A historic structure built along an ancient trading path is among properties in four Chattanooga-area counties that got a taste of $2 million in matching grant funding from the Tennessee Historical Commission for preservation projects.
Chattanooga-based National Park Partners received a $150,000 matching grant for the structural restoration of Brown’s Tavern, the oldest standing structure on its original foundation in the county, with connections dating to the Cherokee Trail of Tears and the Civil War, according to a commission news release.
“National Park Partners is planning to use these funds to match other grants and private donations for an authentic restoration of the Brown’s Ferry Tavern,” Tricia King Mims, executive director of the conservation group National Park Partners said in an email. “Our intent is to restore the historic integrity of the tavern as an important witness structure to pivotal chapters in our local and national history, including the Trail of Tears and the Civil War Battles for Chattanooga.
“Currently, we work with the National Park Service and the Trail of Tears Association to host programs on the property for Lookout Valley Elementary School students and other educational and historical groups,” Mims said. “When the property is restored, we will assess options for additional interpretation and public access.”
Brown’s Tavern, built in 1803 prior to the city’s founding, was established by John Brown, a prominent Cherokee businessman. The site’s narrative features Native American and Civil War history embedded in more than 200 years of existence, according to the partners group’s historical information on the site. After Brown and his family’s forced removal from the land on the Trail of Tears, he returned to the site now included on the National Register of Historic Places. The land is part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
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The property also served as an important witness to the October 1863 Battle of Brown’s Ferry, which opened the vital “cracker line” or food supply for Union Army forces during the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.
For 150 years, the tavern and surrounding land was mostly undisturbed until development pressure presented a threat to the history and legacy of the land. According to the partners group’s historical accounts, local businessman and preservationist Bill Chapin played a role in the preservation of the property by assuming interim ownership and easing the pressure while the American Battlefield Trust assembled the grants needed for acquisition four years ago.
The trust acquired the tavern and property in September 2020 with an agreement with the partners group to be its stewards, according to the group’s historical accounts.
Elsewhere in Southeast Tennessee, McMinn County’s historical Black church, Bethsalem Cumberland Presbyterian Church, received $55,000 for restoration work, Savage Gulf State Park in Grundy County got $45,000 for trail work and the Coffee County Historical Society got $150,000 for restoration work at the county courthouse, according to the release from the commission.
Staff Photo by Ben Benton / The 1871-era Coffee County Courthouse is seen in 2013. The Tennessee Historical Commission recently awarded a $150,000 matching preservation grant for improvements to the building’s main entrance.The commission awarded 23 matching grants totaling $2 million from the Historic Property/Land Acquisition Fund program. According to the commission, funding for the grants comes from real estate transfer tax growth funds.
“This new state grant program is an important component of our mission of revitalizing historic places across Tennessee,” Patrick McIntyre, Tennessee State Historic Preservation officer and executive director of the commission, said in the release.
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The grant program requires a 10% match of project funds from the grantee and is for properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places that also have a strong public engagement component such as museums, courthouses and libraries.
BETHSALEM PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
McMinn County’s historical Black church, Bethsalem Cumberland Presbyterian Church, will use its $55,000 for window restoration, according to the commission. When it was constructed in August 1866, having started out under a brush arbor, it was the first church for African Americans in the area of McMinn, Meigs and Polk counties, according to commission waymarker information at the site.
In its first construction as a log cabin, it served as a church on Sundays and a school throughout the week. The log building burned in the 1920s and was rebuilt by friends and neighbors and is still used for homecoming events each August.
COFFEE COUNTY COURTHOUSE
The Coffee County Historical Society’s $150,000 grant will be used to restore the main entrance to the county courthouse in Manchester, according to the commission. The Coffee County Courthouse was first built in 1837 but was destroyed by fire in 1870, county officials told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2013.
According to a 1936 county history, the replacement building cost about $20,000 and was remodeled in 1909 and underwent some repairs in 1932. The county has continued to maintain the building though there have been no major recent renovations.
SAVAGE GULF STATE PARK
In Grundy County, Savage Gulf State Park, named the state’s 57th state park in September 2022, will use its $45,000 in grant funding for trail improvements, according to the commission. The area is also a National Natural Landmark and features old-growth forest, waterfalls and the Great Stone Door, a cliff with a top-to-bottom crack resembling a doorway.
There were also grant awards in Tennessee’s Carroll, Carter, Davidson, Fentress, Gibson, Grainger, Greene, Haywood, Hawkins, Henry, Humphreys, Jefferson, Lincoln, Monroe, Roane, Shelby, Sullivan and Williamson counties.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.
Note: This story was updated on Nov. 7 to correct the nature of Brown’s Tavern’s historic claim to fame.
Staff Photo / The overlook from the Great Stone Door is photographed in 2015 in Savage Gulf State Park. A $45,000 matching preservation grant from the Tennessee Historical Commission will fund trail improvements within the park.