Anderson County(94) ► ADJACENT TO ANDERSON COUNTY Campbell County(15) ► Knox County(240) ► Morgan County(16) ► Roane County(49) ► Scott County(5) ► Union County(8) ►
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On Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north.
Convicts cut trees from Militia Hill and surrounding hillsides in 1892 so soldiers could spot attacking miners. Many of those trees were American chestnuts. Convicts and soldiers could not know that a fungus carried by Chinese chestnuts, brought to . . . — — Map (db m102280) HM
On Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north.
Soldiers of the Tennessee National Guard became easy targets for miners positioned on higher ground after trees were cut from Fort Anderson. Convicts then dug these breastworks to provide cover from attacking miners.
War correspondents from . . . — — Map (db m102279) HM
Welsh miners from the Knoxville Iron and Coal Company began mining coal at the foot of this hill in 1867, but were replaced by convict laborers during a strike in 1877. After convicts were brought to a mine in Briceville in July 1891, miners and . . . — — Map (db m101896) HM
On Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north.
After the Civil War, southern states leased convicts to private industry to cope with a growing number of convicts and dwindling state budgets. The system degenerated to where primarily young African-Americans were being arrested and forced to work . . . — — Map (db m101897) HM
On Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north.
Soldiers responded to attack by firing cannons from here into the Miners Nest encampment on Walden Ridge, located south of the Wye Gap. Soldiers also shot cans filled with mud through the Wye Gap into the town of Coal Creek to signal that the town . . . — — Map (db m102281) HM
On Beech Grove Road at Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north on Beech Grove Road.
The Tennessee National Guard built Fort Anderson on Militia Hill in 1892 to restore order during the Coal Creek War. The fort is located off Vowell Mountain Road, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
According to the Tennessee . . . — — Map (db m101893) HM
On Beech Grove Road at Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north on Beech Grove Road.
In 1877, convicts replaced striking Welsh miners in the Knoxville Iron and Coal Company Mine, located in the hollow to the south. Prison records show that 131 convict miners died there from 1877 to 1893, while others were caught igniting methane gas . . . — — Map (db m101892) HM
On Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north.
Fort Anderson was built here on Militia Hill in January 1892 as a base for the Tennessee National Guard to protect convict laborers and restore order. Hostilities escalated with as many as 2500 miners from Tennessee and Kentucky participating in the . . . — — Map (db m102277) HM
On Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north.
The Tennessee Coal Mining Company in Briceville dismissed convict labor in February 1892 and sold stock in the company to miners. Subsequent attempts to convince Gov. Buchanan to remove troops from the watershed failed, so miners attacked at this . . . — — Map (db m102284) HM
On Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north.
The arrival of General Carnes with the bulk of the state militia overwhelmed the miners by the late summer of 1892. Although they lost the final battle, Coal Creek miners won the war when newly-elected Gov. Peter Turney fulfilled a campaign promise . . . — — Map (db m102282) HM
On Vowell Mountain Lane, on the left when traveling north.
Agricultural land in the region was owned and being farmed by 1880. Younger sons of farmers sought opportunities in mining, learning new job skills from experienced Welsh miners. Mining also offered opportunities for African-Americans who comprised . . . — — Map (db m101895) HM
