Stewart County

Stewart County Tennessee contains a number of sites of recreational, educational, and historical interest. Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley offer opportunities for fishing and boating. Cross Creek Wildlife Refuge and the Land Between the Lakes provide nature lovers sightings of eagles, wild geese, turkey, and deer. The 1850 Homeplace, a living history farm, furnishes entertainment and education for all ages. For Civil War buffs, Fort Donelson National Battlefield and Cemetery and Surrender House, the site of Buckner’s surrender to Grant, are popular attractions.
 

As part of America’s great outdoors since 1963, Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area manages over 170,000 acres of forests, wetlands, and open lands on a peninsula between Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Western Kentucky and Tennessee. The family friendly recreation area offers one of the largest blocks of undeveloped forest in the eastern United States. With 300 miles of natural shoreline, lake access provides idyllic settings for camping, picnicking, hiking, fishing, boating, wildlife viewing, and water sports. Licensed hunts for deer, turkey, squirrel and other small game animals occur throughout the year.

“No matter the season, Stewart County, Tennessee has something to delight the senses.”

Stewart County Tennessee is a rich plethora of recreational, educational, and historical interests. From our rivers, trails, and wildlife to our historical parks and museum, we have something to offer everyone.

Start with Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Established in 1963, Land Between the Lakes (LBL) National Recreation Area manages over 170,000 acres of forests, wetlands, and open lands on a peninsula between Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Western Kentucky and Tennessee. The Land Between the Lakes and the Cross Creek Wildlife Refuge provide nature lovers sightings of eagles, wild geese, turkey, and deer.

LBL is a family friendly recreation area and offers one of the largest blocks of undeveloped forest in the eastern United States. With 300 miles of natural shoreline, lake access provides idyllic settings for camping, picnicking, hiking, fishing, boating, wildlife viewing, and water sports. It also allows licensed hunts for deer, turkey, squirrel and other small game animals throughout the year. If you’re interested in stepping out of time while touring the area then you can visit the 1850’s Homeplace, a living history farm, which furnishes entertainment and education for all ages.

Along with the recreational side of Stewart County is the historical side. One of the best collectors of historical information is the W.D. Sykes Historical Showboat Museum. Visitors are invited to learn more about Dover and Stewart County, Tennessee at the 1888 historic W.D. Sykes-Brandon House, an imposing Victorian frame home built in the style of a river showboat. This house now serves as the Stewart County Historical Museum with rotating exhibits that depict the county’s early history, including its historic importance in the Civil War. In the 1980s, Rebecca Sykes Wilford, daughter of W.D. Sykes, purchased the home as a weekend retreat, and in 1998 she donated it to the Stewart County Historical Society. The house stands on the site where two Civil War battles were fought, the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862 and the Battle of Dover in 1863.

The battle of Ft. Donelson was a battle of historic importance in Civil War History. While visiting us, you have the opportunity to visit Fort Donelson National Battlefield, a unit of the National Park Service, with units in Dover, Tennessee, and in New Concord, Kentucky. You will be able to explore the battlefield and learn why this campaign was so important in the American Civil War, see the Confederate river batteries along the Cumberland River and learn stories with a unique perspective of the naval battle of February 14, 1862, explore the Dover Hotel, where Ulysses S. Grant accepted the Confederate surrender of the Fort from his old friend Simon B. Buckner, and visit the final resting place of 670 Union dead from the Civil War in the Fort Donelson National Cemetery.

Another interesting, culturally, and historically rich excursion in the area is the Historical Quilt Trail- “A Stitch in Time” set up throughout the County by our Arts & Heritage Council. Some of their quilts, along with their maps are hung up and displayed inside the Stewart County Visitor Center inside the Arts & Heritage room. Follow the quilt maps throughout the town to honor the memories and history that encompasses Stewart County.

No matter the season, Stewart County, Tennessee has something to engage your mind and spirit. Stop by our many county area restaurants, novelty shops, antiques stores and businesses. There’s always a friendly smile or a wave to greet our visiting guests with trademark Southern hospitality.