Fort Negley – evidence of precontact Native occupation

Fort Negley Park sits on a hill that archaeological investigations have shown was occupied by Native American peoples prior to European settlement; excavations have recovered prehistoric artifacts consistent with Woodland and Mississippian-period use. The Civil War fort was constructed on this site in 1862–1863 using local labor and stone, overlying earlier cultural deposits. Archaeological work during restoration and research has documented the multilayered history of the hill from precontact Indigenous use through the 19th century.