Image: Sharps-station-monument-tn1

Description: Monument noting the site of Sharp's Station at Big Ridge State Park in Union County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Sharp's Station was an 18th-century frontier fort that protected early settlers and migrants from hostile Native American attacks. This monument is located at the end of the Sharp's Station Trail, a remote spur of the park's Indian Rock Loop. The trail intersects the loop at the base of Big Ridge, denoted by a tree blazed with three red rings. The trail leads across the creek, and then follows both orange ribbons and square red blazes with a white dot in the middle. When lake levels are low, it's easier to follow the lakeshore until you see two trees with "NO CAMPING" signs. The plaque atop the monument reads: HISTORIC SHARP'S STATION WAS ERECTED NEAR HERE ABOUT 1784 THIS STOCKADE PROVIDED THE FRONTIER SETTLEMENT WITH PROTECTION FROM INDIAN ATTACKS, AS WAS THE CASE IN DECEMBER 1794 WHEN THE PIONEERS, LED BY NICHOLAS GIBBS, LEVI HINDS, HENRY SHARP, AND CONRAD SHARP, SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT OFF AN INDIAN ATTACK. ERECTED IN 1968 BY THE DESCENDANTS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THIS AREA, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF PROFESSOR W.H. THOMAS, AND IN COOPERATION WITH THE TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION.
Title: Sharps-station-monument-tn1
Credit: Own work
Author: Brian Stansberry
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
License: CC BY 3.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes