Trail of Tears Overlook

This platform overlooks Richland Creek and looks down on a stone abutment that can still be seen where the old Richland Creek Bridge was located between S 2nd Street and S 3rd Street.

Here, two groups of Native Americans (Benge & Bell groups) passed through Pulaski late in October 1838 due to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. One group (Benge) of 1100 people traveled north from Fort Payne, AL. The other group (Bell) of about 650-700 people traveled west from what is now Charleston, TN near Cleveland, TN. While a few days apart when they passed through Pulaski, they both crossed the creek here.

From the observation boardwalk, you can still see some stone pilings remaining from the supports of the original bridge. This was the only place to cross Richland Creek in Pulaski until the mid-20th-century.