Tracy City in Grundy County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Mountain Goat

Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, June 18, 2025

1. Mountain Goat Marker

Inscription. The Mountain Goat Railroad was built by Sewanee Mining Company to haul coal from the plateau. It was completed from the Cowan tunnel to Coal Bank near St. Andrews Midway in 1856. There was not much coal there and what was there was of poor quality. The line was extended 10 miles through the forest to the site of the original coal find on Benjamin Wooten's farm where the Wooten mine was established and the place named Tracy City for the president of the mining company, Samuel F. Tracy. On November 8, 1858 the first shipment of coal was made. Tracy City remained the end of the line until 1905 when the line was extended to Coalmont. The line was further extended in 1917 to coal fields established at Palmer.

Photo caption (right top): Roundhouse, engine repair shop, train station, and Railroad Avenue in Tracy City.
Photo caption (left top): Train station, engine repair shop, and first bay of roundhouse in Tracy City with Shook School silhouetted in the background.
Photo caption (right middle): Roundhouse bays in Tracy City.
Photo caption (left middle): Train station, engine repair shop, and roundhouse in Tracy City.
Photo caption (right bottom): Roundhouse bays with engines in Tracy City.

Photographs courtesy of Lanny P. Bell

Topics. This historical marker is listed

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in this topic list: Railroads & Streetcars.

Location. 35° 15.657′ N, 85° 44.235′ W. Marker is in Tracy City, Tennessee, in Grundy County. It is at the intersection of Laurel Street and Scenic U.S. 41, on the right when traveling north on Laurel Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 14 Laurel St, Tracy City TN 37387, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau

and in the Highland Rim.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: WPA in Grundy County and Highlander Folk School - Part 1 (here, next to this marker); Warren Memorial Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Tracy City (here, next to this marker); WPA in Grundy County and Highlander Folk School - Part 2 (a few steps from this marker); Who are the Tourists? (a few steps from this marker); The Chickamauga Story (a few steps from this marker); Charley's Camp in the Horseshoe (a few steps from this marker); Beersheba Springs Hotel (a few steps from this marker); Mountain People (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tracy City.

Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, August 31, 2025

2. Mountain Goat Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on September 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on July 3, 2025, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. This page has been viewed 129 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on July 6, 2025, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. 2. submitted on September 23, 2025, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.