The Old Stone Fort is a prehistoric Native American structure located in Coffee County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States.

Most likely built between 80 and 550 AD during the Middle Woodland period, the structure is considered the most complex hilltop enclosure found in the South and was likely used for ceremonial purposes rather than defense.

(Click for Map) The Duck River system spills over a limestone-rich shelf of the western Cumberland Plateau known as the Highland Rim.

Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park encompasses 876 acres (3.55 km2) and is managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

[3] By the time white long hunters and traders arrived in the area in the mid-18th century, a system of well-worn trails traversed the Cumberland Plateau, connecting what is now Middle Tennessee with Georgia and Northern Alabama.

The Nickajack Expedition, led by Major James Ore in the latter part of the Cherokee–American wars, is believed to have encamped within the Old Stone Fort en route to the Chickamauga towns.

In 1862, Whitman built a powder factory adjacent to his paper mill to supply the Confederacy during the Civil War; it was destroyed by Union troops the following year.

The Chumbleys, seeking to protect the Old Stone Fort, passed up numerous private offers for the land on which the ancient structure was located.

In 1823, the Pioneer, a Jackson, Tennessee newspaper, argued Buccaneers built the Old Stone Fort from Seville after one of their ships wrecked off the coast of Florida and forced them inland.

Digging a series of trenches and test pits and conducting extensive research, the investigators determined the builders to be Native Americans of the Middle Woodland period.

Charles Faulkner, a member of the excavation team, based this on three findings: The University of Tennessee determined that the fort had been built gradually over several hundred years.

An observation deck atop the museum displays information about the Old Stone Fort and surrounding rivers and views of the Blue Hole Falls.