Shackle Island

History

The earliest reference to the name "Shackle Island" was June 8, 1797, when surveyor William Lytle recorded a North Carolina land grant to William Tyrrell. He wrote, "Beginning at a sweet gum, honey locust, and elm standing on an island. . . on the West side below the Great Road". The great road he referred to was Long Hollow Pike, and the body of water that created the island was Drake's Creek . The “Island” was made by Drake’s Creek, flowing south toward the Cumberland River. Centuries ago the creek's path split into two channels (see image) thereby creating a small section of land in between them that made the “island” Lytle described. Over time, the two channels recombined. As of 2016, the eastern branch has largely disappeared but remains identifiable. The origin of “Shackle” is uncertain. One local legend attributes it to a small shack on an island in the creek where illegal whiskey was sold, but this explanation has been discounted, as even the earliest settlers referred to the area as “Shackle Island.” Another unproven theory suggests the name derived from a site where enslaved people were held, referencing the fact that hundreds of enslaved individuals were marched through Tennessee to western markets. The Tennessee State Archives and Museum holds one documented connection to a distillery in the area: a letter from Dr. Joshua Franklin to Daniel Montgomery (born 1789) ordering one dollar’s worth of whiskey for medicinal use. Montgomery operated the distillery along with a farm, sawmill, and gristmill. He died in 1855 at Shackle Island and is buried in nearby Beech Cemetery."

Geography

Shackle Island is located in the southwestern portion of Sumner County at the crossroad intersection of Tennessee State Routes 174 and 258, about north of Hendersonville.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,766
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  5,698
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,659
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,257
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  5,014
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  4,877
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  4,840
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,739