Old Stone Fort (Coffee County, Tennessee)

While moving my mother to Atlanta a couple of months ago, I drove past a sign for the Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park in central Tennessee. It caught my attention enough to research it a bit and what I found intrigued me. Set on the peninsula at the confluence of the Duck and Little Duck Rivers, the park protects a stone enclosure built by the Native Americans that inhabited this area during the Middle Woodland period around 1,500 years ago. Though early European settlers of the area that came many centuries later saw the structure as defensive in nature and called it a fort, this is probably unlikely.

As I'm passing back through this area to take my mother to visit my aunt in Kentucky, a quick hike around the ancient structure and park seemed a good way to stretch my legs on the long drive. We arrived at mid-day, but as it is a Thursday, there are only a few others in the parking lot at this time. The trail quickly departs and heads between two entrance mounds before opening up to the area enclosed by the fort wall, which is actually quite stunning. A large flat clearing of yellow grasses surrounded by a halo of orange and red trees showing their autumn plumage.

The trail follows the perimeter of the peninsula with options to hike below or above the wall. I choose to follow below for a better view of the river and waterfalls. The "fort wall" itself was created by piling stones to a height of four to six feet and then covering the pile with earth. After almost two millennia the wall now appears as a strange ridge line that encloses the plateau of the peninsula and reinforces the cliffs that drop off most sides of the area, as the two rivers cut gorges to descend to their confluence at the point of the area. Why did the indigenous peoples choose this place for their structure? It is quite beautiful to be sure, but what purpose the wall served is unclear.

Making my way around the peninsula in a clockwise direction, I'm amazed at the ruggedness of the terrain here in the middle of Tennessee. The gorges cut by these small rivers are pretty jagged and display several gorgeous waterfalls. I do a little rock scrambling on the cliff in attempts to get some good shots, but there are some pretty precarious situations to be found here and still wearing the splint on my broken finger doesn't help much. 

As I round the corner of the peninsula, I see that the wall actually has some intentional breaks in it. Again, I wonder why they didn't build it all the way around instead of in these long sections. We'll likely never know. 

Rounding the other side of the structure, I find the ruins of the Stone Fort Paper Company, built shortly before the Civil War. Now only a few crumbling stone walls remain, but apparently, there were three main structures back in the day utilizing the power of the river to produce paper and other products. It certainly adds even more history to an already historically interesting place, but I suspect visitors too preoccupied to read the informative signs will mistake these stone walls for those constructed by the much earlier inhabitants of this area.

After a great hike in the brisk fall air, I feel recharged and ready to continue our trip to my Aunt's house. I hiked about 1.8 miles around this very interesting ancient site and it was well worth it. The fall colors and colorful history of this place make for a great diversion, and the waterfalls are just a cherry on top of an already delicious ice cream sundae.