The Great Stage Road was a stagecoach route from Washington D.C, south to Knoxville, TN, and west to Nashville, TN. The road included several established routes such as the Great Valley Road, the Knoxville Road, the Nashville Road, and the Old Walton Road. [1] The road followed much of today's U.S. Route 11. [2]
By 1750, colonial fur traders and explorers began to cross over the Appalachians into Kentucky and Tennessee and return to many eastern communities with stories about rich lands to the west. [3] The Great Stage Road and other stagecoach routes provided an efficient way to travel between the mountain range through the Cumberland Gap, [4] [5] a pass in the mountains where travel was easier. The Great Stage Road, along with many other stagecoach roads connected early American cities and towns. [6] The Great Stage Road in particular was an essential route for everything from postal deliveries and newspaper circulation to places of rest for those on longer journeys.
Along the Great Stage Road, there were many towns and settlements. In these towns were Inns, where travellers could rest after a long day before preparing for their remaining journey. The Hale Springs Inn was built in 1824 in Rogersville, TN, and located only a few hundred feet off the Great Stage Road. During the nineteenth century, the inn hosted many notable people relevant in American history including those listed below. [7]
Many relevant figures in American History traveled along The Great Stage Road, [8] including:
Tennessee, officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. According to the United States Census Bureau, the state's estimated population as of 2024 is 7.22 million.
Crab Orchard is a city in Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 719 at the 2020 census.
Cookeville is the county seat and largest city of Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was reported to be 34,842. It is recognized as one of the country's micropolitan areas, smaller cities that function as significant regional economic hubs. Of Tennessee's 20 micropolitan areas, Cookeville is the largest. The Cookeville micropolitan area's 2020 census population was 141,333. The U.S. Census Bureau ranked the Cookeville micropolitan area as the 4th largest-gaining micropolitan area in the country between 2022 and 2023, with a one-year gain of 2,748 and a 2023 population of 148,226. The city is a college town, home to Tennessee Technological University.
Carthage is a town in and the county seat of Smith County, Tennessee, United States; it is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,306 at the 2010 census. It is located on the Cumberland River, which was important to its early development. It is likely best known as the hometown of former Vice President and Senator Al Gore of the Democratic Party and his father, Senator Albert Gore, Sr. The younger Gore announced his 1988 and 2000 presidential bids, as well as his 1992 vice-presidential bid, from the steps of the Smith County Courthouse.
The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough, including a chain of valley lowlands, and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountains system. The trough stretches about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from Quebec in the north to Alabama in the south and has been an important north–south route of travel since prehistoric times.
The Natchez Trace, also known as the Old Natchez Trace, is a historic forest trail within the United States which extends roughly 440 miles (710 km) from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers.
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a limited-access national parkway in the Southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Natchez Trace and preserves sections of that original trail. Its central feature is a two-lane road that extends 444 miles (715 km) from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee. Access to the parkway is limited, with more than 50 access points in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. The southern end of the route is in Natchez at its intersection with Liberty Road, and the northern end is northeast of Fairview, Tennessee, in the suburban community of Pasquo, at an intersection with Tennessee State Route 100. In addition to Natchez and Nashville, larger cities along the route include Jackson and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Florence, Alabama.
Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital and largest city, Nashville, as well as Clarksville, the state's fifth largest city, and Murfreesboro, the state's sixth largest city and largest suburb of Nashville. The Nashville metropolitan area, located entirely within the region, is the most populous metropolitan area in the state, and the Clarksville metropolitan area is the state's sixth most populous. Middle Tennessee is both the largest, in terms of land area, and the most populous of the state's three Grand Divisions.
East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely Bledsoe, Cumberland, and Marion. East Tennessee is entirely located within the Appalachian Mountains, although the landforms range from densely forested 6,000-foot (1,800 m) mountains to broad river valleys. The region contains the major cities of Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee's third and fourth largest cities, respectively, and the Tri-Cities, the state's sixth largest population center.
There are many historic trails and roads in the United States which were important to the settlement and development of the United States including those used by American Indians.
