The Montgomery Bell Tunnel, also known as the Pattison Forge Tunnel, which Bell called "Pattison Forge" (often spelled, incorrectly, "Patterson") after his mother's maiden name, is a historic water diversion tunnel in

Harpeth River State Park Harpeth River State Park is a state park in Cheatham and Davidson counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park is a linear park that was created to connect several state historic, natural, and archaeolo ...

Cheatham County, Tennessee Cheatham County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,072. Its county seat is Ashland City. Cheatham County is located in Middle Tennessee, and is part of the Nashville-Davidson� ...

. Built in 1819, the long tunnel is believed to be the first full-size tunnel built in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and is the first used to divert water for industrial purposes. It was designated a

Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United Stat ...

in 1981, and a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1994.

Description and history

The Montgomery Bell Tunnel is located in a unit of Harpeth River State Park, north of the town of

Kingston Springs, Tennessee Kingston Springs is a town in Cheatham County, Tennessee, Cheatham County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 2,824. History This is a new addition to this page with updates anticipated ...

. In this area, the

Harpeth River The Harpeth River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 8, 2011 is one of the major streams of north-central Middle Tennessee, United States, and one of the major ...

undergoes a series of

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

s. In one of these, two parts of the river are quite close after a lengthy oxbow, known as the Narrows of the Harpeth. The tunnel runs roughly north-south across this

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

. It is in length, and is dug entirely through

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

rock. Neither the tunnel nor its portals are lined in any way. The tunnel's profile shape is that of a rectangle topped by a segmented arch, and it is generally high and wide. The entrance portal is high and wide and the exit portal is high and wide. The tunnel has suffered some damage over the years due to erosive forces.

Montgomery Bell Montgomery Bell (January 3, 1769, Chester County, Pennsylvania – April 1, 1855, Dickson County, Tennessee) was a manufacturing entrepreneur who was crucial to the economic development of early Middle Tennessee. He was known as the "Iron Ma ...

, an entrepreneur from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

who was involved in iron foundries in central

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, purchased the land in this area in 1818. Recognizing the potential to apply water power to the process of producing

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

, he directed the construction of this tunnel, which facilitates use of a drop in river height for power generation. The tunnel is the first known example in the United States of a "full-scale" water diversion

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

. It is also apparently the first "full-scale" tunnel of any type in the United States, its completion predating that of the

Auburn Tunnel Auburn Tunnel was a 19th-century canal tunnel built for the Schuylkill Canal near Auburn, Pennsylvania. It was the first transportation tunnel in the United States. The tunnel was deliberately added to the canal as a novelty, as the hill it was b ...

(1821) in

, whose construction was begun first. The tunnel is the only feature of Bell's iron works to survive; not surviving are a dam, head race, and the iron foundry itself, as well as Bell's house, which was built nearby. During the 1930s, the land in this area was leased to the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

for use as a summer camp. It was deeded to the state in 1978. In the late evening, on September 2, 2011, a fire was lit in the tunnel. The amount of driftwood from 2010's flood in the tunnel enlarged the fire. The fire was eventually extinguished in the early hours of the morning. The tunnel, and the road passing over it, were damaged. It and the road were stabilized, however, and Montgomery Bell Tunnel is again safe.

References

External links

About Harpeth River State Park - Tennessee State Parks web site
{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Cheatham County, Tennessee Water tunnels in the United States Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Tunnels in Tennessee Water tunnels on the National Register of Historic Places Tunnels completed in 1819 Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Cheatham County, Tennessee

Description and history

See also

References

External links