Virtual Real Estate Solutions : The History of Crab Orchard Stone in Crossville, Tennessee

Crab Orchard stone is a rare sandstone quarried from the Crab Orchard Mountain of the Cumberland Plateau. Predominately rose in color, this mottled stone is streaked in irregular patterns by different shades of brown. Its unique and beautiful color was used mostly for chimneys and foundations in the immediate region until the late nineteenth century, when Cumberland County officials built a courthouse with the stone and erected stone curbing and sidewalks in Crossville.

In Cumberland County, you can see this stone in use in the hundreds of "Homestead Houses" that were built during the depression as part of the New Deal. The historic "Homestead Tower", the showplace of the New Deal, is another example of the beauty of this stone, as is the dam at the Cumberland Mountain State Park. It can be found in several government and commercial building throughout the area, including Homestead and Crab Orchard Schools, The Greater Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce, Crossville Church of Christ, Crossville's old post office and jail, First National Bank, and Cumberland County High School.

                                  ( Homestead Tower Made of Crab Orchard Stone )

In 1991, Crab Orchard Stone was used for renovations at the vice presidential residence in Washington D.C. Other notable places where this stone has been used include: The parking lots at Rockefeller Center in New York; Detroit's United Auto Workers headquarters; Atlanta's Cathedral of St. Philip; Washington's Internal Revenue Service Building; the Church of Heavenly Rest in New York; the Nintendo office building in Honolulu; and the courts and walks around President Franklin Roosevelt's pool in Hyde Park, and Elvis Presley's pool at Graceland. Former Tennessee Governor Ned McWherter is using it in his new home in Paris, Tennessee.

 ( Cumberland County Courthouse built in 1905, made from Crab Orchard Stone )

                       ( fireplace made from Crab Orchard Stone )

Crab Orchard was given its name to a rare type of durable sandstone found in its vicinity. First used in local structures and sidewalks in the late 1800s, the Crab Orchard stone gained popularity in the 1920s and was used in the construction of Scarritt College in Nashville. Numerous buildings in Crossville, including the Cumberland County Courthouse, have been constructed with Crab Orchard stone.

                                     ( Crab Orchard with Big Rock Mountain in the background )

Crab Orchard's position in a gap in the Crab Orchard Mountains made it an early "gateway" to the Cumberland area as early as the late 1700s. Pioneers passing through the area named it for its abundance of wild crab apple trees. In the 1780s, a road was built through the gap to help provide protection for travelers migrating from East Tennessee to the Nashville area. The historian J.G.M. Ramsey reported several Cherokee  and Shawano attacks at "the Crab-Orchard" during a period of heightened tensions between Native Americans and encroaching Euro-American settlers in the early 1790s. Around 1792, a small band of troops led by Captain Samuel Handley was attacked by a mixed group of Cherokee, Creek, and Shawano at Crab Orchard, ending in Handley's capture. In April of 1794, a group of travelers were ambushed by a band of Creeks, killing early Cumberland County settler Thomas "Big Foot" Spencer. A few weeks later, a "Lieutenant McClelland" was attacked and routed by a band of Creeks at Crab Orchard.

In the late 1700s, as Cherokee attacks subsided, the Walton Road was built as part of the stage road system connecting the Knoxville and Nashville areas. The road passed through Crab Orchard, bringing a steady stream of travelers and migrants to the area. Around 1800, Sidnor's Inn opened at Crab Orchard, with Bishop Francis Asbury being among its earliest guests. In 1827, Robert Burke, whose wife operated a tavern at what is now Ozone established the Crab Orchard Inn, which would remain open until the early 1900s.

Although one of the oldest communities in the Cumberland area, Crab Orchard was not officially incorporated until 1973. 

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Courtesy of Melissa Grant , Affiliate Broker, 931-210-8277