CALL TOLL FREE: 1-877-GOLF-TN1 (465-3861)

EMAIL: thechamber@crossville.com

Visiting > History & Heritage

History & Heritage

 

Celebrating more than 100 years of history, the city of Crossville was incorporated in 1901. However, the beginnings of a community actually took root many years before. In 1855, Cumberland County was created. The first county courthouse sat on the property near where the second courthouse stands, now celebrating its 112^th birthday and serving as a historical and military museum. Both it, and the current courthouse across Main Street, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

The first settlers to the Pleasant Hill community came prior to 1819 and built the log cabin known simply as "the Homestead." Their school, the Pleasant Hill Academy, gave an excellent education to many of our county residents and many young people who went on to become prominent citizens, here and elsewhere.

 

One of the oldest industries in the county is the limestone industry. Such operations have been in Crab Orchard since the turn of the century and thrive to this day. Historic Crab Orchard was incorporated in 1973.

 

The Cumberland Homesteads project of the 1930s was one of the most successful projects of its kind. Eleanor Roosevelt was instrumental in the development of (and actually visited) the Homesteads project. The area has been designated as a national historic district.

 

Historic Homesteads Tower & Museum

The tower was constructed in 1937-38 to house the government administrative offices of the Cumberland Homesteads, a New Deal subsistence homesteading program of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration during the Great Depression.  The building was opened as a museum in 1984 and now exhibits a collection of photos, documents and artifacts from the 1930's and 1940's when the community was developing. Visitors are invited to browse the gift shop or climb the 97 steps to the lookout platform to view the vista at the top.

 

Pioneer Hall Museum

Pioneer Hall Museum is a museum of local history with exhibits representative of the lifestyle of early Pleasant Hill and surrounding Cumberland County, which includes a country store, country kitchen dormitory rooms, crafts and two large galleries.  Many of the exhibits share with you memories of Pleasant Hill Academy which was established in 1884 and closed in 1947.  Pioneer Hall was the first dormitory of the Academy and built in 1887.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

 

Crossville Depot Gift Shop

Built in 1900, the Crossville Depot replaced a boxcar that was used temporarily until the building was complete. Medal of Honor winner Sergeant Alvin C. York departed and returned from the Crossville Depot during World War I, and later, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who was here to visit the Cumberland Homesteads "New Deal" project. The Depot was featured in a famous scene from the movie Sergeant York. The railroad stopped running and tracks were removed in Cumberland County in the early 1980s, and in 1996 the Depot was renovated as a community project by the Rotary Clubs of Cumberland County. Currently, the Depot is a gift and coffee shop, and meeting facility.

 

Military Memorial Museum of Upper Cumberland

The Museum is located in the restored 2^nd Cumberland County Courthouse. The Museum features displays and artifacts associated with Cumberland County's involvement in military conflicts beginning with the War Between the States. There are exhibits of general interest from all American fought wars, including the Iraq War. The museum was recently added to the Civil War Trails of Tennessee. For more information, please call (931) 456-5520.

 

The Palace Theatre

The Palace Theatre opened in November of 1938 and played an important part in the lives of many people and the community. The Palace is fully restored now and is a multi-use community auditorium and visitors' center. Originally the Palace was intended to be an entertainment center and they have stayed true to that historic vision, featuring live entertainment in variety of musical styles. We host concerts of Jazz, Blues, Country, Bluegrass and Rock just to name a few.

 

Cumberland Mountain School

Cumberland Mountain School was founded in 1921 by Reverend Robert Hershey on behalf of young persons who were unable to obtain the opportunity for education.  Many students paid for their education by helping cultivate, grow and harvest farm crops that were eaten at the school or sold. Six historic structures remain, including the Susie Gray Hall that served as the girl's dormitory and the original library.  As public schools became more prevalent, the school closed in 1938.  It was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1983.  A historic marker is mounted on a large cut Crab Orchard stone along the Old Jamestown Highway.  The buildings and grounds served for several years as a campground of the Tennessee Conference of the Untied Methodist Church and is currently a satellite office for the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency. For more information, please call (931) 707-1077.

 

4-H POW Camp/Camp Crossville

Opened in November 1942, one of the first prisoner of war camps during World War II, Camp Crossville housed over 1,500 German and Italian prisoners of war.  Designated for officers, the camp held General Pietro Gazzeri, one of the Italian Army's highest ranking officers.  Also housed here were German officers of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's famed Afrika Corps.  Camp Crossville was located on the Cumberland Plateau, nine miles west of Crossville on the site of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp.  It closed in December 1945.  A Tennessee Historic Marker is located on POW Camp Road outside the Camp Crossville site that is currently an exclusive home to a University of Tennessee 4-H Club Camp. For more information, please call (931) 788-2288.

 

 

Crossville-Cumberland County
Chamber of Commerce
34 South Main Street
Crossville, TN 38555
(931) 484-8444
1-877-GOLF-TN-1 (465-3861)

Members | Visiting/Relocation | Economic Development
Site Map | Home | Contact Us