Fort Nash (Fudgearound, Tennessee)

Fudgearound · Tennessee

Quick BriefFort Nash, established around 1793 on Garrison Fork in Coffee County, Tennessee, was a four-sided stockade garrison built to shelter settlers and travelers. Known also as Purdie's Garrison, it functioned as an administrative center until abandonment circa 1804, documented in a 1806–07 survey.

History & Significance

Fort Nash occupied the frontier landscape of the Cumberland settlements during the post-Revolutionary period. Established in the Fudgearound area near Beechgrove on Garrison Fork, the fortification served a defensive and logistical role for early pioneers and road travelers during a time of volatile frontier conditions.

The fort's design—a rectangular stockade with corner blockhouses—reflected standard frontier fortification architecture of the era. John Drake's 1806–07 road survey documented the structure before its abandonment, and the Tennessee State Library and Archives preserve his map and correspondence depicting the site's layout. This archival record provides one of the few contemporary descriptions of a mid-Tennessee frontier post from the transitional period between the Revolutionary War and Tennessee statehood, offering insight into civilian military infrastructure in the region.