{"id":9188,"date":"2011-12-01T16:00:48","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T22:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=9188"},"modified":"2011-12-01T05:02:36","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T11:02:36","slug":"port-royal-state-park-announces-new-interpretive-exhibits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2011\/12\/01\/port-royal-state-park-announces-new-interpretive-exhibits\/","title":{"rendered":"Port Royal State Park Announces New Interpretive Exhibits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TennesseeAdams, TN<\/strong> – Port Royal State Park today announced the installation of five new outdoor interpretive exhibits, designed to tell the story of the area\u2019s history including information about the town of Port Royal and the Trail of Tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the first outdoor interpretative signage in the park, this is a great milestone toward our efforts to enhance visitors\u2019 experiences in Port Royal State Park,\u201d said Park Manager Allen Fenoseff. \u201cThese new exhibits will educate park visitors about the historic significance of Port Royal and the part this area played in shaping the state of Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because Port Royal played such an important role in how travelers or settlers passed through Tennessee, transportation themes are prominently featured as part of the local community\u2019s history.
\nPort Royal was the site of one of the earliest Colonial communities and trading posts in Middle Tennessee. Today, visitors can stroll through the park and still see the foundation remains of original homesteads, stores and warehouses all dating back to the 18th century.<\/p>\n

Settled in the early 1780s, Port Royal was a known Longhunter camp as early as 1775. The town of Port Royal was founded in 1797 and rose to great prominence in the early part of the 19th century because of its strategic location at the headwaters of the Red River, serving all of northern Middle Tennessee and South Central Kentucky through a major stagecoach route.<\/p>\n

\u201cSituated at an important junction of roads and rivers, Port Royal became the only stop in Tennessee on what was called the \u2018Great Western Road\u2019 stagecoach line between Nashville and Golconda, IL and served as such until the 20th century,\u201d added Fenoseff.<\/p>\n

Preserved within the park is an excellent example of an early Pratt truss-designed steel bridge, which was built in 1887. This bridge spans the Sulphur Fork Creek and offers visitors a picturesque vantage point of both the Red River and the Sulphur Fork Creek. This bridge is available to foot traffic only.<\/p>\n

There also are existing remains of several old roadbeds with one dating back to prehistoric times, including the certified Trail of Tears National Historic Trail site. The Trail of Tears commemorates the forced removal of Native Americans from their homelands in the Southeastern United States and the paths they traveled westward in 1838 and 1839. Diary records of their removal mentioned Port Royal, the last stop before leaving Tennessee, as an encampment site where the Cherokee stayed overnight to re-supply, grind corn and rest.<\/p>\n

Below is a brief description of the five new outdoor exhibits<\/h3>\n