Brabson's Ferry Plantation
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Brabson's Ferry Plantation
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Benjamin Brabson house
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| Location | NW of Sevierville off Sevierville Pike in area of Boyd's Creek |
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| Coordinates | 35°55′45″N 83°39′3″W / 35.92917°N 83.65083°WCoordinates: 35°55′45″N 83°39′3″W / 35.92917°N 83.65083°W |
| Area | 250 acres (100 ha) |
| Built | 1790s |
| NRHP Reference # | 75001780 |
| Added to NRHP | June 25, 1975 |
Brabson's Ferry Plantation is a Pioneer Century farm and former antebellum plantation near the U.S. city of Sevierville, Tennessee. Located at what was once a strategic crossing of the French Broad River, by 1860 the plantation had become one of the largest in East Tennessee, and one of the few in the region that rivalled the large plantations of the Deep South in size and influence. The farm remains in operation, and several of its historic structures— including two plantation houses and an 18th-century plank house— have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
John Brabson II (1773–1848) established Brabson's Ferry Plantation after purchasing the plantation's namesake ferry in 1798, and acquired the surrounding fertile farmland over subsequent decades. Brabson's sons continued operating the plantation after his death, and established a business that catered to the ferry's traffic. As the Brabsons supported the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War, their plantation was looted by Sevier County Unionists and toward the end of the war most members of the family were forced to flee. Several eventually returned, however, and by the end of the 19th century had rebuilt the plantation and ferry. The Brabson family still owns and manages the farm.
Brabson's Ferry Plantation is located at the confluence of Boyds Creek and the French Broad River in the Boyds Creek community a few miles northwest of Sevierville. State Highway 338 (Boyds Creek Highway, or Old Knoxville Highway) passes along the plantation's southern boundary, and Indian Warpath Road traverses its western section. The Brabson Cemetery is located atop a steep hill with a sweeping view of the French Broad River on the north end of the plantation.
Highway 338 follows what was once a stretch of the Great Indian Warpath, a trail used for centuries by Native Americans travelling up and down the Tennessee Valley. The ancient path crossed the French Broad River at a ford near the mouth of Boyds Creek. In 1780, John Sevier crossed at this ford to engage and defeat a Cherokee force at the Battle of Boyds Creek. In the early 1790s, an early pioneer named Andrew Evans established a ferry and a 250-acre (100 ha) farm at the Boyds Creek ford. John Brabson, who migrated to the area from Frederick County, Virginia, purchased the Evans farm and ferry in 1798.
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