Bledsoe's Fort and Monument

Nothing of the fort stands, but archaeologists found it. Middle Tennessee State University excavated the site in the late 1990s and uncovered root cellars from log cabins and the line of the stockade; the old trenches still outline the walls. Avery's Trace, the road joining Fort Southwest Point to Nashville, passed a few hundred feet to the east, and the botanist André Michaux and the future King Louis-Philippe are recorded as guests. Sumner County bought the site in 1989, and a short loop trail follows part of the old road past a pioneer cemetery.

What the plaque says

Bledsoe's Fort and Monument 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 life of early south-west. About 200 yds. W. is site of Isaac's fort, known as Bledsoe's, built in 1783, used by nearby families during Indian attacks. Both were slain by Indians in fort vicinity.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Wynnewood State Historic Site — 0.5 mi
  A National Historic Landmark log inn at the Bledsoe's Lick springs, beside a Mississippian mound center and tied to the domestic slave trade.
• Andrew Jackson's Hermitage — 20 mi
  Andrew Jackson's cotton plantation east of Nashville, where visitors can walk to the quarters, Alfred's Cabin and the Enslaved Cemetery as well as the mansion.
• Ryman Auditorium — 30 mi
  The 1892 brick tabernacle in downtown Nashville that was the Grand Ole Opry's home from 1943 to 1974, now a National Historic Landmark and working concert hall.
• National Museum of African American Music — 30 mi
  A downtown Nashville museum, opened in 2021, tracing gospel, blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and hip-hop through Black history from 1619 to 2016.

More markers nearby

• Abraham "Abram" Bledsoe — steps away
• Bledsoe's Lick — 0.4 mi
• William Brimage Bate — 0.4 mi
• First Settlers in Middle Tennessee — 0.5 mi