Skip to main content

Kingston Springs, Tennessee

Kingston Springs is one of many quiet, small towns in Middle Tennessee.  The community of nearly 3,000 residents sits along a bend in the Harpeth River between US Highway 70 and Interstate 40 west of Nashville.

The Fillin' Station is a very popular venue for live music and good eats.

It, like many of the exurban communities surrounding Nashville, has a small yet charming downtown.  Home to a mix of small cafes, specialty shops, and, of course, live music, Kingston Springs is classic Middle Tennessee.

Because of its proximity to the Harpeth River, there are many outdoor pursuits available in Kingston Springs.  One of the more popular locations in Kingston Springs is L.L. Burns Park.  The park has numerous walking trails, a splash pad, and even a disc golf course.  Harpeth River State Park and Mound Bottom State Archaeological Area are minutes from town.

This friendly fellow - a wood carving by a local artist - has become an ambassador of Downtown Kingston Springs.

Near L.L. Burns Park is the former Pinnacle Hill Road Bridge.  The abandoned bridge over the Harpeth River first served as a railroad bridge before becoming a narrow automobile bridge in the 1920s.

The historic bridge consists of two separate pieces. First, the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad built a two-span pin-connected Pratt through truss bridge in 1898. In 1911, an additional span was constructed - a plate girder bridge by the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company.

The former Pinnacle Hill Road Bridge in Kingston Springs

In 1922, the railroad built a more modern deck girder bridge to the immediate south.  Cheatham County then converted the old rail NC&STL bridge to accommodate vehicular traffic.  The bridge could only allow one lane of traffic to and from Kingston Springs over the Harpeth River and up Pinnacle Hill to US 70.

In the mid-1980s, the old bridge was replaced by a newer span to the south, allowing two lanes of traffic to cross the Harpeth.  The old bridge still stands as of March 2024.


Every Saturday Morning during the Summer, Kingston Springs runs their Farmers & Artisans Market.  The community is home to numerous artists - whether in music, crafts, or cooking. Their talents are on display here.

In October, L.L. Burns Park hosts the Art in the Park Festival.  A free all-day event - the festival attracts hundreds of visitors to the park and Kingston Springs.

All photos taken by post author - December 2010.

Sources & Links:

How To Get There:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba