow Land. It was visited by Indian tribes from as far west as the Rocky Mountains before 1750. The first white settlement was at Harrodsburg in 1774. Kentucky was the second district west of the Alleghenies to be settled and the first (1792) to become a state. To reach this marker, take TN 109 north 4.8 miles from TN 52. At this point, TN 109 dead ends at U.S. 31-W. Turn right. The marker is about 200 feet ahead.
Triangular Jog The Simpson County jog in the Kentucky-Tennessee boundary was an error of Dr. Thomas Walker's 1780 survey party. Luke Munsell and James Bright resurveyed region fifty years later, but the controversy continued until survey by Austin P. Cox and Benjamin Pebbles in 1858-1859. This stone-marked line set official boundary between the two states and ended an 80-yr dispute. This is a Kentucky historical marker. To reach it, take TN 109 north 4.8 miles from TN 52. At this point, TN 109 dead ends at U.S. 31-W. Turn right. The Tennessee-Kentucky border, and the marker, are 100 years ahead.
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