Welcome to Winstead Hill Park

Winstead Hill Park stands about two miles south of downtown Franklin on high ridges along the southern border of the plain of Franklin. The hill was named for Samuel Winstead, an early Williamson County resident who owned the land and, about 19 years before the Civil War, wrote a will providing that after he and his wife died, each of his 70 slaves would be freed and his property in Franklin and Spring Hill sold to fund their safe passage to Liberia; after the Winsteads' deaths, the State Supreme Court twice upheld the will and ensured that remaining funds were distributed to the freed slaves. Winstead was buried on the property along with several of his slaves. The crest rises 840 feet above mean sea level and about 200 feet above Franklin, with open meadows, wildflowers, and large stands of trees, including Eastern Red Cedar growing on thin soils that often expose Ordovician limestone bedrock, a landform characteristic of the greater Nashville Basin. Only minor changes have occurred here since the Battle of Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864. In 1948, Walter A. Roberts deeded 9.75 acres on Winstead Hill to the United Daughters of the Confederacy as a memorial to Confederate soldiers, and in 1954 a stone wall quarried on site, with steps and handrails, was erected by the organization. The steps lead to a lookout shelter at the 825-foot elevation with a bronze relief map of troop movements during the Battle of Franklin; the shelter stands on adjacent land owned by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and remains open to the public. The park also includes parking, multi-use trails, trailhead shelters with interpretive signage, restrooms, rest areas, a woodland loop trail, an amphitheater, and a second small parking facility planned for future construction.

Franklin, Tennessee · United States