Shelby Bottoms

Imagine stepping back in time to a vibrant Indigenous village nestled within Shelby Bottoms. The air hums with the rustling of leaves, the songs of birds, and the steady flow of the nearby Cumberland River. In this thriving settlement, people move through their daily routines—tending crops, crafting tools, and gathering along the river’s edge.

For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples called this land home. They relied on the river’s rich floodplains to sustain agriculture and support their communities. Archaeologists have identified eight distinct sites within Shelby Bottoms, spanning an astonishing period from 11,500 BCE to 1600 CE. The village before you is a Woodland-period site (1000 BCE–1000 CE), part of a tradition of a more settled lifestyle.

Woodland villages were permanent villages, nearby streams—much like Baker’s Creek, which runs through this site. Excavations here uncovered small triangular projectile points, evidence of hunting and toolmaking. Alongside these points, archaeologists found stone flakes, remnants of tool crafting used for hunting, woodworking, and daily tasks. These camps and villages sustained communities with well-established routines. The abundance of water sources played a vital role in farming and trade, enabling the cultivation of crops like sunflowers, beans, and squash.

Centuries before plane, trains, and automobiles, the Cumberland River was used as a highway for trade. Beyond agriculture, trade flourished in Woodland communities, connecting distant cultures. Materials such as copper from the Great Lakes and rare stones from the Rocky Mountains found their way to Middle Tennessee, highlighting an extensive trade network, just like the later Mississippian culture would have. The Cumberland River served as a vital link—a natural highway that facilitated the movement of goods, people, and ideas across vast distances.

Through innovation, agriculture, and trade, Indigenous peoples thrived in Shelby Bottoms. Though centuries have passed, their footprints remain—etched into the landscape and preserved in the artifacts and stories we uncover today.

**The Augmented Reality (AR) models will only work in specific points at the site. Open the link and hold your phone up to allow the model to calibrate to the landscape. You should see the model projected in front of you.

From the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center take the trail to the north or left from the nature center. It will loop around to a wooden overlook. At the overlook face the field to the northeast (opposite side of the trail from the overlook) to see the AR model.**

Hope you enjoyed the walk because now we have a bit of driving ahead of us! If you really wanted to, you could actually walk from this stop to the next, as the Shelby Bottoms Greenway connects to the Stones River Greenway. But for those driving, follow the same road to Shelby Ave. out of the park and continue about 3 miles until it becomes Korean Veterans Boulevard and you cross back over the Cumberland River.

At the end of the bridge, turn LEFT onto 1st Avenue South, which is also Hermitage Avenue, Lebanon Pike and Highway 70 East. Stay on this road about 8.5 miles. Turn RIGHT onto Jackson Downs Boulevard and park at the Kohl’s Greenway Trailhead. As you listen to the stop you can walk along the Stones River Greenway about 1/2 a mile to reach a wooden bridge that overlooks the river where the fish weir is located. Check the Greenways websites for updates about trail closures and maintenance.