Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site

Tipton-Haynes Home and Law Office

In 1784, Colonel John Tipton of Virginia came to East Tennessee, then known as the Tennessee Country of North Carolina. Tipton served in the Virginia militia and was a captain during Dunmore’s War (1774), a recruiting officer for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He built a two-story log cabin on property near Sinking Creek, and he soon immersed himself in the affairs of Washington County, including the fight against the formation of the State of Franklin. In an area including this site, the Battle of Franklin was fought in 1788, the only armed skirmish between supporters of the proposed state and their opponents, who were loyal to North Carolina. 

The site includes 45 acres, eleven historic buildings, the Tipton/Gifford/Simerly cemetery, a limestone cave, a natural spring, a buffalo trace, a nature trail, and the Penny McLaughlin Education and Museum Center.