Spring Hill Civil War Site Named to Top-10 Endangered List

Today the Civil War Preservation Trust named a Spring Hill battlefield to its list of the top-ten endangered sites in the county.

The skirmishes occurred in November of 1864, the day before the battle of Franklin. Most of the open space remaining is owned by General Motors, surrounding the Rippavilla Plantation just off Saturn Parkway.

While one hundred acres has been preserved by the automaker, another 500 or so may be sold off in parcels to developers. Tennessee Preservation Trust director Dan Brown says that includes 75-acres of core battlefield property.

“They’re talking about commercial, retail development within a hundred feet of Rippavilla Plantation, of the main house there, which we find almost always has a very negative effect.”

Brown says making the national list of endangered battlefields could help rally the community to raise money and purchase the land outright. The Franklin Battlefield was once on this list but has since been removed because of preservation efforts in recent years.