Leiper's Fork (also spelled Leipers Fork) is an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

rural village in

Williamson County, Tennessee Williamson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 247,726. The county seat is Franklin, and the county is located in Middle Tennessee. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, ...

. It has a population of about 650 on an area of about . Most of the village shares a ZIP code with

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

. The village, located on the Natchez Trace Parkway, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as an

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

History

Leiper's Fork is located along the

Natchez Trace The Natchez Trace, also known as the Old Natchez Trace, is a historic forest trail within the United States which extends roughly from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers. ...

, which was an important travel route for Native Americans and early European-American settlers. The area was settled in the late 1700s by settlers from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

who had received land grants as payment for service in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. Colonel Jesse Steed received a land grant of that includes the site of the village. He sold the area to Jesse Benton, who established a homestead. His son, Thomas Hart Benton, who later was to become

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, moved the family there in 1801 after his father's death. Natchez Trace travelers called the community around the Benton homestead Bentontown, but over time the area came to be called Hillsboro. In 1818, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

was established in the community. It is believed that the Hillsboro name was already in use for a community in Coffee County, so the post office was given the name of Leiper's Fork for the stream that runs through the village. The namesake of Leiper's Fork creek was one of two brothers: Hugh Leiper, who completed an early land survey in the area, or Captain James Leiper, who died in the Battle of the Bluffs at

Fort Nashborough Fort Nashborough, also known as Fort Bluff, Bluff Station, French Lick Fort, Cumberland River Fort and other names, was the stockade established in early 1779 in the French Lick area of the Cumberland River valley, as a forerunner to the settl ...

in 1781. Growth of the village was stimulated by traffic on the

. Largely as a result of its transportation access, Leiper's Fork was historically the center of trade for western Williamson County and the center of religious and social activities in the area. The Leiper's Fork post office operated until 1918.

Education

In 1890, a private school for grades 1 to 12 was established in Leiper's Fork. The school, known as Hillsboro High School, operated as a private school until 1904. The Williamson County school board acquired the school property in 1905 and opened a public school there for children from Leiper's Fork and the surrounding area. The school burned down in 1930 when it was struck by lightning, and a new school was built on the same site in 1931. It operated until the late 1970s when it was replaced by a newer building. The new Hillsboro School, which opened in 1981, is a public

elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, an ...

and

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

. In 1998, the old Hillsboro School became the Hillsboro-Leiper's Fork Community Center, which is operated by the county government and includes recreational facilities, a

senior center A senior center (or senior centre) is a type of community center where older adults congregate for fellowship with others to fulfill many of their social, physical, emotional, and intellectual needs. A regular part of senior centers is card and bo ...

and a branch of the county

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

system.

Commerce

Commercial businesses in Leiper's Fork include inns and restaurants,

antique store An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of antiques. Antiques shops can be located either locally or, with the advent of the Internet, found online. An antiques shop can also be located within an anti ...

s, a woodworking shop, private

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

, and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

offices.

Events

Leiper's Fork hosts many annual festivals and events. These include music festivals, annual turkey shoots in November, and model airplane competitions in September. Th
Hillbilly Half Marathon & Little Billy 5K
the first weekend in June brings in about 1000 runners from around the country. Th
Heroes in Recovery 6K
in mid-September is another race that draws a good crowd. The annual "Almost Famous Leiper's Fork Christmas Parade," the second Saturday in December, is known as a "quirky" array of animals, classic cars and country fun.

References

External links

* {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Williamson County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee Natchez Trace Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Williamson County, Tennessee