Sevier Station

Sevier Station is the oldest standing structure in Montgomery County.

The site of this historic stone structure, in addition to nearby Fort Defiance and a large portion of present-day New Providence, encompasses a 640-acre Revolutionary land grant purchased by early Tennessee settler Valentine Sevier II. Sevier founded a small frontier outpost on these bluffs, above the confluence of the Cumberland and Red Rivers, in c.1792. Structures in the settlement included living quarters as well as a blacksmith shop.

Although the Native Virginian is little known, he is a pioneer who experienced Clarksville before it was established as Clarksville. His oldest brother, John, became Tennessee's first governor. Like several of his family members, Valentine had been a part of the militia, even fighting in the Revolutionary War and earning the rank of colonel. Much of his life, however, was coated in various wars with the Native Americans. This was, in part, due to the ferocious determination of the pioneers of the age, leading to the refusal to respect the treaties put in place between the Americans and the Native Americans. Valentine took part in seizing these lands.

One famous and grave account is described in 1794 after Valentine’s settlement in pre-Clarksville. Valentine’s station was attacked by approximately 40 Native Americans resulting in the loss of his neighbor and the neighbor’s family, along with his son, Joseph. His daughter, Rebecca, despite having been scalped in the attack, lived.

Valentine Sevier II died in 1800 from chronic rheumatism in Clarksville. He is buried at the nearby Riverview Cemetery.