As we continue forward with this path to breathe fresh air into one of Hamilton County's key community staples, we welcome new faces to our table! In this update we will touch on the progress we've made in representing YOUR visions for McDonald Farm’s future. Starting with the successful Swing into Spring event.

Swing into Spring

On April 6th Hamilton County Parks and Recreation hosted the Swing into Spring event as the grand opening of McDonald Farm Park. Some of the familiar faces seen in attendance were Mayor Weston Wamp, Commissioner Gene-O-Shipley, and Director of Parks and Rec Matt Folz. It featured live music, food trucks, bounce houses, an Easter Egg hunt, and various vendors. The McDonald Farm Citizens Advisory Group attended, seeing the opportunity to connect with some of you and collect feedback to share with our county officials as the future of the property hangs in uncertainty. You guys most certainly delivered; we had countless people stop by our booth and say hello, held great conversations, and gathered valuable suggestions.

Education

One of the most requested uses for the property is for the expansion of the already limited educational opportunities northern Hamilton County has to offer. Parks and Recreation started that process last month by reigniting the primary school field trips. These field trips provide a unique experience for Hamilton County’s K-12 kids, we are working to take those experiences further in the coming year by getting more organizations involved in the process, in doing so, making the McDonald Farm field trip one to write home about, but we don’t want to stop there. Our efforts are not only geared toward the community’s children, stay updated as we dive into educational workshops for all ages. The first one held last month was the TWRA hands-on trapping workshop, some of the potential future opportunities we are working towards include agriculture, conservation work, hunting and fishing workshops, beekeeping, and historical education.                                                                                                           

Preservation

As of April 5th, the McDonald Cemetery has been inducted into the Tennessee Historical Commission registry of state historic cemeteries. The McDonald Cemetery (previously referred to as Hutcheson Cemetery) has hosted burials since long before Europeans even walked Appalachia. Prior to the settlement of the McDonald family in 1821, the Cherokee Nation called Coulterville home. One of the largest Cherokee settlements in the northern portion of the county once sat nestled into the valley on what would become McDonald Farm. These first people created multiple sacred sites out of respect for the ones they lost. Oftentimes these mounds were started by the death of a priest. They litter the area, most never to be acknowledged, but the ones we are aware of deserve to be hoisted into the light so that we never forget who originally walked this land.

In 1856, Benjamin Jones was the first known man of European descent to be buried on site. A husband, and father of 6, he joined the Continental Army at the age of 13. Served in major engagements like Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, until he was wounded at the Battle of Camden where he watched as most of the men in his brigade were slaughtered by the outnumbering forces of “lobsterback” General Charles Cornwallis. He moved from Maryland to Rhea County in 1814, years later he became the father-in-law to James McDonald through his daughter Kitty Jones. The Sons of the American Revolution came out in 2018 to upkeep Benjamin’s headstone, inducting it into their organization's database with a ceremony. The cemetery plot was originally donated by the Hutcheson family and was taken over by the McDonalds and their allied families. The cemetery remains active for McDonald’s, with the most recent burial being in 2019.  The certification of the historic cemetery places us one step closer to preserving the property's historical integrity.

Thank you all for the support. Advocacy is everything, spread the word. Contact a County Commissioner, let your voice be heard, and keep an eye out as our updates become more frequent!

To voice your concerns with local elected officials, please contact one or all of the Hamilton County commissioners at the following emails, organized by district number:

District1@hamiltontn.gov
District2@hamiltontn.gov
District3@hamiltontn.gov
District4@hamiltontn.gov
District5@hamiltontn.gov
District6@hamiltontn.gov
District7@hamiltontn.gov
District8@hamiltontn.gov
District9@hamiltontn.gov
District10@hamiltontn.gov
District11@hamiltontn.gov
District12@hamiltontn.gov

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We appreciate your commitment to preserving the well-being of our community.

Sincerely,

The McDonald Farm Citizens Advisory Group