Port Royal’s Sulphur Fork Bridge nominated for National Register of Historic Places

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tenn (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Sulphur Fork Bridge, located in Montgomery County’s Port Royal State Historic Park has been nominated to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Tennessee State Review Board will hold a digital meeting via WebEx to examine proposed nominations to the National Register on Wednesday, May 20, at 9 a.m. Those wishing to attend the meeting remotely can visit the Tennessee Historic Commission’s website that morning.

Sulphur Fork Bridge was build by the Converse Bridge Company in 1890 as Port Royal’s age of prominence began giving way to a growing Clarksville. It was the most successful of many attempts to connect Robertson and Montgomery Counties. Aside from the Masonic Lodge, it is the oldest structure at the park.

The bridge was vital to the tobacco trade and played a role in the Black Patch Tobacco Wars (circa. 1904-1909) in which the Dark Tobacco District Planters’ Protective Association of Kentucky and Tennessee (PPA) formed to combat the monopolistic American Tobacco Company.

PPA farmers would conduct vigilante raids under the name “Night Riders” or “The Silent Brigade,” burning barns, destorying crops, etc.

March 2019, Port Royal held a living history event, reenacting a Night Rider group crossing the bridge. They hope to hold a similar event later this year.

Addition to the National Registry would open up new opportunities for preserving the bridge, which serves as a landmark to a key time in Montgomery County’s development.

“[The nominations] because of the role [Sulphur Fork Bridge] played in local connectivity and transportation, but also its engineering and construction,” said Park Manager David Britton. “If it’s accepted on the National Register of Historic Places, that will open doors for us to apply for federal preservation grants.”

Britton further noted that the grad students and faculty at MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation did the majority of the work in securing Sulphur Fork Bridge’s nomination.

Port Royal State Historic Park is open to public from 7 a.m-sunset, offering a range of activities and tours. The park features historic sites including Sulphur Fork Bridge and a Masonic lodge built in 1859.

For more information on Port Royal State Park, click here.