Ghost Towns
Sadly, all but a few of the towns below are but a memory. There may be another two in which the names are still used for reference points in traveling, but none truly exist; only a church or perhaps an old barn bearing a store’s name on the side. With most of these past towns, the only clue you might have as to their prior location is in the name of a church or more likely a cemetery. There are only two towns in Cannon County today; Auburntown and Woodbury.
Although currently there is but one high school in Woodbury, at one time, prior to the Civil War there was not only a college, but two Colleges; one for women and one for men.
AMITY
Amity is located on Highway 53, about 7.5 miles south of Woodbury. It was named in 1939 when the Kruthaup family founded a Presbyterian church there. Presbyterian services were discontinued in 1963. Today, the building is used by a Baptist congregation. The place has a cemetery and a store. A Church of Christ is located about a half mile away.
BERRA
Berra was once the site of a school and a church, on the upper reaches of Hollis Creek. the school and the church were moved one mile downstream to a place named Sunny Slope, on the road to Woodbury. The school was discontinued with the consolidation of the county school program. The church is still there.
BETHLEHEM
Bethlehem is the site of a Church of Christ, on Horse Spring Branch, about one mile east of Burt.
BLANTON
Blanton was the site of a school on Good Ridge between Osment’s Chapel and the mouth of Shinbone Hollow at Prater.
BROWNTOWN
Browntown was in the extreme Southeastern section of the county, near the Warren County line. It was named for a BROWN family who had considerable land holdings there before the Civil War. After the war, the former family slaves continued to live in the area and called their community Browntown. The place latter became known as Crisp, after a man who gave them land for a Church. Before desegregation and consolidation of schools, one of the counties three schools for blacks was located there. Today, it only has the Church.
BLUEWING
Bluewing is five miles east of Woodbury on Highway US 70 South and two miles southeast of Center Hill. It was settled by William West.
BRADY’S ROCK
Brady’s Rock is on the east side of Carson Fork, about one mile east of Burt, on a farm. During the Civil War, both Union and Rebel troops used the rock as a camp ground from time to time. It was named for a wandering preacher named Brady who preached there the first Christian Church sermon in the county. The rock had nearly disappeared under dirt and overgrowth.
BRADYVILLE
Bradyville is a village 11 miles southeast of Woodbury. It is about three miles from the original Sagely House. In 1806, Rutherford County built a road from Cripple Creek up the East Fork of Stones River to Hugh P. Brawleys mill on the Indian boundary line. Somewhat latter, it had another mill, run by Slias Patton, and a school. By the middle 1800’s, the village and it’s environs had 6 blacksmiths, 4 merchants, a wheelwright, two millers, and one of the largest schools in the County. The village saw considerable activity during the Civil War, being one of the strategic points in the Confederate line of defense while the Confederate army was encamped at Tullahoma in 1863. Skirmishes were fought there on February 16, March 1, and June 24 in 1863.
BRAXTON
Braxton was 4 miles west of Woodbury, on Highway U.S. 70 South. In the 1920’s, it had a bank and a store, but both fell victims to the depression. Nothing of Braxton exists today except the name, applied to a small farm at the site.
BRYSONVILLE
Brysonville was located at the mouth of Bryson Hollow near Dividing Ridge on Saunders Fork. A post office was located there from the 1880’s to about 1905.
BURGEN
Burgen use to be the site of a store, which was discontinued around 1950. The general area, still called Burgen, is on the upper reaches of Carson’s Fork on a road which forks to lead to Parker Hill and Hollow Springs on the Highland Rim. The place was named for Burger Shelton who operated a store there.
BURT
Burt is a hamlet on Carson’s Fork and Horse Spring Branch in the Southwestern part of the county, about 8 miles from Woodbury and three miles northeast of Bradyville. The Brawley’s Fork Baptist Church (later Marion) established in 1808 was relocated there in 1907. Until recently, the place had a general store and a school. It was named for Burton McFerrin, who at one time ran a store there.
CARMEN
Carman was a telephone exchange located inside the community of Ivy Bluff from 1915 to 1953.
CATESTON
Cateston is located about a mile and a half south of US 70 South, on the road to Bradyville. It was named for J.M.D. Cates, a local Baptist minister who lived there from the 1840’s to the 1880’s. Cates founded the Marion Academy there in 1850, which did not survive the Civil War. Brawleys Fork Baptist Church we relocated there from Baker Road in the 1850’s, and latter relocated to Burt. The only remains of the town are a store and the Cateston Cemetery.
CENTER HILL
Center Hill, which has no hill, is located on the Highland Rim some three miles south of Short Mountain, two miles northeast of Bluewing, and about a mile from the heads of Parchorn and Shinbone Hollows. It has two churches, a store and a small clothing factory. It had at one time also a school. (Debbie’s note) If driving past Center Hill today, you quite possibly would miss it. It appears to be just one of the places in the road with a small convenience store and gas pump.
CLEARMONT
Clearmont was the site of a water powered gristmill just off the Ivy Bluff Road from US70 South.
CROSSROADS
Located at the East end of the East spur of Short Mountain at the intersection of Blues Hill and Purser Hill roads, Crossroads was at one time home to the Tucker’s Chapel Methodist Church and a school.
CULPEPPER
Located about 4 miles North of Woodbury on US 70 at the mouth of Lock’s Creek, Culpepper was once the home of the Readyville school. At one point it had a post office, and a toll booth from the old Woodbury – Murfeesboro turnpike.
CURLEE-DENVER
Located on Brawley’s fork, about halfway between US 70 South and Bradyville. It was named for Calvin Curlee, who built the Christian Church at this location after breaking with the Baptists of Brawley’s Fork. The name Denver comes from a general store at this location. Both the Church and store are still standing.
ELKINS
Located on US 70 South, about 4 miles east of Woodbury, this is the location of a former school and a church.
GASSAWAY
Gassaway is located on the Clear Fork Creek just off the road to Liberty about eight miles Northeast of Woodbury. Named in 1880 for the Benjamin. Gassaway family who settled the area, when a Post Office was opened there. The small downtown has a general store, the old Melton Bank Building, a church and several other buildings that are no longer in use. At one point there was a high school located there which was closed after a fire in the 1970’s. (Debbie’s Notes) My husband’s stepmother owns a home in Gassaway. It is a lovely quiet community, there are areas of rural growth and other areas that although not rural are not in town either.
GEEDVILLE
Geedville was the name applied to a school situated on the Highland Rim, about 4 miles south on highway 70 South near the Warren County line, in the southeastern part of the county. It is on a road between Red Hill and McMahan.
GILLEY HILL
Gilley Hill is on a ridge between the Highland Rim and the hills, about a mile west of Hollow Springs, just before the road to Bradyville takes a dip down the Shelton Branch. It has a church and a cemetery.
More Cannon County ghost towns will be listed soon.