KINGSTON SPRINGS, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Harpeth River State Park is home to a centuries-old engineering landmark called the Montgomery Bell Tunnel.

"I look at it and I see history. I see the iron industry," Park Manager at Harpeth River State Park, Bill Morton, told News 2. "I see well over 100 enslaved [people] that put a lot of hard, back-breaking labor into making this engineering marvel."

The tunnel — which spans through a solid limestone bluff — is 15 feet wide, eight feet tall, and 290 feet long. Historians say it was built by enslaved people between 1818 and 1820 for Montgomery Bell, a manufacturing entrepreneur who was crucial to the economic development of Middle Tennessee.

Morton said the tunnel used hydropower from the Harpeth River to operate a forge.

"[Bell] would mine iron ore from all around the area, or have it mined, and then they would smelt it on site, putting it into charcoal furnaces, removing a lot of the impurities out of the iron..." Morton said. "They needed to make it into wrought iron that they can, in turn, sell to blacksmiths to make pots, pans, tools, cannon balls — any other implements out of iron that would have been used in the day."

According to the Middle Tennessee Tourism Council, the tunnel's the first full-scale, water diversion tunnel built in the U.S. using hand tools and gunpowder.

"From what we understand, [enslaved people] were using what they called hand drills. They would start making holes in the rock, and then they would get so far, and they would put the drill in the rock, start tamping the drill, turn it a little bit, tamp it some more, and then they would then, in turn, pack black powder into those holes, cover it with clay and blast it out,” Morton said.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has called the tunnel “a guide to early American civil engineers” and “a precursor to later tunnelling accomplishments.”

"It's very important to share this history, and it's great local history here in Cheatham County,” Morton added.

The site is now a popular hiking spot for visitors.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/on-tour-middle-tn/montgomery-bell-tunnel/