American History Books

Eastern Sevier County rests in the toursity foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park but also boasts a colorful history of its own.

Eastern Sevier County is home to the small communities of Foxfire Mountain, Pittman Center, Jones Cove, Richardson's Cove, Locust Ridge, and Pearl Valley. Foxfire Mountain is best known today for the adventure park and agri-tourist destination brought to life by the Postlewaite family, yet it also boasts a colorful history that includes Benjamin Owens, a judge notorious for hanging convicts from an oak tree on his property. Locust Ridge is the birthplace of country music legend Dolly Parton, and it has been reported that her father compensated the attending physician who delivered Dolly with a bag of cornmeal.

Pittman Center, originally a Cherokee hunting ground, is now the largest community in this portion of the county. Strangely, the town is named for Dr. Eli Pittman of New York, who assisted local minister John Burnett with fundraising to build a school to serve the area. Pittman Center is now a favorite destination for those enjoying the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

From Nashville's earliest days as a pioneer town in Middle Tennessee, it would be nothing without its African American community.

Like many cities of the Antebellum South, Nashville was built by enslaved people, as African Americans built the first successful water system, maintained the streets, cultivated crops, and bred livestock. For years, Nashville was considered one of the wealthiest Southern cities, but after the Civil War, it struggled to regain that status while its newly freed Black citizens struggled to survive the South's Reconstruction and subsequent Jim Crow laws. As the Civil Rights era brought long-needed reforms, the Black community of Nashville has persevered through their determination, spiritual strength, and the unique leadership fostered by the visionary city they call home.

The story of a remote community in Tennessee with a frontier spirit. So remote, it even attracted Jesse James.

Located less than 10 miles from Tennessee's state capital, the area now called Whites Creek is a rural historic district settled by Zachariah White during the late 18th century. Nestled between the Central Basin and the Highland Rim, Whites Creek is located on the Cumberland, or Shawnee, River Plateau, which is the largest wooded plateau in the world. Known for its resiliency to climate change and alluvial soil, the area boasts rich farmland comparable to the Mississippi Delta. It is surrounded by desolate hills and hollers that even drew Jesse James to the area with hopes of laying low and living off the land. Today, the frontier spirit still lives on throughout the region as residents typically embody a similar bold and independent ethos much like those who settled here long ago.

This marvelous collection of more than two hundred rare images celebrates Trousdale County's rich history and highlights some of the major industries and events that shaped the area.

Trousdale County has a history as fascinating as it is long. The region's early reputation stemmed from its well-known race track, a forum that attracted to town such notables as Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston. In the turbulent Civil War years, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan staged the most successful cavalry raid of the war in Hartsville, overwhelming a larger Union force and capturing over two thousand men. During Reconstruction, tobacco emerged as a major crop for the area and today Hartsville boasts one of the top tobacco markets in the state. The history of the county is not all famous names and dramatic events; in many ways the most interesting tales are about the ordinary folks and the way they lived their lives. From the time of the earliest settlers, who forged the Immigrant Trail through Trousdale County in the late eighteenth century, to the present, this area has been home to the humble and the great, the freeman and the slave, the patriot and the soldier, the laborer and the businessman. Combining rare images with a wealth of historical information, this delightful volume brings to life the past of a traditional, yet dynamic, region of Tennessee. Most assuredly, this book reaches deep into the area's soul, offering up a multitude of strong images and valuable insights for resident and visitor alike.