Harpeth Narrows Falls
Posted by: 
wtschume
N 36° 08.809 W 087° 07.334
16S E 489004 N 4000240
A fall spilling from a tunnel built by Montgomery Bell in 1820. The amount of flow over the falls is based on the river level
Waymark Code: WMCC66
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 08/21/2011
Views: 7
A half-mile trail along the backside of the limestone bluff leads to the site of Montgomery Bell's Pattison Forge where a small waterfall is all that remains of the iron forge operation. The tunnel leading to the falls, considered his greatest project at the "Narrows of the Harpeth", which he called "Pattison Forge" after his mother's maiden name (a nearby historical marker misidentifies it as "Patterson Forge"). Here, Bell, again using slave labor, blasted a tunnel approximately 100 yards (91 m) long [state park signs at the tunnel give its length as 200 feet] through a narrow limestone and sandstone ridge across a point where the Harpeth River made a seven-mile (11 km) horseshoe bend. The resulting power ran Bell's iron milling operations and was so successful that apparently some previous projects, such as the Jones Creek mill, were eventually abandoned. Bell eventually made the Narrows the site of the headquarters of all of his operations and built a home there. Apparently he suffered some financial reverses due to the Panic of 1819 and its aftermath; in 1824 he advertised the Narrows and other of his properties for sale in the Nashville Whig newspaper, but at least the Narrows property was not sold at this time, nor in his lifetime. Subsequent looting, flooding, and the effects of time have meant that the only remaining evidence of this large operation today is the tunnel, which still remains and is part of a state park, and some slag.
Location of the waterfall:
http://tn.gov/environment/parks/HarpethRiverTN.
Coordinates of parking: N 36° 08.836 W 087° 07.283
Fees: 0.00 (listed in local currency)
Type / features of structure: Aqueduct
Estimated height in feet: 10
Estimated height in meters: 3.00
Estimated width in feet: 15
River/stream/lake/reservoir: Harpeth River
Flow dates: Not listed
Estimated width in meters: Not Listed
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