Copper Mining Heritage

Old Copper Road
Hwy 64 / Ocoee Scenic Byway

The Old Copper Road was built in 1853 to connect the copper mines in the Great Copper Basin to the railroad depot at Cleveland, Tennessee. Financed by local prospector and businessman, John Caldwell, the road took two years to complete at a cost of $22,000. Upon completion, copper haulers drove teams of oxen and mules over the road for two days to transport ore to Cleveland. The old road is now a section of U.S. Highway 64 that links Ducktown to Cleveland. The 12 miles that winds through the Ocoee Gorge is known as the Ocoee Scenic Byway, the nation’s first National Forest Scenic Byway. A 5-mile restored section of the original roadbed can be found at the Ocoee Whitewater Center, near Ducktown, Tennessee where it is open to the public as a hiking and biking trail.

Cherokee Heritage

Fort Marr
Gee Creek Ranger Station
Hiwassee / Ocoee River State Park
404 Spring Creek Road
Delano, TN 37325
423.263.0050

A significant part of the Cherokee history, constructed around 1814, is the last visible remains of the camps where the Cherokee were confined prior to removal.

A significant part of Cherokee history, Fort Marr (also called Fort Morrow) was constructed around 1814 as a supply depot for troops during Andrew Jackson’s campaigns against the Creek Indians. It was later abandoned, only to be regarrissoned in 1837 as a stockade used to detain Cherokee Indians prior to their forced removal. Troops stationed at Fort Marr were tasked with collecting Cherokees from their homes in the Cherokee Nation within Tennessee, and transporting them to internment camps at Fort Cass (present-day Charleston, Tennessee). The Fort Marr Blockhouse is the last visible remains of the camps where the Cherokee were confined prior to removal. The site is open daily, Sunrise – Sunset.

Historical Sites

Ocoee Flume Line and Dams
Hwy 64 / Ocoee Scenic Byway

The Ocoee powerhouses, dams and flume line are part of an ambitious hydroelectric power project that began in 1910. Constructed by Eastern Tennessee Power Company, this series of historic hydroelectric structures are tucked into the narrow Ocoee River Gorge, all located within a stretch of only 12 miles. Ocoee Dam Number One, measuring 135 ft high and 840 ft wide, was built over the site of the old farming community of Parksville, where the Ocoee emerges from the Appalachian Mountains. The lake created from this project covers nearly 2,000 acres with over 100 miles of shoreline for recreational use. Upon its completion it was called Parksville Dam, and the new powerhouse named Ocoee Powerhouse Number One. Ocoee Number One is one of the first hydro-electric projects in Tennessee and remains the oldest dam in what is today the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system.

Construction of Ocoee Powerhouse Number Two, located approximately 5 miles upriver from Powerhouse Number One, began in 1912. To provide sufficient water volume to drive the turbines, engineers devised a unique wooden trough-like structure to divert and concentrate the river waters until it reached the powerhouse. Known as the Ocoee Flume Line, this impressive structure measures 14’ X 10’ and stretches 4.7 miles along the rock bluffs of the Ocoee River Gorge, descending only 19 feet over that distance, while the river itself drops about 250 ft in elevation. The Ocoee Dam Two, measuring 30 ft high and 450 ft across, was built to capture the water destined for the Flume. The flume line is revered by locals and historians as a piece of true Americana, and the only of its kind in the nation. It was rebuilt in 1983 and is listed on the National Historic Register, as is Ocoee Powerhouse Number Two.

In 1939 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) purchased the powerhouses, dams, and flume line. In 1941 TVA began construction of Powerhouse Number 3 to serve increased power demands during World War II.

The structures are not open for tours but are easily seen from Hwy 64(Ocoee Scenic Byway).

Old Line Railroad
Etowah, TN – Copperhill, TN
877.510.5765

This historic 47- mile railroad winds through the Cherokee National Forest between Etowah, Tennessee and Copperhill, Tennessee. Carved into the rugged mountains and Hiwassee River Gorge in 1890, a 19-mile section of this unique railroad corridor is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A defining element on the Old Line is the Historic Hiwassee Rail Loop, built in 1898 to replace the original switchbacks that allowed trains to circumvent Bald Mountain. The only way to access the corridor is by train. The Hiwassee River Rail Adventure carries passengers on vintage trains along the Old Line, through the Hiwassee Gorge, and over the famous Hiwassee Rail Loop from Apr-Nov. The “Hiwassee Loop” trips are half-day train rides while the “Copperhill Special” train excursions include a mid-day stopover in the historic copper mining town of Copperhill.

Civil War History

Like most of Appalachian Tennessee, Polk County was a divided land during the Civil War. Residents formed both Confederate and Federal units. Benton, the county seat, was a regional crossroads but Ducktown, where the Burra Burra Copper Company operated valuable mines, was strategically significant. Mining continued until 1863, while the Confederate army controlled the area, but once Federal troops occupied the county, the mines closed until the war ended.

Bushwhacking and small skirmishes intensified after Federal occupation. John P. Gatewood, a Confederate partisan from Georgia, was the most notorious guerrilla in the region. In November 1864, Gatewood’s gang rode through Polk County, robbing and killing Unionist residents. The violence culminated in the so-called Madden Branch Massacre near the Georgia state line, where Gatewood’s men executed several unarmed Unionists.

In February 1865, nine local men scouting for Confederate Gen. John C. Vaughn and led by Capt. Phillip L. Bible, 62nd Tennessee Mounted Infantry, camped on Chilhowee Mountain. As they settled in for the night, a detachment of Union Col. Spencer C. Boyd’s 5th Tennessee Mounted Infantry fired on them. They scattered, losing three men. Boyd was a prominent Polk County citizen.

A brief account of the fight and its participants has been etched into several stones located at the Confederate Camp historic site on the Chilhowee Mountain Road.

One stone notes: “T.B. Haney/ A Confederate Soldier/ Was Killed Here/ Feb. 15, 1865.”

Taken from Civil War Trails Marker located at the Polk County Courthouse 6239 Hwy 411, Benton, TN

Hiwassee Mine Stack 
Highway 68/College Street, Ducktown (Private Drive)

Overlooking Highway 68 in Ducktown, this reproduction brick stack symbolizes the original Hiwassee Mine that operated during the Civil War. Confederate forces occupied and controlled the mines through late 1863. As soon as the fighting ended, companies reinvested in the region and production soared. From 1865 to 1878, over 24 million pounds of copper were taken from underground mines while fifty square miles of the basin were stripped of timber in order to build underground mines and fuel local smelters.

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