Port Royal, Tennessee
Encyclopedia
Port Royal is a historic unincorporated community
on the border of Montgomery
and Robertson counties in the U.S. state
of Tennessee
. It is home to Port Royal State Park
. It is located at the confluence
of the Red River
and Sulphur Fork Creek.
. The first settlers who arrived there were members of the Prince family and others who were coming from the "Old 96"
(now Spartanburg) district of South Carolina
. This was likely in 1784. Soon after the Tennessee County
court held its first meeting nearby on Parsons Creek. In 1791, the Red River Baptist Church was founded at the mouth of the Sulphur Fork Creek. This church is thought to have been the only church for nearly 200 miles (321.9 km) during its first few years of use. This church is still active today in Adams, Tennessee
.
In 1796, when the State of Tennessee was founded, five delegates from Tennessee County were selected to represent the county at the Tennessee Constitutional Convention
in Knoxville
. Four of the five were from the settlement that was to become Port Royal.
On October 25, 1797, the town of Port Royal was incorporated. It quickly became a thriving center of commerce for the upper Middle Tennessee
and South Central Kentucky
area. This was because of its strategic location at the confluence of the Red River and the Sulphur Fork Creek. These streams meander through eastern Montgomery
, Robertson and Sumner
counties in Tennessee, and Logan County, Kentucky
and drain nearly 975 square miles.
In the fall of 1838 the Cherokee
removal to Oklahoma
, enforced by the Indian Removal Act
of 1830, crossed the Red River at Port Royal. A letter from Elijah Hicks to Principal Chief John Ross, tells of the stay at Port Royal. This is the only written record of this stopping place, but of the 11 detachments that were moved, it is known that eight of them followed the designated North Route that went through Port Royal. This terrible event came to be known as the Trail of Tears
.
By the mid-19th century, a principal stagecoach
route had been located through Port Royal. This was for a time, the main route to the west from the southeast. Newspaper articles from the mid-19th century mention Port Royal being on the "Great Road to the West".
In 1842, the Tennessee Silk Manufacturing Company and Agricultural School was opened in Port Royal to train workers in manufacturing cloth from silk
that was then being produced by area farmers. At his 1843 inauguration Governor James C. Jones
wore a silk suit manufactured in Port Royal. The silk industry failed at Port Royal really before it even got started. One of the share holders, A.D. Carden, left for Europe with all of the shareholders funds in order to purchase machinery but was never to be heard from again.
Port Royal continued to thrive until after the Civil War
. The end of the Civil War brought severe economic depression
to the South
in general and Port Royal felt the effects strongly, resulting in many business' ceasing operation. To further complicate things, the L&N Railroad had just come through Adams and Clarksville, Tennessee
, and Guthrie, Kentucky
, surrounding the town of Port Royal with railroad access on all sides. With such means of goods transportation available, river travel on smaller tributaries quickly became obsolete. Soon, all of the commerce and culture that the town had enjoyed for so long, moved to other towns with railroad access.
By the early 20th century, Port Royal had become a small crossroads town and in 1941, when the post office closed, Port Royal was merely a small farming community.
Noting the importance of Port Royal in the history of the State of Tennessee and the nation, the Tennessee Division of State Parks decided to acquire the land and preserve it in perpetuity. The small town is now known as Port Royal State Park
. It is also an officially certified site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
International Sweethearts of Rhythm
was led by Anna Mae Winburn
, who was born in Port Royal in 1913.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
on the border of Montgomery
Montgomery County, Tennessee
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The county seat is Clarksville. The population was 172,331 at the 2010 census. It is one of the four counties included in the Clarksville, TN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area....
and Robertson counties in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. It is home to Port Royal State Park
Port Royal State Park
Port Royal State Historic Park is a 26 acre Historic area on the border of Montgomery and Robertson counties in Tennessee. The historic community of Port Royal is its namesake. The Red River runs through the center of the park, and the covered bridge at Port Royal once crossed it...
. It is located at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Red River
Red River (Tennessee-Kentucky)
The Red River, long, is a major stream of north-central Tennessee and south-central Kentucky and a major tributary of the Cumberland River....
and Sulphur Fork Creek.
History
Port Royal is one of the earliest and was one of the most populous settlements outside of NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. The first settlers who arrived there were members of the Prince family and others who were coming from the "Old 96"
Old 96 District
Old 96 District, now a popular tourist destination in South Carolina, was originally inhabited by the Cherokee. The region continued support a great amount of textile mills and various other businesses. The region is now a destination for tourists containing: churches, battle sites , and other...
