ROPER’S KNOB PEAK WAS SAVED FOR A FUTURE PARK Following those conferences, in 1995 the Heritage Foundation collaborated with the State of Tennessee (the Tennessee Wars Commission) and a number of preservation partners to acquire Roper’s Knob, a 90acre site that included on its peak the well-preserved remains of a small Union fort built in 1862 after the U.S. Army occupied Franklin. The fort was an important Federal signal station, and the Tennessee Wars Commission cited it as one of the State’s most wellpreserved earthworks forts. The Heritage Foundation was successful in its fundraising efforts and in 1996 the top portion of the site was acquired by the State of Tennessee, with the remainder of the site being held by the Heritage Foundation. Later, in 2007, the Heritage Foundation placed a conservation easement on the property and conveyed the property to the City with the intention that a passive historic public park be constructed on the site. CARTER HOUSE BATTLEFIELD RECLAMATION IMAGINED In 1997, the Heritage Foundation conducted a feasibility study to explore purchasing property along Columbia Avenue in proximity to the Carter House to reclaim various commercial and retail sites for reclamation into a battlefield park. The group did not know it at the time, but this effort would later fuel the vision behind the Carter Hill Battlefield Park. The Heritage Foundation purchased what it called the “Blue House,” which sat on property that once had housed the Carter Family’s Cotton Gin. The Cotton Gin site was an important landmark during the Battle of Franklin. Although no further acquisitions were made during this period of time, when the reclamation of the Carter Hill Battlefield Park began in the mid 201O’s, the Heritage Foundation conveyed this property to the City for inclusion in the battlefield park. 76 FRANKLIN, TN | PRESERVATION PLAN
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