“The dream of a railroad had seized the imagination of the boosters of Cumberland County apparently from the moment of the first track in the United States was laid in 1829. By 1840, there were about 2,700 miles of railroad in the U.S., of which 600 miles were in the South. Apparently, there was some expectation that a railroad would cross the Plateau, for in 1844 the post office at Crossville was renamed ‘Railroad Plains.’ Perhaps the hopes died quickly, for the following year the name was again listed as Crossville….”
Tag Archives: civil war
The Civil War in Cumberland County (Part 2)
The geological paradox that is the Cumberland Plateau caused problems with the Civil War soldiers tasked with controlling the region. As a result a multitude of guerilla gangs and raids took place in the area.
The Civil War in Cumberland County (Part 1)
“….when the Provisional Army of Tennessee was formally handed over to the Confederacy, more than twenty-five thousand Tennesseans enlisted in more than fifty regiments across the state.”