Back in the old days, long before the early settlers arrived, the vast area around Leipers Fork was a communal hunting ground to an assortment of prehistoric American Indians who later evolved into tribes known today as the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Shawnee. Their presence in the area is marked by a seemingly endless supply of relics dating back some 4,000 years.Early settlers who came across the mountains from the east found a rich, fertile land but a harsh lifestyle in a strange and challenging wilderness. Because of the formidable environment containing both natural and man-made dangers, it was an ongoing struggle just to till the land, feed a family and reach old age. By 1795, certain adaptations had come to the frontier; a semblance of order prevailed for homesteaders while the Native Americans continued to reconcile to the changes the Europeans brought.
The Leipers Fork area was settled in the late 1790s by pioneering families from North Carolina and Virginia that were given land grants as payment for their services in the Revolutionary War. The present village of Leipers Fork is situated on part of the 2,504 acre land grant of Col. Jesse Steed which was later purchased by Jesse Benton in 1801. Among the most famous settlers was Benton's son, Thomas Hart Benton who later became a U.S. Senator from the state of Missouri, prominently influencing establishment of the West. Today, an historic marker honors the site of the Benton home.
During the early days, travelers on the Natchez Trace who passed through the Benton homestead referred to the settlement as Bentontown. After a quarrel with General Andrew Jackson, which ended in a brawl and gun fight in a hotel in Nashville with Jackson seriously injured from a gunshot through the shoulder, the Bentons decided that Tennessee was not large enough for them and Jackson. They beat a hasty retreat to Missouri. The village was renamed Hillsboro as many of the early settlers, like the Bentons, were originally from Hillsborough, North Carolina.In 1818 a post office was granted the village due to its growth and its location on the National Road from Natchez to Nashville; however, a Hillsboro, Tennessee had already been established in Coffee County so the name of the village was changed again to Leipers Fork. The name was taken from the Leiper family who settled much of the land along the creek passing through the village.
The first three decades of the 20th century were prosperous times for Leipers Fork. The booming little village consisted of several general stores, the Middle Tennessee Railroad, lumber mills, a blacksmith shop, churches, a school, a college, a bank and the home of the Williamson County Poor Farm.
Today, Leipers Fork is the area of choice for families wanting a rural atmosphere and charm of country life near Nashville and Franklin. It is a Registered National Historic District and contains some of the few remaining examples of late 19th century architecture once characteristic of villages in Williamson County.
Leipers Fork is the only historic village on the Tennessee portion of the Natchez Trace Parkway and offers the quaintness of the past and the convenience of the present with friendly merchants and great country cooking. And, if you'll listen carefully on any Saturday night, you'll still hear the faint ring of a banjo and a fiddle echoing throughout the hills and hollows around Leipers Fork .If your travels bring you to the Nashville area, it would be well worth your time and you'll for sure be welcome to visit our rural historic village.
