Hardeman County: Cultural History and Nature

Hardeman County offers a variety of reasons to visit, from historic sites and a lively event tradition to river landscapes and parks. In Bolivar, several of these themes come together around the historic Courthouse Square; elsewhere, nature and the region’s history take center stage. To plan your trip, it helps to first decide whether you want to focus mainly on cultural history, the bird dog tradition, or outdoor activities.

Cultural History and the Bird Dog Tradition

The National Bird Dog Museum is dedicated to preserving and carrying on traditions involving pointing dogs, field trials, and hunting. Its facilities include the Field Trial Hall of Fame, the Sporting Dog Hall of Fame, the Retriever Hall of Fame, and the Wildlife Heritage Center. The museum thus covers several facets of this tradition rather than focusing on just one competition.

The National Championship for Bird Dogs is also part of this tradition: Ames Plantation has been its permanent venue since 1915. The competition takes place each year on about 6,000 acres of the plantation. The museum and the championship offer different perspectives on pointing dogs and field trials—one through its collections and halls, the other through an annual competition.

In Bolivar, the Bills-McNeal Historic District includes elegant antebellum homes and the historic Courthouse Square. A historic driving tour takes visitors to 58 local sites from several eras. Those with a particular interest in individual buildings will find another historic connection at Pocahontas School: built in 1924 and expanded in 1957, it was used for community events as well as classes.

Other historical topics range from the Contraband Camp, established in Grand Junction as the first camp of its kind for formerly enslaved people, to the United Sons and Daughters of Charity Lodge Hall in Bolivar. The Lodge Hall at 322 E. McNeal Street, south of the Courthouse Square, is significant to local African American tradition and social history. The Battle of Hatchie Bridge—also called Davis Bridge or Metamora Hill—took place on October 5, 1862.

Places, Events, and Seasons

The Bolivar Farmer’s Market is held on Tuesdays and Saturdays from May through October on Lafayette Street near the historic Courthouse Square. The APTA’s Bolivar Historic Homes Tour is usually held each year in early spring; exact dates may vary. If one of these events is important to your trip, check the dates before making plans.

The history of the Luez Theater is also part of Bolivar’s townscape: after four years of renovation and restoration, it officially opened as a multipurpose downtown venue on Friday, December 14, 2018. Plans included films, live music, special events, and other offerings. The Hatchie River Ferry, in turn, is an important historic ferry site in Hardeman County, about 2.7 miles southeast of Bolivar. It is associated with the Cherokee Trail of Tears of 1838. Today’s Big Bend Road ends at the ferry site and follows the route of the original 19th-century Savannah-Bolivar Road.

River Landscapes and Parks

The Hatchie River is a slow-moving, meandering swamp river. Its banks are lined with hardwood forests, cane thickets, swamps, and farmland; it is also designated a Class I Tennessee Scenic River. Another natural area is the 288-acre Grays Creek WMA: this wetland is located on Highway 18 in Hardeman County, a few miles north of Bolivar.

In Bolivar, city parks offer a variety of ways to spend time outdoors. Pleasant Run Creek Park has trails, a state-certified arboretum, a disc golf course, and a fishing lake stocked with trout during the winter months. At Hatchie River Park, a boat ramp is open, and there is also a small picnic area. Park development is ongoing. Nature watching, exercise, and time by the water can therefore be considered as different priorities when planning a trip.

This makes it easier to see which places and activities are most relevant to your trip planning, without treating the different offerings and stories as interchangeable.

Explore more destinations: Bolivar, Dickson County, Grainger County, Campbell County, Marshall County, Fayette County, Hardin County, Cocke.

For the broader travel overview: Tennessee.