Port Royal State Historic Park is a 26 acre (105,000 m²) historic area on the border of Montgomery and

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Places ...

. The community of Port Royal is the namesake of the site. Port Royal existed as a town from 1797 to 1940, when the post office officially closed. The Red River runs through the center of the park. The park was established to preserve the former town and the elements of early Tennessee history, the history of the Red River Valley, as well as the heritage of the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

and the Black Patch Tobacco Wars.

History

Port Royal was the site of one of the earliest colonial communities in middle Tennessee, being first settled in the early 1780s. In the years 1838 and 1839, the town of Port Royal served as a resupply station for the

Chickamauga Cherokee The Chickamauga Cherokee refers to a group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War. The majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the Americans near the end of 1776, following se ...

along the march to Oklahoma on the

and was the last of such in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

on the northern route of the Trail. Port Royal State Historic Park preserves several sections of the original roadbed used by the Cherokee and one section, is an officially designated roadbed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. Being situated at an important junction of roads and rivers, Port Royal became one of the few stops on the "Great Western Road" stagecoach line between

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, and Hopkinsville, Kentucky. In 1977, the State of Tennessee received the deed to 26 acres (105,000 m²) of land at Port Royal, and designated it a State Historic Area in 1978.

Features of Port Royal State Park

With Port Royal being such an important place of travel, transportation themes play heavily into the parks and communities history. Existing within the park are the remains of several old roadbeds, with one dating back to prehistoric times and one a certified Trail of Tears site. Preserved within the park is an excellent example of an early

Pratt truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

design steel bridge being built in 1890. This bridge spans the Sulphur Fork Creek and is well preserved. The bridge is available to foot traffic only. There are also the remains of a covered bridge that was damaged during a flood in 1998. This bridge dates from 1978 and was a 75% scale recreation of a bridge from 1904. Oral tradition suggests that the stone in the remaining piers originally came from the Port Royal Mills and dam which dates back to circa 1800. The 1859 Masonic Lodge and General Store stands as the only structure of the former town and overlooks the archaeological townsite, where foundation stones from the buildings that used to line the main street of Port Royal can still be seen.

External links

WildernetPort Royal State Park Official WebsitePort Royal
- TN History for Kids, park details and photos {{authority control State parks of Tennessee Protected areas of Montgomery County, Tennessee Protected areas of Robertson County, Tennessee Trail of Tears