Montgomery County Historical Society

The Montgomery County Historical
Society in Clarksville, Tennessee has become one of the finest
repositories of historical materials in the region, since the
early period when various Native American tribes lived and
thrived along the Cumberland and Red Rivers; including the Paleo-Indians,
the Archaic, the Woodland and the Mississippian tribes that have
left plenty of evidence of their living and being here, those
many centuries ago. With some knowledge beforehand, John
Donelson would begin a historic journey with his flotilla of
flatboats as they moved along the Tennessee River. An excerpt
from one of his journals stated that on April 12, 1780, one
Moses Renfroe and a party would take their leave of the main
group and climb the hills above the Red River and begin a
settlement that would exist for just a short time. By the early
1780s, there were three major stations located in the Cumberland
Red River area; the Prince's Station that had been started in
1782, near Sulphur Fork and Red River, then Neville's Station
that was started in 1784 between Prince's Station and
Clarksville; and the Clarksville Station that was the only one
of the three that would grow into a city, which was also started
in 1784 by the confluence of the Cumberland and Red Rivers. In
the start of the new year in 1784, one John Montgomery and
Martin Armstrong would survey the area and begin selling lots,
naming it after General George Rogers Clark, a great Indian
fighter and Revolutionary War hero. By the end of 1785, the
state of North Carolina had established Clarksville as a town,
even though there were numerous Indian attacks, it would still
be surveyed and plotted, with early settlers coming here to try
and recreate the homes and lifestyles that they had before
coming here, but in this wilderness. In 1796, Tennessee would
become a state of its own, Tennessee County that had Clarksville
in its region, was soon divided into Montgomery and Robertson
Counties, with Clarksville becoming the seat of Montgomery
county. The Montgomery name would be in honor of John
Montgomery, who was one of the founders as well as being known
for his prowess as an Indian fighter and Revolutionary War
leader. During the early years of the 19th century the area
would progress quite well, with new roads, bridges, railroads
and construction of churches and schools. In the 1860s, as the
Civil War broke out, citizens would have to declare their
allegiance to either the Union or the Confederacy; with the
folks in Montgomery County voting to secede or remain in the
Union, with just 33 out of the 2,664 residents voting against
the secession, so Forts Donelson, Henry and Defiance would be
constructed to prepare for the Union invasion, only to fall to
them in 1862. Once the Civil War was over, the Cumberland River
would continue to be a main source of traveling the regions, and
soon Clarksville would become known for its production of dark
fired tobacco, which would become the main money crop for the
area. During the years from 1900 to 1940, the city's trade and
business would continue growing as did the town since it was so
closely intertwined with the agricultural business. In the
latter 19th century and the early 20th century, education would
become very important, so the Rural Academy would be opened in
1806 on the current site of the Austin Peay State University,
which had its roots begin in 1929 as the Austin Peay Normal
School, which was a two year school to train teachers for the
rural public schools of the state. During WWII, the military
would once again create an impact on the region, when it
constructed Fort Campbell in Montgomery County set on 42,000
acres that had been purchased for its creation and by June 1942,
the relocation of many families would be finished. The post
would be named in honor of General William Bowen Campbell; which
became a permanent installation in 1950.
Dunbar Cave
The
Dunbar Cave State Park in Clarksville, Tennessee sits on 110
acres of land that encompasses the Dunbar Cave, that is the
280th biggest cave system in the world, running 8.067 miles into
the earth's core, with a marvelous and big concrete poured
structure running along the front entrance containing three
distinct arches. The cave sits in karst topography with
limestone bedrock, springs and sinkholes, with a lovely lake
along its frontage called Swan Lake, which was manmade. The
entrance or the area within the entrance had been the site of
many prehistoric natives for thousands of years before the first
European settlers came here, leaving awesome drawings on the
cave walls that could be anything, but researchers believe them
to be more related to religion or its ceremonies. Isaac Rowe
Peterson had come to the region and liked what he saw, so he
claimed it and left to bring his family back in 1790, but while
he was gone, Thomas Dunbar arrived and claimed it for himself
and brought his family here and settled it. By the time Peterson
got back and discovered the claim, he would become involved in a
difficult legal fight that eventually gave him the clear title
in 1792, even though the name was Dunbar would be kept. In the
Mexican-American War, the cave would be mined for saltpeter,
which was one of the main ingredients of gunpowder, and after it
was over, in 1858, some developers arrived here and saw the
outstanding potential , especially with the Idaho Springs being
located nearby and constructed the first cabins in the area.
Once the Civil War was finished, the cave and springs would be
acquired by J. A. Tate, who would build a two-story hotel there.
By 1931, the area could boast of numerous social events, that
included fairs, dances and concerts, but was in dire need of
repairs and refurbishment. The state had just finished putting
in a new road by the front of the hotel and a few businessmen in
the area began cleaning up the site, putting in more
recreational facilities and activities, that included a
bathhouse, tennis courts and a concrete swimming pool, as well
as renovating the hotel and enlarging it. The lake that was
there already would be dammed to increase its size to 20 acres;
and then, in 1948, Roy Acuff would purchase the cave for
$150,000, which became the site of entertainment shows and
musical festivals, hosting big bands like Tommy Dorsey and Benny
Goodman; also adding a golf course next to the lake, although it
slowly but surely declined in popularity as the nation opened up
with the transcontinental roadway system and other areas became
just as popular. McKay King bought in in 1963, and operated the
Dunbar cave complex until his passing in 1971, although the pool
had closed down in 1967. His widow, would inherit the property,
and in 1973, the state bought it to become a state natural area.
In January of 2005, park specialist Amy Wallace, history
professor Joe Douglas, geologist and author Larry E. Matthews
and local historian Billy Frank Morrison would discover the
magnificent Native American petroglyphs in the cave, containing
over 30 drawings and etchings that could be dated to the
Mississippian era using torches and uncovering many relics near
by. A few of the pictographs are believed to be religious
symbols, with one showing a Mississippian supernatural warrior.