Tennessee

This pictorial history of Natchez Trace illustrates the people, places, and events that have shaped the area's cultural and natural history.

The Natchez Trace is one of the oldest trails in North America. In 1801, President Jefferson ordered the Army to build a road along the trail to provide a route for moving troops and delivering mail. Jefferson dispatched soldiers down the road in 1803 to protect the Louisiana Purchase, and Andrew Jackson and his troops followed it to battle the British in the War of 1812. As an 1800-era link between Nashville, Tennessee, and Natchez, Mississippi, the road served as a pathway for settling much of what we now know as the South. Twentieth-century writers such as Eudora Welty later embellished its lore of heroes, bandits, and spies, inspiring Southern leaders to revive the Natchez Trace.

The late-19th- and early-20th-century vision of the New South relied upon economic growth and access. The development of the Dixie Highway from 1914 to 1927--with its eastern and western branches running from Ontario, Canada, south to Miami, Florida--would help facilitate this dream attracting industry, tourists, and even new residents. Images of America: Tennessee's Dixie Highway: Springfield to Chattanooga tells the story of people, places, politics, and organizations behind the construction of the road from Springfield, Tennessee, to Chattanooga. This section is particularly important, as it was roughly the halfway point of the route and contained the headquarters of the Dixie Highway Association in Chattanooga. It also included the seemingly insurmountable Monteagle Mountain in Marion County--the very last portion of the national north-south highway to be completed.

The Dixie Highway Association met in 1915 to plan a highway route from Chicago to Miami, later extending it to Canada. Tennessee's Dixie Highway: The Cline Postcards traces the path of the Dixie Highway along its western and eastern branches through the state, showcasing the works of photographers Walter M. Cline Sr. and Jr. The journey begins in Nashville and travels south to Chattanooga. Chattanooga served as both headquarters of the Dixie Highway Association and home to the Cline family. Moving north of the city, the eastern route arrives near the Kentucky border in Jellico. Many of the places that fascinated the Clines during the 1930s and 1940s are still popular destinations today.