Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area

Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area is located in Elizabethton. The state park preserves the history of not only the community but events that helped to shape the state and nation.

Sycamore Shoals was the site of the first permanent American settlement outside of the original 13 colonies and was the site of the first government formed independently of the British crown in the new country. The Watauga Association, the first majority-rule system of American democratic government, was founded here in 1772.

Prior to the American Revolution, Sycamore Shoals served as the site of the largest private real estate transaction in the history of the nation — The Transylvania Purchase.

The Transylvania Purchase occurred on March 14, 1775, when Richard Henderson, a North Carolina land speculator, met with Cherokee representatives at Sycamore Shoals near the present site of Elizabethton. Henderson wanted to purchase a tract of land in what is now Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, where he planned to establish a fourteenth colony. The venture posed several problems: the Cherokees held the strongest among competing claims to the region, and there was no guarantee of British recognition of the purchase since it represented a violation of the Proclamation of 1763. Nevertheless, Henderson had spent the previous year organizing the Transylvania Company and conducting negotiations with the Cherokees. Four days after the conference began, the Cherokees agreed to the Sycamore Shoals Treaty, whereby they transferred to the Transylvania Company a tract of 20 million acres lying north of the Cumberland

River, southeast of the Ohio River, and west of the Cumberland Mountains, with a narrow access route extending from Sycamore Shoals to Cumberland Gap. In exchange, the Cherokees received trade goods valued, according to some scholars, at approximately ten thousand British pounds.

During the American Revolution, Sycamore Shoals served as the mustering point for the Overmountain Men, a militia that formed in the fall of 1780 in response to a threat from British Major Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson had arrived in North Carolina in early September 1780 to recruit troops for the Loyalist militia and protect the flank of British General Lord Charles Cornwallis’ main force. Ferguson issued a challenge to the rebel militias to lay down their arms, or he would cross the mountains and “lay waste to their country with fire and sword.” The Overmountain Men militia gathered in response to Ferguson’s threat and began marching over the mountains. The Overmountain Men defeated Ferguson’s forces at the Battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina, in a victory that has been called a turning point in the Revolutionary War by many noted historians.

Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area features a Visitor’s Center with an interactive museum sharing the stories of both the Cherokee who lived here, the settlers who moved here over the mountains, and the significant events that took place here. The park also features a recreation of Fort Watauga, which was constructed on the farm of the Talbott family and used by early settlers to survive raids and sieges by Cherokee warriors during the American Revolution.

The grounds of the park feature picnic areas, gardens, and a walking trail that roams through the park and along the banks of the Watauga River.

Throughout the year, Sycamore Shoals hosts numerous living history events with a resident group of re-enactors who portray life on the American frontier.

One of the largest events hosted by the park each year is the annual production of “Liberty! The Saga of Sycamore Shoals,” which is performed the last three weekends in July each year. Liberty! is the Official Outdoor Drama of Tennessee and is presented by a volunteer cast and crew to share the stories of Sycamore Shoals, those who lived here, and the events that transpired.

Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area has two historic homes that serve as satellite campuses for the Park — The Historic John & Landon Carter Mansion and Sabine Hill. These historic homes have been preserved and restored to depict what life was like at different points in the community’s history.