Old Town Archaeological Site | |
Nearest city | Franklin, Tennessee |
---|---|
MPS | Mississippian Cultural Resources of the Central Basin MPS (40WM2) |
NRHP reference No. | 89000159[1] |
Added to NRHP | 1989 |
Old Town refers to three adjacent historic properties in Franklin, Tennessee, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1][2] The name "Old Town" was first given to the remnants of a Native American village and mound complex of the Mississippian culture, which is now listed on the National Register as an archaeological site. "Old Town" also is the name given to the Thomas Brown House, built on the site in the 1840s or 1850s,[3] and is reflected in the name of the Old Town Bridge that carried the Harpeth River branch of the Natchez Trace over Brown's Creek.[4]
Archaeological site
The name "Old Town" was first used for the remains of Mississippian-period Native American village and mound complex located alongside the Harpeth River at the mouth of Brown’s Creek (formerly called Donelson's Creek), on the Harpeth River route of the Old Natchez Trace. Archaeological investigations at the 12-acre (4.9 ha) archaeological site have uncovered artifacts dating from approximately 900 to 1450 AD. The village was surrounded by steep earthworks, portions of which were topped by a wooden stockade that is interpreted as having been intended as a protective fortification. Within the enclosure, the village area includes several large earthen mounds.[4]
The earliest archaeological investigation of the village site was by Dr. Joseph Jones, a medical doctor, in 1868.[5] It is described in his book Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1876.[4][5] Jones described the mound grouping as including two "pyramidal sacrificial mounds" and two burial mounds.[4] Mississippian mound complexes such as Old Town are thought to have been regional centers for civic and ceremonial activity, as well as serving as the permanent residences of ruling elites.[5]
At the Old Town site Jones also opened up at least 50 individual graves of a type called stone box burials.[4] In this type of burial, which was commonly used by Mississippian people in the central basin of Middle Tennessee, the dead were interred in shallow rectangular excavations lined with large thin slabs of limestone. A "nearly form-fitting" pit was dug to hold the person's remains, the bottom and sides were lined with appropriately sized rock slabs, the person's remains were laid inside, and the "box" was covered with another stone slab.[5][6][7] Most of these individual graves were located along the banks of the river and creek.[4]
In 1984 and 1991, the Tennessee Division of Archaeology conducted brief salvage excavations at the Old Town site in anticipation of construction and renovation projects. The artifacts collected allowed researchers to place Old Town's primary period of habitation at between 1250 and 1450 A.D. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal uncovered from a prehistoric trash pit returned a date of 1214 A.D.[8]
Bridge
Old Town Bridge was a frame structure built in 1801 by the U.S. government to carry the Harpeth River branch of the Natchez Trace over Brown's Creek. The bridge was rebuilt several times subsequently, but was dismantled some time before 1988. Only the limestone abutments remain.[2][4]
House
Old Town, the Thomas Brown House, was built by Thomas Brown at the Old Town site some time between 1842 and 1854.[3] It is a two-story frame structure built on an "I-House" plan, an example of vernacular architecture showing Greek Revival influences.[2]
National Register listings
The Thomas Brown House and Old Town Bridge were listed on the National Register in 1988 as part of the Williamson County Multiple Resources Assessment.[2] The Old Town Archaeological Site was listed on the National Register in 1989 as part of the Mississippian Cultural Resources of the Central Basin (A.D. 900 to A.D. 1450) Multiple Property Submission.[1][4][5]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
- ^ a b c d Thomason Associates and Tennessee Historical Commission (February, 1988). "Historic Resources of Williamson County (Partial Inventory of Historic and Architectural Properties)], National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination" (PDF).
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(help) - ^ a b The Williamson County MRA gives a date of 1842; NRIS gives the date as 1846; McGuinness gives the date as "circa 1854."
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kelly McGuinness, Old Town, FranklinIs.com website, accessed April 2, 2010
- ^ a b c d e Tennessee Historical Commission, Mississippian Cultural Resources of the Central Basin (A.D. 900 to A.D. 1450) Multiple Property Submission, January 31, 1989
- ^ Kelly McGuinness, Stone Box Indian Site, FranklinIs.com website, accessed April 2, 2010
- ^ Nashville's Native American History: Noel Creek Cemetery, Native Nashville website, accessed April 2, 2010
- ^ Kevin Smith, "Archaeology at Old Town (40WM2): A Mississippian Mound-Village Center in Williamson County, Tennessee," Tennessee Anthropologist, Vol. XVIII, no. 1 (Spring 1993), pp. 27-44.
Further reading
- Crutchfield, James A. Harpeth River: A Biography. Johnson City, TN. Overmountain Press. 1994. ISBN 1570720169, ISBN 9781570720161
- Crutchfield, James A. The Natchez Trace: a pictorial history. Nashville, TN. Rutledge Hill Press, 1985. (7th print edition in 2000 published by Thomas Nelson). ISBN 0934395039, ISBN 978-0934395038
- Goodpasture, Henry. Old Town. Nashville, TN. 1950.
- Jones, Joseph. Explorations of the Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee. Smithsonian Institution Contributions to Knowledge No. 259. 1876.
- Tennessee Division of Historic Preservation. National Register Properties: Williamson County, Tennessee. Franklin, TN. Providence House Press. 1995.