Fountain Head

Fountain Head is a Tennessee historical marker in Sumner County.

Sumner Co, south of Portland southeast corner, intersection of Hwy 76 & State Route 109

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

Fountain Head was named for a large spring which emerged 2.4 miles northeast of here near Drake's Creek. Long hunters had explored the area, but James Gwin and family, who came in 1792, were among the first permanent settlers. Gwin fought in the Revolution and later served as a chaplain with Andrew Jackson at New Orleans in the War of 1812. Gwin had several sons who contributed to the growth of Fountain Head and of the nation. His son, Samuel Gwin became the first postmaster of Fountain Head in 1828. Another son, William M., settled in the West and became one of the first U. S. Senators from California. Among other early settlers was William McKendree, who became a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In Nov. 1812, at the home of Micajah House, he and Bishop Francis Asbury presided over the formation of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. A school, McKendree Academy, was opened in 1874 and was named for the bishop.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1794 · Map of the Tennessee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1794 · Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · Map of The Tennassee (sic) Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · Kentuckey. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1797 · Tennassee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

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