Captain John Gordon's brick house stands beside the Duck River at milepost 407.7, one of only two structures left on the Parkway from the days of the Old Trace. In 1802 Gordon went into partnership with William Colbert, a Chickasaw leader, to run a ferry and an inn here, because the ground was still Chickasaw territory and any business on it needed a Chickasaw partner. The Chickasaw ceded the land in 1805, and Tennessee then granted it to Gordon on the strength of his improvements.
Gordon moved his family here for good in 1812 and soon left to scout for Andrew Jackson against the Red Stick faction of the Muscogee (Creek). The Park Service sets his service beside its cost: the Muscogee were forced to give up 23 million acres. His wife Dolly ran the land and oversaw construction of the house in 1818 while he was away again, working from his letters about where the windows should go. He died in 1819. Dolly stayed until her death in 1859, running the farm with her children and enslaved people. Cotton, cattle and hogs supported the family.
You cannot go inside, but you can walk around the house and follow a short trail on the Old Trace to Fattybread Branch and down to the river, where the ferry kept running until a bridge replaced it in 1896. There are restrooms, picnic tables and parking, and the Parkway charges no fee.
The closest stops worth working into your route
Roadside plaques and monuments within a short detour