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Dover, Tennessee
INCLUDED WITH YOUR VOYAGE
Dover, Tennessee HOP-ON HOP-OFF TOUR
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Remember! Your vacation, your choices. Visit as many or few of the included attractions in Dover listed below at no cost. Learn about the Civil War from Tennessee's perspective.
FORT DONELSON RIVER BATTERIES
Late in 1861 Confederate military leaders selected locations in Stewart County, Tennessee, to construct two earthen forts to hinder anticipated Union naval advancement up the parallel and strategic Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Today, visitors to Fort Donelson can learn about the battle, view the miles of earthworks and artillery, and take a walk along the park’s trails. There is an area for picnics, parking, and strolls along the Cumberland River. A Visitor Center provides opportunities for visitor orientation and exhibits.
STEWART COUNTY VISITOR CENTER
Stop here to discover the stories of Stewart County and Dover. Speak with a local volunteer at the visitor information desk, or admire the gallery that depicts the rich history and culture of the town.
W.D. SYKES HISTORICAL MUSEUM
The 1888 historic W.D. Sykes-Brandon House, built in the style of a river showboat, serves as the museum, with rotating exhibits that depict the county’s early history.
FORT DONELSON NATIONAL CEMETERY
The Fort Donelson National Cemetery was established in 1867 upon the battlefield of Fort Donelson as a burial ground for Union soldiers killed at Donelson, or of soldiers originally buried in other areas within the immediate geographic area of north Tennessee and southern Kentucky. Today, the cemetery contains the graves of veterans representing the Seminole War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I and II, the wars in Korea and Vietnam, and those that served into the 1980s .
During the Battle of Fort Donelson, the Dover Hotel served as the headquarters for Confederate Brigadier General S.B. Buckner and was site of the “unconditional surrender” of Buckner to Union Brigadier General U.S. Grant, on February 16, 1862. The structure was built in the early 1850s and served as a hotel to travelers for many generations. Abandoned by the 1890s, the “Fort Donelson House Historical Association” saved the building in 1928, operating it as a museum.
