Groundbreaking Held Today for Johnsonville State Historic Park Visitor Center
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 | 12:14pm
NEW JOHNSONVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke and Representative John Tidwell joined other elected officials and members of the community today for a groundbreaking ceremony at the Johnsonville State Historic Park Visitor Center.
Slated to open in the spring of 2011, the Johnsonville State Historic Park Visitor Center will house several interpretative displays that will detail the rich history of this area. In addition to welcoming visitors and residents, the new center will serve as a well-deserved reminder of the important role this area played as a supply depot during the Civil War, and in Tennessee’s transportation history – including travel and transport by river, rail and road.
Located approximately three miles from the park’s entrance, the new Visitor Center also will accommodate park offices and meeting space. Using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, the project costs are estimated at $1.6 million.
“This new Visitor Center is possible thanks to the hard work of a number of individuals and organizations, showing once again the power of partnerships in improving our award-winning state park system,” said Fyke. “While there are far too many people to name individually, I would like to extend a special thanks to Al Hethcoat, Sr. for his expertise in getting this project off the ground, along with Commissioner Gerald Nicely and the entire team at TDOT for helping secure the ARRA funds necessary to jumpstart this effort. Those efforts, coupled with the hard work of the Friends of Johnsonville State Historic Area and Humphreys County’s generous donation of the land, are helping us create a place that will attract more people to both the park and surrounding community.”
Some of the unique stories that will be chronicled at the new Visitor Center include the Battle of Johnsonville, when the Confederate Cavalry captured a gunboat and destroyed a Union supply depot in an effort to slow Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s advance through the south.
Other military themes will incorporate descriptions of this important supply depot, its camps, the mounted infantry, entrenched artillery, and the fortifications made both before and after the Battle of Johnsonville.
Another key account at the new Visitor Center will be about the African-American Federal soldiers that guarded the Johnsonville supply depot and would later be thrusted toward the Confederate line in the Battle of Nashville. Their story will begin at the time these soldiers were considered “contraband,” to the important role they played in building the railroad from Nashville to Johnsonville, followed by their conscription as Union soldiers. Additional highlights will include information about their camps, fortifications and artillery.
The transportation narrative is fundamental to Johnsonville’s history – from the establishment and maintenance of the railroad, to the river transport that moved supplies and fortifications along the Tennessee River and were off-loaded in Johnsonville for transport by train to Nashville and beyond.
Located off U.S. Highway 70, Johnsonville State Historic Park is named for Military Governor Andrew Johnson. This 600-acre park, on the eastern side of Kentucky Lake, encompasses and overlooks the site of the Battle of Johnsonville. On November 4, 1864, Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry took up artillery positions on the west bank of the Tennessee River. Calvary forces under Forrest who had already sunk four Union gunboats downstream, opened fire on the depot from across the river and proceeded to set fire to and sink numerous Federal riverboats in their moorings. Confederate gunfire resulted in the burning of the supply depot, destroying millions of dollars worth of Union Army stores. Two large artillery redoubts and other surviving fortifications can be visited at the park.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site of the new Visitor Center, located approximately three miles south of the park along Nell Beard Road. For additional information about the park, please visit www.tnstateparks.com/Johnsonville.
Tennessee's 53 state parks offer diverse natural, recreational and cultural experiences for individuals, families or business and professional groups. State park features range from pristine natural areas to 18-hole championship golf courses. For a free brochure about Tennessee State Parks, call toll free at 1-888-867-2757. For additional information, visit our Web site at www.tnstateparks.com.
###