Welcome to Winstead Hill Park

Welcome to Winstead Hill Park. Park History. , Winstead Hill Park is located approximately two miles south of downtown Franklin. The hill’s name comes from an early inhabitant of Williamson County, Samuel Winstead, who owned the land. Some 19 years before the Civil War, he executed a handwritten will that provided for the freedom of each of his 70 slaves after the death of he and his wife. The will called for the sale of his property in Franklin and Spring Hill to pay for the safe passage of his slaves to Liberia for their freedom. Following the death of the Winsteads, the State Supreme Court twice upheld the will insuring that remaining funds were distributed to the freed slaves. Mr. Winstead was laid to rest on the property along with several of his slaves., Winstead Hill is part of the Winstead-Breezy Hill range of high ridges formed along the southern border of the plain of Franklin. The crest of Winstead Hill is 840 feet above mean sea level and approximately 200 feet above the city of Franklin. The landscape consists of open meadows, wildflowers and large stands of trees, including Eastern Red Cedar growing on thin soils that in many area expose the Ordovician limestone bedrock. The park’s landform is characteristic of that identified in the greater Nashville Basin., Only minor changes have occurred to the site since the Battle of Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864. In 1948, Walter A. Roberts deeded 9.75 acres on Winstead Hill to the United Daughters of the Confederacy as a memorial to the Confederate soldiers. In 1954, a stone wall quarried on site was erected with steps and handrails constructed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The steps lead to a lookout shelter at the 825 (foot) elevation housing a bronze relief map depicting troop movements during the Battle of Franklin. This lookout shelter, sitting on the adjacent land owned by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, is still accessible today to the public. The city park property offers a large parking area, multi-use trails, trailhead shelters with interpretative signage, restroom facilities and rest areas. Additional site features include a woodland loop multi-use trail, an amphitheater and a second small parking facility as future construction.