TLC had a hit song that told you not to go chasing waterfalls and stick to the rivers and lakes that you are used to. If you want to not follow the advice of Destiny’s Child and want to go chase some waterfalls then I have the place for you. That place is Grundy County Tennessee, where Middle Tennessee meets East Tennessee. There are plenty of waterfalls, sandstone formations, and forested trails to chase here. This place is also home to one of the most infamous stretches of interstate highway, the Monteagle Grade.
Location:
(using the town of Altamont as the reference for the latitude and longitude)
Latitude: 35.44 degrees North Longitude: 85.71 degrees W
Grundy County is located in Southeastern Middle Tennessee and named after Felix Grundy, a prominent congressman and former attorney general in the early half of the 1800s. Its County Seat is located in Altamont but there are several towns in Grundy County including Palmer, Gruetli-Lagger, Tracy City, Monteagle, Coalmont, Beersheba Springs, and Pelham. Being on the Cumberland Plateau there is quite a bit of variation as far as elevation is considered. Ranging from around 900 feet in the valleys on the western edge of the county to 1,700 – 2,300 feet on the Cumberland Plateau. Monteagle is unique in that its city limits extend into Marion County.
Altamont and Monteagle both contain a Humid Subtropical Climate with hot and humid summers, variable winters, and overall nice to warm weather in between. This area is slightly cooler (by about 3-5 degrees than most of Middle TN and the lower elevations of Eastern TN) due to the higher elevation. Therefore, this area can occasionally get snow while the surrounding areas of Tennessee are socked in a cold rain.
History:
http://grundych.org/ <— Everything you want to know about Grundy County
I will just provide a quick summary for the purpose of this post. If you are a history buff I highly recommend this site.
Grundy County was initially settled by the Chickamauga and Creek tribes who settled this area. The Treaty of Holston (1791) confined the Native Americans to the Cumberland Plateau but when European settlement was opened in the early 1800s the Europeans pushed the Natives out of their land. Eventually leading up to the forced removal of all Native Americans in 1838 via the tragic “Trail of Tears”.
After the Civil War which largely avoided the Grundy County area because of its rural, forested, and rugged character the focus shifted to the extraction of two of Grundy County’s precious resources (Trees and Coal). Around 300 million years ago vast swamps (the Everglades of Florida would probably be the closest analog to what Grundy County was like during that time) covered Grundy County. Plant material from these ancient trees and plants were deposited in these swamps and millions of years of compaction, pressure, and heat caused this peat to turn into coal. After the Civil War and throughout much of the 20th Century this coal was required to power the factories, steel plants, and eventually needed to provide electricity to people across the nation. Coal mines sprang up on the rugged land of Grundy County. Logging operations were required to clear the trees in order for coal companies to access the coal seams. A pretty important example of a coal mining company town is located in Grundy County. The town of Coalmont just south of Altamont was formed in 1904 by one of the coal mining companies (Sewanee Coal, Coke, and Land Company). This company would build and own the houses, stores, and commercial buildings in the town. In Coalmont, a miner was allowed to build his own house in Coalmont if he chose to. Company towns had significant influence in a coal miners life and the miners would often be forced to spend their money at the company store (at a higher price). This money would go right back into the pockets of the company. Now the area is largely rural still but is attractive to tourists and nature seekers due to South Cumberland State Park and its overall scenery.
A Bit of Switzerland in Tennessee:
One interesting thing about Grundy County and that it contains one town that is a surviving example of Swiss Colonization of the Cumberland Plateau. Switzerland advertised a piece of land in Grundy County as a new start in America. Several families ended up moving to Grundy County and establishing the town of Gruetli which eventually became Gruetli-Laager when merged with a surrounding town, which is in the southeastern part of the county just southeast of Altamont. Several of the Swiss immigrants were a bit disappointed due to the overall poor land and rural/isolated character, but still several stayed in the area.
Natural Wonders: Mineral Springs and Waterfalls
Beersheba Springs played a large part of Grundy County’s history as this was a popular old-time summer getaway location for people looking to enjoy the slightly cooler summer temperatures and mineral springs. The springs contain iron and in the late 19th century it was thought that mineral springs contained healing powers. It was also a stagecoach stop between Chattanooga and McMinnville. The resort has been converted to a meeting place for the Methodist Church and an arts and crafts festival.
Grundy County is known for being part of one of the youngest and a very underrated state park called South Cumberland State Park. South Cumberland State Park covers portions of 4 counties and contains an abundant amount of wooded trails, overlooks, caves, and coves. There is one thing that is area and the Cumberland Plateau area is well known for scenic wise and this is waterfalls. Grundy County lies in an area that I personally nickname “Waterfall Alley”. Waterfall Alley (see Figure 4) is an area that extends from an NNE to SSW direction across Eastern Kentucky down through the Cumberland Plateau region of Tennessee and extends all the way to near Birmingham, Alabama. This includes well-known waterfalls such as Cumberland Falls in KY, Cummins Falls north of Cookeville, and Fall Creek Falls not too far from Grundy County. At least hundred’s of waterfalls occur in this region. Geologically, this is caused by the exposed sandstone that is common in this area being more resistant to erosion so water flows over the top of that layer, but beneath the sandstone layers are other layers such as limestone or shale that are less resistant to weathering so water is able to pass through those layers. When it meets another resistant layer the water will flow back over that resistant layer. Joints, faults, bedding planes or contacts between different rock layers, will also cause water to enter through these rock units. Foster and Greeter Falls are two of the major waterfalls in South Cumberland State Park but there are several more. For more information about waterfalls in South Cumberland State Park see the video below.
https://www.friendsofsouthcumberland.org/waterfalls.html
The Monteagle Grade:
https://www.overdriveonline.com/white-knuckle-roads/
^^ Supplied some of the information in this section of the post ^^
Right on the Grundy/Marion County line on Interstate 24 is an infamous stretch of interstate, where I-24 navigates through the Cumberland Plateau. This portion of the highway was made infamous on a national level when Johnny Cash recorded a song about it in 1986 and stated in the song that “Your life is in your hands when you start down that long steep grade on Monteagle Mountain”. Monteagle isn’t the steepest grade but it is long and can cause the brakes of larger trucks to overheat and ultimately fail if the trucker is not careful. To make this portion of I-24 safer runaway ramps were installed to catch any large trucks that may have experienced brake failure and need to safely exit the highway without causing an accident. The Speed Limit is also 55 MPH to help with the braking. A You-Tube video depicts someone traveling down the Monteagle Grade.
Conclusion:
The Southern Cumberland Plateau area including the Altamont and Monteage area and surrounding areas is a great area for hiking, sight seeing, and escaping from the fast pace of 21st century life. Grundy County has been the site of the hard and back-breaking work of coal mining to the site of relaxation via its springs and scenic views. It has also been an important stop for company towns and even Switzerland. This has been Grundy County and I hope that you enjoyed this episode of Highlighted Community.
Upland-South Science 