From a nearby Tennessee Historic Commission marker:
Cold Spring School - circa 1857-1933
2.8 miles northeast is the site of Cold Spring School. It was built on land donated in May 1857 by Thomas Baskerville for a school and meetinghouse. Early in the Civil War, it was used by Camp Trousdale as a military hospital. There, in 1866, David Lipscomb organized the Portland Church of Christ. Landowners Jim and Bill McGlothlin gave the schoolhouse to the citizens of Portland for a museum of local history. In September 1975, it was relocated to Richland Park.
Tennessee Civil War Trails Marker at Richland Park:
In May 1861, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation to raise and equip the Provisional Army of Tennessee and train the units at camps throughout the state. Camp Trousdale was established—initially at Richland (present-day Portland)—as the main concentration point for companies formed in Middle Tennessee. The camp was named for former governor William Trousdale of Gallatin. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer (1812-1862) was its first commander, with his headquarters at the home of Thomas Buntin near the present Maple Hill Cemetery.
Because of a lack of potable water, Camp Trousdale moved in June to an area of wide rolling fields near the one-room Cold Spring School that Thomas Baskerville had constructed in 1857. The school served as a regimental hospital. Soon more than 6,000 men were drilling in the camp, and some of the sick were treated at the school building. Later, Camp Trousdale relocated to present-day TGT Road, again because of water contamination. The only barracks in the state that housed Confederate troops were built there, then razed in February 1862 before Union forces arrived and occupied the area.
Federal troops under the command of Lt. Col. Gustavus Tafels, 106th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, subsequently fortified the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, constructing Fort Mitchell to guard the nearby trestle. Fort Smith, named for Col. George P. Smith, 129th Illinois Infantry, served as a temporary railroad to receive and ship Union supplies by wagons to Nashville.
Here is a third marker in front of the school:
Cold Springs, a rural one room school, was built near cold water springs on the Thomas Baskerville farm, near Mitchellville, Northern Sumner County. During the Civil War the school was a hospital for Confederate troops quartered at Camp Trousdale.
Howard McDowell, former student, mobilized efforts to move and restore the building. Structure donated by Jim & Bill McGlothlin. School moved into Richland Park in September, 1975.
Official agreement signed by City of Portland, McGlothlin families, and Highland Rim Historical Society, November 1, 1975.
