fort negley visit
19 Jun 2005We went to Fort Negley today and bummed around a little. We had planned on seeing if the Cumberland Science MuseumMega XXXtreme Science Adventure Center!!!!! was open, but it was closed, so we checked out the Fort.
The original fort itself, of course, is long gone – in the 30s, as part of Roosevelt’s WPA, they basically rebuilt a close approximation of the fort on St. Cloud Hill – I am guessing in around ‘36 or ‘37. But by only 1945 it was already severely delapidated, and was closed to the public until it was slightly renovated and re-opened last year. Already, some of the boards on the boardwalk are warped and popping loose. I don’t know why the Mayans can build temples and shit that last for centuries but anything built on this hill appears to crumble into shambles and disappear in a matter of decades, but there you have it.
For one hill, it has a lot of history – it was one of the most fortified garrisons in the entire south during the war, and during its more neglected periods, it was home to KKK activity, and to (I think) a rather large homeless community.
But these days, it’s really not much to look at – crumbling stonework and informational signs. While we were there we ran into two rather scruffy looking feral dogs that looked a little intimidating, but luckily they seemed more interested in napping in the shade of the boardwalk than mauling any trespassers.
Anyways, an interesting way to kill 30 minutes, but not as cool as I had hoped.