Houston's Fort

The first known settler of European descent in Scott County, Thomas McCullough, moved here in 1769 and lived on Big Moccasin Creek until about 1771. Houston's Fort, built by William Houston and other settlers about 1774, stood near McCullough's property on Big Moccasin Creek. The fort served as a defensive fortification for settlers on the frontier. During the American Revolution (1775-1783), periodic conflicts between Native Americans and settlers occurred there, in part because of increased settlement. In 1776, while riding home to his family, Samuel Cowan was wounded nearby during a Cherokee Indian attack. He died soon after at Fort Houston.