Historical Markers and War Memorials in Castalian Springs, Tennessee
Gallatin is the county seat for Sumner County
Castalian Springs is in Sumner County
Sumner County(135) ► ADJACENT TO SUMNER COUNTY Davidson County(1450) ► Macon County(51) ► Robertson County(39) ► Trousdale County(10) ► Wilson County(76) ► Allen County, Kentucky(17) ► Simpson County, Kentucky(31) ►
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Isaac Bledsoe discovered the salt lick that bears his name in 1772. His and other explorers' reports of the rich land and game brought settlers to this area despite the dangers.
Discovering the Salt Lick
Isaac Bledsoe looked on a great . . . — — Map (db m149923) HM
This is one of the oldest cemeteries in Sumner County. Typical of the early cemeteries of the area, pioneers, known and unknown, are buried here in boxed vaults, and in graves marked by engraved headstones and by simple field stones.
The . . . — — Map (db m180307) HM
This sturdy log house was the home of Nathaniel Parker and his family. It originally stood about three miles north of here, in the neighborhood of Greenfield, one of the eight fortified stations built in the Bledsoe's Creek area in the middle and . . . — — Map (db m184865) HM
Col. Anthony Bledsoe
Born in Culpepper Co. VA, 1733
Killed by Indians about 200 yards west from this spot, July 20, 1788.
and his wife, Mary Ramsey Bledsoe
Born in Augusta Co. VA, 1734
Died in Sumner Co. Tenn, 1808
Col. Issac . . . — — Map (db m180309) HM
1/10 mi. N.W. is Bledsoe monument, marking gravesites of Revolutionary War veterans Anthony Bledsoe and brother Isaac, long hunters and early explorers in this area. Among early settlers in this region both were active in the civil and military . . . — — Map (db m82967) HM
Bledsoe's Fort Historical Park preserves the site of the settlement founded by Isaac Bledsoe in 1780. The frontier fort was occupied continuously from 1783 to 1806.
A Settlement in the Wilderness
Isaac Bledsoe first came to this area . . . — — Map (db m149922) HM
Digging into the Past
Historic documents and archaeological excavations conducted by Dr. Kevin Smith, Middle Tennessee State University, have revealed a great deal about Bledsoe's Fort. The Bledsoe family built the first cabins about 1783. . . . — — Map (db m183318) HM
The historical significance of the Bledsoe's Lick-Castalian Springs area extends far beyond Isaac Bledsoe's choice of this site for his settlement. It includes:
• Evidence of animal life in the ice age 30,000 years ago.
• Artifacts left by . . . — — Map (db m180177) HM
The spring to the north was a rendezvous for salt-seeking game in the pre-pioneer days. First settlers came in 1779. In 1787, Isaac and Anthony Bledsoe and their families settled here. The two brothers were killed by Indians and are buried in the . . . — — Map (db m68469) HM
Cragfont was the home of Confederate Maj. George W. Winchester (1822-1878), his mother, Susan Winchester, his wife, Malvina H. Gaines, and their children. Their surviving letters and diaries describe life during Union occupation.
George . . . — — Map (db m68465) HM WM
0.7 mile north, the home of James Winchester, built by artisans from his home state of Maryland and completed in 1802. He was a War of 1812 brigadier general, and in association with General Andrew Jackson and Judge John Overton was one of Memphis' . . . — — Map (db m82968) HM WM
The Cumberland Valley was once a shared Native American hunting ground, open to all and occupied by none. The arrival of Euro-American settlers upset that balance and ended in war.
A Shared Hunting Ground
When the first long hunters . . . — — Map (db m149924) HM
Revolutionary War veteran Major William Hall settled in this area in 1785 and built a station, 1 1/4 miles northeast. He and two sons were massacred a few years later. Born in North Carolina in 1775, General William Hall, his son, served in the . . . — — Map (db m68471) HM WM
William Brimage Bate was born here in 1826, and during the Civil War he rose to the rank of major general. He left home at the age of sixteen to be a clerk on a steamboat. During the Mexican War, he served as a lieutenant, then became a journalist, . . . — — Map (db m82969) HM WM
Known for honor and courage. One of the "Immortal Seventy". Born in Ireland 1747. Lived and died at Rogana 1813. Wife Ann Duffy 1757-1839.
In honor of
Revolutionary War Patriot
Hugh Rogan
Signer - Cumberland Compact, 1780
15 . . . — — Map (db m180302) HM
Isaac Bledsoe, a Virginian, explored the Cumberland territory as a longhunter, and in 1772, while on a hunting expedition with Kasper Mansker, he discovered the salt and sulphur water springs now known as Bledsoe's Lick, approximately one quarter . . . — — Map (db m183320) HM
Moving east along this road, Col. John H. Morgan, with the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry and attachments, met Brig. Gen. R.W. Johnson's task force of the 2nd Ind. Cavalry, 4th and 5th Kentucky Cavalry and 7th Pa. Cavalry. In a fight which covered about seven . . . — — Map (db m149920) HM
Nathaniel Parker was a seasoned outdoorsman when he came to the Cumberland Valley to hunt and explore. After several forays to this area, he returned to Sumner County with his family.
Veteran of the French and Indian War
Nathaniel . . . — — Map (db m184863) HM
Hugh Rogan was born in 1747 in Glentourn, County Donegal, Ireland. In adulthood, Rogan served under the patriot of Gratton and when his chief's Cause failed, he fled to America in 1775 fearing arrest by the British. After a short time spent in . . . — — Map (db m180159) HM
Isaac Bledsoe's Fort was one of eight Cumberland settlements named in the Compact of Government created in 1780 by the pioneers who first came into the Cumberland Valley and settled this land. They were the vanguard of the “great leap westward". . . . — — Map (db m183319) HM
This is one of the earliest log cabins in Sumner
County dating to circa 1790, originally built near Greenfield Fort by Nathaniel Parker who was a long hunter and settler. During the French and Indian War, he served with George Washington and was . . . — — Map (db m184862) HM
On this spot stood the hollow sycamore tree in which Thos. Sharpe Spencer spent the winter of 1778-79., deserted by his companions for fear of Indians. Spencer helped build at Bledsoe’s Lick, 50-yds. south of this spot, the first cabin in middle . . . — — Map (db m68468) HM WM
Nathaniel Parker settled here during a volatile time. He successfully survived those dangerous years, eventually replacing this cabin with a brick house.
A Good Friend is Lost
Nathaniel Parker was close to fifty-five years old when he . . . — — Map (db m184864) HM
Born 1.2 miles north, Oct. 7, 1826. An officer in river steamboats in early life, he was later an officer in the Mexican War. A major general in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. He was Governor of Tennessee from 1883 to 1887 and U.S. Senator from . . . — — Map (db m149921) HM
Col. Alfred Royal Wynne (1800-1893) was a trader and merchant in Castalian Springs. In 1828, he built this stagecoach inn along the Knoxville road. Although Wynne was a slaveholder and a Democrat, he also was a staunch Unionist and strongly opposed . . . — — Map (db m82970) WM
