On December 9, 1857, the Tennessee General Assembly created Sequatchie County from a section of Hamilton County and named Dunlap as the county seat.
Few opportunities existed to expand to a larger agricultural market until a road, Anderson Pike, was built in 1852 connecting the Sequatchie Valley to the newly constructed Western and Atlantic Railroad in Georgia. Anderson Pike was used mainly by farmers to transport their livestock out of the valley and to larger markets throughout the South.
During the Civil War, in October 1863, Confederate Major General Joseph Wheeler led a cavalry raid against a Union supply train on Anderson Pike that was attempting to relieve besieged Federal troops at Chattanooga. Wheeler burned an estimated eight hundred to one thousand wagons and captured livestock.
The construction of railroads in the post-Reconstruction era expanded Sequatchie County's agricultural and industrial opportunities. The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway constructed a line through the Sequatchie Valley in the 1880s. This line reached Sequatchie County in 1888, thus enabling coal companies to conduct large-scale mining activities by the turn of the century. The Chattanooga Iron and Coal Corporation owned and operated sixteen thousand acres of coal land near Dunlap and employed 350 men. They also operated two sawmills, which supplied the railroads with ties and the coal mines with shoring. In addition to mining, the company constructed and operated 268 beehive coke ovens near Dunlap, many of which can still be viewed at the Dunlap Coke Ovens historic site. Coke ovens carbonize bituminous coal by removing the majority of volatile materials in the coal by heating it in a closed oven thus preventing its burning. The coke then is used in blast furnaces to melt iron. As the southern steel industry continued to expand, the demand for coke continued to increase.
The Chattanooga Iron and Coal Corporation sold their mining and coke operations to the Southern States Iron and Coal Company in 1919. The Southern States Company closed the operations in 1922 due to the overproduction of coal. The closing of the mines also brought about the closing of many associated industries. Railroad traffic declined in the county, and many people left the area in pursuit of work. Those who remained returned to subsistence farming as a living.
Sequatchie County is in the heart of the beautiful Sequatchie Valley, with Walden's Ridge on the east, and Cumberland Plateau on the west. It has an area of 273 square miles, and is bounded by Bledsoe, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, Van Buren, and Warren Counties. In 1990 the population was 8,863.
The Sequatchie River, referred to in early deeds as Crow Creek, flows through the lush valley land. Some of the streams that empty into the river are Brush Creek, Coops Creek, Hicks Creek, and Woodcock Creek.
Many artifacts have been found to substantiate the fact that the earliest inhabitants of the area were Indians. Historians have stated that Hernando DeSoto and his party were in the area around 1540. Their studies show that the expedition rested for about a month at the town of Chiaha, thought to be Burns Island, in the Tennessee River, just beyond the mouth of the Sequatchie River. In 1809, Joel Wheeler was on the list of white settlers who were below the treaty line, in what was to become Sequatchie County.
Tennesee Historical Society, Nashville TNConstructed at the base of the mountain were a series of "beehive" ovens, designed to turn coal into coke for use in the iron and steel foundries of nearby Chattanooga. The first 24 ovens and the company store were built in 1902. Then, in 1906, 144 ovens and a steam -powered coal washer were constructed. In 1916 a new railroad up Little brush Creek created the demand for more coke production. Along with a one-million-dollar coal washer, 100 more beehive ovens were built on the east end of the site. These last ovens and the coal washer were used very little, due to the company's having to file for bankruptcy in the mid 1920's. A total of 268 stone ovens had been built when, in 1927, the mining operations were shut down due to falling coal prices, and the onset of the Depression.
The coke ovens lay dormant for more than 50 years, exposed to the ravages of nature, garbage dumpers, and rock thieves who dismantled stone from the ovens. In the mid 1980's local citizens formed a historical group and began efforts to clear away the debris. Soon, a park was created to preserve this piece of the county's heritage.
Today, the ruins of the once thriving complex cover most of the 62-acre park. The property was donated, for preservation, to the Historical Association by Bowater Southern Paper Company. The park has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is maintained by the Coke Ovens Museum Association and the Sequatchie Valley Historical Association volunteers.
(The information above is courtesy of Carson Camp.)
On the grounds are a large picnic pavilion, two smaller pavilions, numerous picnic tables and grills. There are hook-ups for RVs and other campers, for rough camping. Permission to camp must be obtained from the Historical Association.
The Coke Ovens Museum, adjacent to the ovens, is on Mountain Creek Road, within the city limits of Dunlap. It is a two-story replica of the commissary, or company store, and stands on the original site. The major portion of funds for the construction came from a bequest of David Gray, deceased. The museum is open on week-ends, and other times by request.
Content by sgoins@bledsoe.net