Clarksville tourist information

The area around Clarksville was first surveyed by Thomas Hutchins in 1768. He identified Red Paint Hill, a rock bluff at the confluence of the Cumberland and Red Rivers, as a navigational landmark. In the years between 1771 and 1775, John Montgomery, the namesake of the county, along with Kaspar Mansker visited the area while on a hunting expedition. That same year, the land between the Ohio and the Cumberland was purchased by Richard Henderson from the Cherokee Indians for horses, guns, and alcohol. The other local tribes, such as the Creek, Shawnee, and Chickasaw claimed parts of the territory, creating conflict between the Indians and the settlers.

As time progressed into the 19th century, Clarksville grew at a rapid pace. By 1806, the town realized the need for an educational institution, and the Rural Academy was established that year. Later, the Rural Academy would be replaced by the Mount Pleasant Academy. By 1819, the newly-established town had 22 stores, including a bakery and silversmith. In 1820, steamboats begin to navigate the Cumberland, bringing hardware, coffee, sugar, fabric, and glass. They also exported flour, tobacco, cotton, and corn to ports like New Orleans and Pittsburgh along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Trade via land also grew as four main dirt roads were established, two to Nashville, one crossing the Red River via ferry called the Kentucky Road, and Russellville Road. In 1829, the first bridge connecting Clarksville to New Providence was built over the Red River. Nine years later, the Clarksville-Hopkinsville Turnpike was built. In 1855, Clarksville was incorporated as a city. Railroad service came to the town on October 1, 1859 in the form of the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad. The line would later connect with other railroads at Paris, Tennessee and Guthrie, Kentucky.

Another new form of entertainment soon came. In 1913, the Lillian Theater, Clarksville's first "movie house" for motion pictures, opened on Franklin Street. It sat more than 500 people. Less than two years later, in 1915, the theater burned down. It was rebuilt later that year.

As World War I raged in Europe, many locals volunteered to go, a move that would earn Tennessee the nickname "The Volunteer State". Also during this time, women's suffrage was becoming a major issue, and Clarksville women saw a need for banking independent of their husbands and fathers who were fighting. In response, the First Women's Bank of Tennessee was established in 1919 by Mrs. Frank J. Runyon.

The 1920s brought additional growth to the city. Travelwise, a bus line between Clarksville and Hopkinsville was established in 1922. 1927 saw the creation of Austin Peay Normal School, later to become Austin Peay State University. Two more theaters were added, the Majestic (with 600 seats) and the Capitol (with 900 seats) Theaters, both in 1928. John Outlaw, a local aviator, established Outlaw Field in 1929.

The largest change to the city came in 1942, as construction of Camp Campbell (now known as Fort Campbell) began. The new army base ten miles northwest of the city, and capable of holding 23,000 troops, gave an immediate boost to the population and economy of Clarksville.

In recent decades, the size of Clarksville has doubled. Communities such as New Providence and Saint Bethlehem were annexed into the city, adding to the overall population. The creation of Interstate 24 north of Saint Bethlehem made the area prime for development, and today much of the growth along U.S. Highway 79 is commercial retail. In 1954, the Clarksville Memorial Hospital was founded along Madison Street. Downtown, the Lillian was renamed the Roxy Theater, and today it still hosts plays and performances weekly.

The Monkees' 1966 classic #1 song "Last Train to Clarksville" was supposedly inspired by the city's train depot and about a soldier from Fort Campbell during the Vietnam War era, wanting to see his girlfriend one more time before deployment, fearing he may never come back home.

On the morning of January 22, 1999, the downtown area of Clarksville was devastated by a F3 tornado, damaging many buildings including the county courthouse. The tornado, 880 yards wide, continued on a 4.3 mile-long path that took it up to Saint Bethlehem. No one was seriously injured or killed in the destruction. Clarksville has since recovered, and has rebuilt much of the damage as a symbol of the city's resilience. Where one building on Franklin Street once stood has been replaced with a large mural of the historic buildings of Clarksville on the side of one that remained.