High Ground Park

Hickory was able to play a major role in the preservation of a historical site when it built High Ground Park – located at Fort Higley, off Cherokee Trail – in 2014. As the contractor selected to improve the original Civil War-era site, Hickory built a 1/3-mile walking trail leading to a meadow, erected an engraved bronze marker in that clearing and installed features like locust-wood fencing, stacked-stone and boulder walls, and numerous tree and ground cover plantings. The location also includes a paved parking area, signage and various flagstone and marble features throughout the site.

Fort Higley, which sits atop a 1,099-foot bluff overlooking the Tennessee River, was manned by Union soldiers during the Siege of Knoxville in 1863 and is significant to Civil War history. Its owners, the Aslan Foundation, created the park for free public access to the historical landmark.