1. NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. XX, 2013
For additional information
Contact: Amanda Shell
Moxley Carmichael
(865) 255-0661
HIGH GROUND PARK IN SOUTH KNOXVILLE OPENS NOV. 29
Tours of Fort Higley site start at 1 p.m.
Thanks to preservation work by the Aslan Foundation, High Ground Park will open to the
public for the first time on November 29, the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Knoxville.
The park preserves the remnants of historic Fort Higley where Union soldiers once guarded
the high ground above Knoxville during the Confederate siege of the city.
The foundation invites the public to tour the low-impact park in South Knoxville beginning
at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29. Due to limited parking at the site, a shuttle service will be
available from a specially designated lot along Cherokee Trail at the University of Tennessee
Medical Center. The park will close at sunset.
Refreshments will be provided and exhibitors, including the East Tennessee Historical
Society, Knoxville Civil War Roundtable, Legacy Parks Foundation, South Knoxville Alliance
and representatives from Historic Homes of Knoxville, will have displays set up in a tent
immediately adjacent to the park until 3 p.m.
"We look forward to High Ground Park becoming an important part of the fabric of South
Knoxville, highlighting the area’s beauty and historical significance”, said Aslan Foundation
Board President Bob Young. “We are proud to preserve the remnants of historic Fort Higley
for future generations of people drawn to the triumph and tragedy of the Civil War."
In 1863, Fort Higley included a cannon redoubt, primary rifle trench, an interior trench, a
ramp into the fort and a series of depressions thought to be rifle pits or shelters. Abandoned
and unprotected on South Knoxville’s wooded ridgetop since 1865, the remnants of these
features are the only signs that remain of the historic fort.
The site of Fort Higley would soon have been lost to development without quick action from
the Aslan Foundation to purchase it from developers. With the creation of High Ground
Park, the Foundation wishes to make the site accessible to the public while honoring its
legacy and protecting its beautiful natural setting. The park includes a peaceful walking
trail with natural landscaping designed to highlight seasonal color displays from wild
flowers, native flowering bushes and trees, and the surrounding hardwood forest. The trail,

2. bordered by a stone wall, climbs a ridge and opens into a woodland meadow where a
trailhead leads walkers to the fort’s remnants.
Informative educational signage will be placed along the path and at the meadow. High
Ground Park represents a key link in the proposed Battlefield Loop connecting South
Knoxville’s Civil War forts and battlefields– including Armstrong’s Hill, Fort Dickerson, and
Fort Stanley.
"November 29 was chosen as the date to dedicate this park because of its importance in the
history of Knoxville," Young said. "Union troops defeated Confederate forces at Fort
Sanders, just a few miles across the river from Fort Higley. Fort Higley and other hill forts
like it played a key role in the Union battle strategy to protect the high ground south of the
Tennessee River."
After Nov. 29, High Ground Park, located at 1000 Cherokee Trail, will be open to the public
year-round from sunrise to sunset.
About The Aslan Foundation
Founded in 1994 by attorney Lindsay Young, the Aslan Foundation is focused on preserving
the natural beauty and history of the Knoxville area and enhancing the region’s quality of
life. The Aslan Foundation has invested in preserving and restoring historic lands and
properties, including the purchase and donation of historic Westwood; creating and
restoring hiking trails through the Trails Forever program with the Friends of the Smokies;
and promoting animal welfare through ongoing support of Young-Williams Animal Center.
In addition, the Aslan Foundation supports a variety of Knoxville area educational, social
welfare and cultural endeavors with grant funding, including recent major gifts to the
Knoxville Museum of Art, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and the Knoxville Opera.
Summary of High Ground Park
High Ground Park is a low-impact park that preserves the natural beauty of the urban
wilderness and the site of historic Fort Higley, a Union hill fort constructed in 1863 to
protect the high ground south of the Tennessee River during the Confederate siege. The
park includes a peaceful walking trail with natural landscaping and a stone wall that opens
into a woodland meadow with a trailhead leading to the historic site. Purchased by the
Aslan Foundation in 2008 to save it from development, the site of Fort Higley includes the
remnants of a cannon redoubt, primary rifle trench, an interior trench, a ramp into the fort
and a series of depressions thought to be rifle pits or shelters.
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