Trust Secures Multifaceted History at Brown’s Ferry

Originally published November 2020 · p. 35

Brown’s Tavern, dating to 1803, has connections to the Cherokee removal known as the Trail of Tears and to the 1863 Battle of Brown’s Ferry.

Trust Secures Multifaceted History at Brown’s Ferry With a history that stretches back to before the founding of the City of Chattanooga, a nine-acre property near Brown’s Ferry is now secure. Through donor support and matching grants from the federal American Battlefield Protection Program and the Tennessee Historical Commission’s Civil War Sites Preservation Fund, the American Battlefield Trust was able to acquire the property, which includes the 1803 Brown’s Tavern. The fight at Brown’s Ferry was integral for the Union Army of the Cumberland in establishing a much-needed supply line in October 1863, following its defeat at Chickamauga and besiegement in Chattanooga. But the property’s importance precedes the Civil War. Cherokee businessman John Brown owned the 640-acres that housed the tavern and ferry bearing his name from the dawn of the 19th century. He served as a private in Col. Gideon Morgan’s command of Cherokees who fought for the United States in the War of 1812. Brown operated the tavern until 1819, spent a decade living elsewhere, and returned in 1830. The family was forced to leave their home in 1838, as a part of the Cherokee Removal in Chattanooga, a phase of the Trail of Tears, although they later received special federal permission to return. In recognition of this significance, Brown’s

Tavern is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is included as a stop on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Continuing the site’s preservation journey, arrangements have been made to transfer Brown’s Tavern, as well as two other properties previously purchased at Brown’s Ferry, to National Park Partners this fall. This outstanding regional group is ideally positioned to steward the sites as it exists to champion conservation of the natural, historic, and cultural resources of all six units of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. The American Battlefield Trust has protected a total of 119 acres associated with the Battles for Chattanooga, inclusive of the Brown’s Tavern land. Other properties are relevant to the fighting for Tunnel Hill during the Battle of Missionary Ridge, of which the Trust is currently raising funds to secure an additional parcel.