State Route 1, known as the Memphis to Bristol Highway, is a 538.8-mile-long (867.1 km) mostly-unsigned state highway in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from the Arkansas state line at Memphis in the southwest corner of the state to Bristol in the northeast part. Most of the route travels concurrently with U.S. Route 70 and US 11W. It is the longest highway of any kind in the state of Tennessee. The route is signed as both in the state of Tennessee, a Primary and Secondary Highway
U.S. Route 11E (US 11E) is a divided highway of US 11 in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia. The United States Numbered Highway, which is complemented by US 11W to the north and west, runs 120.94 miles (194.63 km) from US 11, US 11W, and US 70 in Knoxville, Tennessee, north and east to US 11, US 11W, US 19, and US 421 in Bristol, Virginia. US 11E connects Knoxville and the twin cities of Bristol, Virginia, and Bristol, Tennessee, with the East Tennessee communities of Morristown, Greeneville, and Johnson City. The U.S. Highway runs concurrently with US 70 and US 25W east of Knoxville, US 321 from Greeneville and Johnson City, and both US 19W and US 19 between Johnson City and Bristol. US 11E also has an unsigned concurrency with State Route 34 (SR 34) for almost all of its course in Tennessee.
Concord is an unincorporated community in Knox County, Tennessee, United States and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, the Concord Village Historic District. The United States Geographic Names Information System classifies Concord as a populated place. It is located in western Knox County, east of Farragut and west of Knoxville. Mail destined for Concord is now addressed to Concord, Knoxville, or Farragut.
Hale Springs Inn, built in 1824 on the Courthouse Square in Rogersville, Tennessee, was the oldest continuously-operated Inn in Tennessee. It is listed as a contributing property of the Rogersville Historic District.
The Nashville metropolitan area is a metropolitan statistical area in north-central Tennessee. Its principal city is Nashville, the capital of and largest city in Tennessee. With a population of over 2 million, it is the most populous metropolitan area in Tennessee. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Tennessee in terms of land area.
Kingston Pike is a highway in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, that connects Downtown Knoxville with West Knoxville, Farragut, and other communities in the western part of the county. The road follows a merged stretch of U.S. Route 11 (US 11) and US 70. From its initial construction in the 1790s until the development of the Interstate Highway System in the 1960s, Kingston Pike was the main traffic artery in western Knox County, and an important section of several cross-country highways. The road is now a major commercial corridor, containing hundreds of stores, restaurants, and other retail establishments.
The Louisville and Nashville Turnpike was a toll road that ran from Louisville, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee during the 19th century. From Louisville, one route now designated US 31W ran through Elizabethtown, Munfordville, Glasgow Junction, Bowling Green, and Franklin before crossing into Tennessee. In Tennessee, the route would continue through Portland, Cross Plains, Millersville and Goodlettsville before going into Nashville. The other route ran through Bardstown, Buffalo, Glasgow, and Scottsville and is currently named US 31E. The name survives in abbreviated form along routes including Kentucky State Routes 335 and 470. US 31W is usually named for the Dixie Highway which succeeded the Turnpike.
Interstate 40 (I-40) is part of the Interstate Highway System that runs 2,556.61 miles (4,114.46 km) from Barstow, California, to Wilmington, North Carolina. The highway crosses Tennessee from west to east, from the Mississippi River at the Arkansas border to the Blue Ridge Mountains at the North Carolina border. At 455.28 miles (732.70 km), the Tennessee segment of I-40 is the longest of the eight states through which it passes and the state's longest Interstate Highway.
White Plains is an antebellum plantation house located in Algood, Tennessee near the U.S. city of Cookeville. In the 19th century, the plantation provided a key stopover along the Walton Road, an early stagecoach road connecting Knoxville and Nashville, and in 1854 served as a temporary county seat for the newly formed Putnam County. In 2009, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Arcadia is an unincorporated community located in Sullivan County, Tennessee, just outside Kingsport's eastern city limits. Arcadia, originally known as the Reedy Creek Settlement, was one of the earliest settlements in present-day Tennessee. Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road ran through this community in 1775. Arcadia is listed in the National Register of Historic Places which includes the Thomas Fain Plantation. Thomas Fain named his plantation "Arcadia" to which the surrounding community became known. Arcadia is part of the Kingsport–Bristol (TN)–Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the Tri-Cities region.
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