From Native Gardens to Cheese Farms:
AgriCulture in the Tennessee Overhill

Agritourism in the Tennessee Overhill contributes to the preservation of a rural way of life and the survival of agricultural practices. Conservation and sensitive management of the land are attracting “consumers” who appreciate the variety of landscapes and are enthusiastic buyers and spectators of local produce, livestock, and events.

The Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association released a new trail guide designed to lead visitors to places where they can purchase slow cured hams, the only cheddar cheese made in Tennessee, apples, daylilies, muscadine wines, and more. There is a dairy plant that offers free tours to learn how ice cream is made, two corn mazes, a Native Plant Garden at the Ocoee Whitewater Center, and a cheese factory run by a sixth generation farmer.

Titled AgriCulture in the Tennessee Overhill, this free colorful brochure includes a map marked with suggested stops along the way and a brief overview of the farming history of the Tennessee Overhill, a region in southeast Tennessee that got its name from the earliest farmers who worked the land there – the Overhill Cherokee.

The trail follows the backroads and highways of the Tennessee Overhill, sometimes winding alongside scenic rivers, sometimes traveling through pastoral farmlands, and sometimes exploring small towns. The brochure also includes a list of traditional agricultural events like the Annual Ramp Tramp in Greasy Creek, and several county fairs.

Farming has always held a place of importance in the Tennessee Overhill for generations, and even though farming has changed, its importance has not diminished. Garden patches, hay bales and silos still dot the landscape and folks who live in the Tennessee Overhill still hold a locally grown melon and a slow cured ham in high regard.

• Native Gardens: Ocoee Whitewater Center, Fort Loudoun State Historic Area and Sequoyah Birthplace Museum.
• Wineries: Savannah Oaks Winery, Orr Mountain Winery, Striker's Premium Winery.
• Corn Mazes: Mason’s Corn Maze, MaizeQuest at Guthrie Farms.
• Nurseries: Mousecreek Nursery, Sunshine Hollow, The Shops at Morgan Lane and Stone Cottage Shops and Gardens.
• Dairies: Mayfield Diary Visitor Center, Sweetwater Valley Cheese Farm.
• Foodways: Benton's Country Hams, Shultz Farm Foods

• Polk County Fair, Benton. Third week in September, (423) 338-4502
• Polk County Ramp Tramp, Greasy Creek. Fourth weekend in April, (423) 338-4503
• Mid-East Tennessee Regional Fair, Athens. First week in September, (423) 745-6947.
• H Bar M Horse Auction, Athens. (423) 745-7587.

Furs to Factories Heritage Area:
Exploring the Industrial Revolution in the Tennessee Overhill

This part of the southern Appalachians, with its early trade paths and vibrant Cherokee centers saw drastic changes as towns created by copper mining companies, railroads, and textile mills sprang up practically overnight, many becoming boom towns filled with young people who streamed in from nearby farms and places all over the world to create a diverse landscape and culture. This story can be discovered by visiting museums and historic sites along the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Trail found in Furs to Factories Heritage Area: Exploring the Industrial Revolution in the Tennessee Overhill.

The entire Tennessee Overhill region has often been called a "museum without walls, showcasing the rich history of the three-county area. The book, From Furs to Factories, tells the story of the industrialization of the region and also serves as in interpretive guidebook to the area. An abbreviated version is available in a free brochure.

Today’s explorers will wind along Overhill highways through a landscape of places that do not necessarily fall within a chronological order. Instead, these places serve as a record of change over time, each place acting as an exhibit, a layer or one chapter that is woven into the larger story. Since many of the Overhill towns began as company towns, suggested stops throughout the area often highlight specific occupations and industries-fur trading, copper mining, textiles, logging, railroading, dam building, farming, cottage industries and tourism. Along the way, travelers will discover museums, historic sites, rivers, valleys and places that speak of a time of great change.

• Furs and Hides: Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, Fort Loudoun.
• Agriculture: Mayfield Dairy Visitors Center, McMinn County Living Heritage Museum, and Historic District of Reliance.
• Gold Panning: Coker Creek.
• Copper: Ducktown Basin Museum.
• Textiles: Englewood Textile Museum, McMinn County Living Heritage Museum.
• Cottage Weaving Industries: Coker Creek Crafts Gallery, Coker Creek Village, Englewood Textile Museum, McMinn County Living Heritage Museum.
• Railroads: L&N Depot Museum, Sweetwater Heritage Museum, Niota Depot.
• Logging: Tellico Ranger Station, L&N Depot Museum.
• Rivers and Dams: Ocoee Scenic ByWay, Ocoee Whitewater Center, Sugarloaf Mountain Park.

Tennesseeans at War:
From Battlefields to Bombs In East Tennessee

A regional brochure celebrating East Tennessee's rich military history and heritage is being distributed. Tennesseans at War: From Battlefields to Bombs in East Tennessee gives visitors the opportunity to explore 250 years of fighting for freedom from the French and Indian War to World War II. This beautiful brochure tells "why and where" to visit East Tennessee history sites, and is an ideal information source for the heritage traveler. The free brochure includes a brief history of each war, regional map, and information on places to visit and annual events.

Tennessee Overhill attractions featured in the brochure include the Englewood Textile Museum, the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum and Fort Loudoun State Park.

• Englewood Textile Museum: focuses on working class women who worked the mills in this small community. This is a great community story as the museum organizers have revitalized their 2-block downtown. The museum has also won several awards including the Tennessee Association of Museums’ Award of Excellence and was featured as a case study at the National Humanities Conference in 2001.
• Sequoyah Birthplace Museum: Tennessee’s only Native American owned museum and focuses on Overhill Cherokee history and Sequoyah, creator of the Cherokee syllabary. Located on the banks of the Tellico Lake, across the road from Fort Loudoun State Historic Area. They host an annual arts and crafts festival each year with Native American arts and food.
• Fort Loudoun State Park: a reconstructed British Fort duplicated the original, which was the first British structure in Tennessee. Water sports, beach, and hiking. Across the road from Sequoyah Birthplace Museum. They hold living history weekends and a large 18th century Trade Faire each year.