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Moving northwest from Sparta, Bragg, with Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk’s Right Wing, Army of Mississippi, composed of the divisions of Cheatham and Withers, passed through here. Forrest’s Cavalry Brigade, covering the left flank of the advance, operated west of Murfreesboro and Lebanon and as far north as Munfordville, Ky., which was surrendered to Bragg on Sept. 14.

Born in Bertie County, North Carolina, Walton fought in the Revolution for that state. He settled in the Cumberland country in 1784. Walton served in the legislatures of North Carolina and Tennessee and as a Smith County magistrate. He built Walton’s Road in 1801 and operated stands along its route. Countless settlers traveled this road en route to middle and West Tennessee.

The construction of the Cordell Hull Bridge began in 1934 and the bridge opened to traffic in May of 1936.  It’s named for Nobel Peace prize winner and former U. S. Secretary of State, Cordell Hull.  The bridge closed to traffic in 2007. It underwent major rehabilitation in 2010 and re-opened for traffic in  July 2014. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 2009.

Also known as the Captain Calvin N. Davis House. The house was built by merchant and former Confederate Army Captain, Calvin Davis in 1889. It is designed in the Victorian architectural style. William Hull (the father of U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull) purchased the home from the then owner in 1906. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

 Also known as the Tilman Dixon House, Dixona, is the 18th-century home of Major Tilman Dixon, a Revolutionary War veteran who settled in the area in the 1780s. This house served as a pioneer home, as Smith County's first courthouse and as a tavern.  It later became home of Col. James Vaughn of Mexican War fame, who added the two brick wings. Dixona is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the oldest house in Middle Tennessee and is, infact,older than the State of Tennessee itself. "Dixona is one of the few houses in Tennessee having been built in North Carolina, and having to not move one square inch."

Also known as Beasley Mounds, was a large village area with one large platform mound 8 feet (2.4 m) in height and 125 feet (38 m) in diameter and three smaller ones. Excavations at the site in 1895 produced stone pipes, stone discoidals used for the Native American game of “chunkey” and numerous examples of Mississippian culture pottery. This location is listed the National Register of Historic Places.

The Carthage historic courthouse square was the control center of a major Federal base from 1863 to 1865 in the fight to control the Upper Cumberland River region. When Union Gen. George Crook arrived in Carthage to stay in 1863, he commandeered the then existing courthouse for his headquarters. The current structure was constructed in 1877. This two-story brick, building is recognized for its Second Empire architecture style and is covered with a Mansard roof and crowned by the traditional courthouse cupola, also rendered in the same sytle. It is one of only two such buildings in Tennessee buit in the Second Empire sytle. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 1979.

Carthage’s historic courthouse square was the control center of a major Federal base from 1863 to 1865 in the fight to control the Upper Cumberland River region. When Union Gen. George Crook arrived in Carthage to stay in 1863, he commandeered the courthouse for his headquarters. From here, Crook and subsequent commanders directed the work necessary for the construction of the earthworks on Battery Hill and organized excursions into the countryside. In June 1863, Col. William B. Stokes, 5th Tennessee Cavalry (US), replaced Crook and waged a determined war against the many partisan units in the region. In September 1864, Stokes asked permission to “clear the country” of Confederates so “to prevent them from bush whacking.” The last officer in command here, Col. Abraham E. Garrett, led the 1st Tennessee Mounted Infantry, a 400–man unit largely recruited in Carthage and Nashville. Garrett wrote some of his morning reports in the county’s will books. After the war, he remained in Carthage, where he was an attorney and also represented Smith County in the Tennessee General Assembly.

The historic Walton Hotel, built around 1904, is the namesake of the first Carthage hotel built by Col. William Walton who was the original land grant owner and founder of Carthage.  The original Walton Hotel, a woodframe structure, stood on the east side of the square and was destroyed by fire in 1885 along with every other structure on that side.

As a major Cumberland River port with three landings, Carthage was strategically important to both Confederate and Union forces. The Upper Ferry and landing was located near the present Corps of Engineer boat ramp near Upper Ferry Road.

During Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg’s 1862 Kentucky invasion, part of his army crossed the Cumberland River at Carthage. Early in 1863, to make it more difficult to cross the river, Union commanders ordered a naval excursion “to destroy every ferry-boat, barge, or other means of crossing as high up as Carthage.” Late in December, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sent a naval convoy up the river from Nashville to Creelsboro, Ky., on a reconnaissance and supply mission. U.S. gunboats Reindeer and Silver Lake No. 2 under U.S. Navy Lt. Henry A. Glassford accompanied three transports with 140 sharpshooters from the 129th Illinois Infantry, under the command of Col. Andrew J. Cropsey.