Directly connected to the founding of Nashville, Tennessee, the historic Fort Nashborough represents an important element of Tennessee and American history. This landmark has been recreated in many details in downtown Nashville to reflect the lifestyle of frontier pioneers in the late 1700s, allowing audiences to experience this history and legacy on multiple levels.
The History and Legacy of Fort Nashborough
Constructed between 1780 and 1781, Fort Nashborough was originally known as the French Lick, or Bluff Station. Designed to protect settlers from attack, It contained twenty log cabins and was where the Cumberland Compact was signed, which served as a guide for land transactions and as a simple constitutional government for settlers. While the fort was abandoned in 1794, the settlement became the capital of the new state of Tennessee in 1796.
While the fort would eventually be overtaken and transformed by the city of Nashville, in the 1920s, members of the Daughters of the American Revolution led an effort to educate residents and visitors about the history associated with Nashville’s original settlement. The city provided the land and a project to recreate the original fort was funded. This replica fell into disrepair and was discarded in 2015, making way for the current Fort Nashborough that defines the location.
In 2017, this new replica setup of Fort Nashborough debuted. It is the third replica of the original Nashville settlers’ fort on the Cumberland River. It features a more inclusive representation of the past, such as a plaza dedicated to Native American history. The 8-foot-tall feather sculpture helps to detail the various tribes and their roles in early Nashville history. Reconstructed buildings allow audiences to see how the settlers lived and worked Other elements like the commemorative marker in appreciation of the services of Colonel John Donelson have also been kept at the location.
Designed to provide visitors with a more complete look at the lives of the early settlers than previous fort replicas offered, Fort Nashborough allows audiences to experience the early history of Nashville in a way that resonates across the eras.
Connecting the Past and Present of Nashville
Overlooking Riverfront Park in downtown Nashville, Fort Nashborough has an incredibly strong connection to the past and present of the city and state. In doing so, it showcases what it can mean to enable engagements that make sense for audiences in the present and future of a community and entire region.