(now Spartanburg) district of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. This was likely in 1784. Soon after the Tennessee County
Tennessee County
Tennessee County was a subdivision of the territory of North Carolina that later became the state of Tennessee.Tennessee County was organized in 1788 from a portion of Davidson County. It was abolished in 1796 when Tennessee Tennessee County was a subdivision of the territory of North Carolina that...
court held its first meeting nearby on Parsons Creek. In 1791, the Red River Baptist Church was founded at the mouth of the Sulphur Fork Creek. This church is thought to have been the only church for nearly 200 miles (321.9 km) during its first few years of use. This church is still active today in Adams, Tennessee
Adams, Tennessee
Adams is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 633 at the 2010 census.-History:Originally incorporated as Red River in 1869, the town was renamed Adams in 1898 in honor of James Reuben Adams, who first owned much of the land on which the town was built. The town's...
.
In 1796, when the State of Tennessee was founded, five delegates from Tennessee County were selected to represent the county at the Tennessee Constitutional Convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
in Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
. Four of the five were from the settlement that was to become Port Royal.
On October 25, 1797, the town of Port Royal was incorporated. It quickly became a thriving center of commerce for the upper Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....
and South Central Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
area. This was because of its strategic location at the confluence of the Red River and the Sulphur Fork Creek. These streams meander through eastern Montgomery
Montgomery County, Tennessee
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The county seat is Clarksville. The population was 172,331 at the 2010 census. It is one of the four counties included in the Clarksville, TN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, Robertson and Sumner
Sumner County, Tennessee
Sumner County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 130,449. Its county seat is Gallatin, but its largest town is Hendersonville...
counties in Tennessee, and Logan County, Kentucky
Logan County, Kentucky
Logan County is a county located in the southwest area of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 26,573. Its county seat is Russellville...
and drain nearly 975 square miles.
In the fall of 1838 the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
removal to Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, enforced by the Indian Removal Act
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830.The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in...
of 1830, crossed the Red River at Port Royal. A letter from Elijah Hicks to Principal Chief John Ross, tells of the stay at Port Royal. This is the only written record of this stopping place, but of the 11 detachments that were moved, it is known that eight of them followed the designated North Route that went through Port Royal. This terrible event came to be known as the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
.
By the mid-19th century, a principal stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
route had been located through Port Royal. This was for a time, the main route to the west from the southeast. Newspaper articles from the mid-19th century mention Port Royal being on the "Great Road to the West".
In 1842, the Tennessee Silk Manufacturing Company and Agricultural School was opened in Port Royal to train workers in manufacturing cloth from silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
that was then being produced by area farmers. At his 1843 inauguration Governor James C. Jones
James C. Jones
James Chamberlain Jones was the Governor of Tennessee from 1841 to 1845, and a United States Senator from that state from 1851 to 1857...
wore a silk suit manufactured in Port Royal. The silk industry failed at Port Royal really before it even got started. One of the share holders, A.D. Carden, left for Europe with all of the shareholders funds in order to purchase machinery but was never to be heard from again.
Port Royal continued to thrive until after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. The end of the Civil War brought severe economic depression
Depression (economics)
In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle....
to the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
in general and Port Royal felt the effects strongly, resulting in many business' ceasing operation. To further complicate things, the L&N Railroad had just come through Adams and Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and the fifth largest city in the state. The population was 132,929 in 2010 United States Census...
, and Guthrie, Kentucky
Guthrie, Kentucky
Guthrie is a city in Todd County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,469 at the 2000 census. The city is named for James Guthrie, president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad when the city was incorporated in 1867.-Geography:...
, surrounding the town of Port Royal with railroad access on all sides. With such means of goods transportation available, river travel on smaller tributaries quickly became obsolete. Soon, all of the commerce and culture that the town had enjoyed for so long, moved to other towns with railroad access.
By the early 20th century, Port Royal had become a small crossroads town and in 1941, when the post office closed, Port Royal was merely a small farming community.
Noting the importance of Port Royal in the history of the State of Tennessee and the nation, the Tennessee Division of State Parks decided to acquire the land and preserve it in perpetuity. The small town is now known as Port Royal State Park
Port Royal State Park
Port Royal State Historic Park is a 26 acre Historic area on the border of Montgomery and Robertson counties in Tennessee. The historic community of Port Royal is its namesake. The Red River runs through the center of the park, and the covered bridge at Port Royal once crossed it...
. It is also an officially certified site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
Notable residents
The 1940s all-female, integrated big bandBig band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
International Sweethearts of Rhythm
International Sweethearts of Rhythm
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was the first integrated all women's band in the United States. During the 1940s the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day...
was led by Anna Mae Winburn
Anna Mae Winburn
Anna Mae Winburn, née Darden was an African American vocalist and jazz bandleader who flourished beginning in the mid 1930s...
, who was born in Port Royal in 1913.
- James Ford - Signer of the Tennessee Constitution
- William Prince - Signer of the Tennessee Constitution
- Robert Prince - Signer of the Tennessee Constitution
- William Fort - Signer of the Tennessee Constitution