Life in Clinchmore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                    Story by Richard Carroll

 

Clinchmore is located about twelve miles from Caryville Tennessee. When you enter the town of Caryville just drive across the rail road track and up the mountain road onto the Norma road. The road will take you up and over the mountain and into long a long valley. Than turn left at the concrete bridge at Stony Fork school. You will see the old Stony Fork school house on the left side of the road. As you drive up the old road about two miles you will come to the old Clinchmore church on the right side of the road. This is a beautiful area, just to visit here is a nice thing to do.

 

This being said, Clinchmore, is much more than just the church building. It is the hold area that extends about six miles on up the creek. Yes, the flood was a major part of its history, but it was not the most important part.

    There are names that we will get into to later but for the most part everyone just called the whole area Clinchmore.

    It is the people who lived there that are important to me. I have made this site for those people who lived at Clinchmore. This site is for all of them and their way of life. It is only right that all these hard working people should be remembered.

    Many changes have come to Clinchmore over the years that have almost eraced the any evidence that there was once was a large community of over 400 hundred people who lived there.

     The Logging companies have changed the landscape so much in the last few years, I feared that many sites would be graded over by the loggers before I could make pictures of what remained of the  old foundations of the old camp houses. Even though I rushed to make pictures a lot of things had already been destroyed by the current logging that was happening that once again would damaged the area even more.

    New roads for four wheelers were cut all over the area and might have destroyed some old home sites that I may have made photos of for this project.

    So you will understand when I say that I don't like the logging companies and those who carelessly damage the area.  It was the logging that caused the flood damage to the area, by partly daming up the head waters of the creek. Yes it is true this really happened. The people were unaware that a catastrophe event was set to destroy the whole community of Clinchmore.

    The logging should be stopped at Clinchmore completely, because it is now a part of the Wind Rock State Park area. The area is owned by the TWRA. and it should not be used for logging anymore.

 

The Clinchmore community is the focus of this web site. Many people fail to realize how important it is to record the facts down in a historical way. This should be done so the people who lived there will be remembered by Campbell County. Facts can become blured in the maze of time with changes that come to any area. Things change and people soon forget the past. This is what happened at Clinchmore. One person said that the area is now called just Stony Fork, and that may be true for most people, unless you happen to be one of the people who lived in the area and still remember the old names of the camps and houses that were in the  locations.

   

I am not aware of much public effort that has been made to preserve the history of this area. 

 

This is the purpose for this web site. May it be a blessing to anyone who finds it.

 

LIFE IN CLINCHMORE

   

Life in the coal mining camp was not easy for anyone, however, most of the people who lived there were happy, and had a deep faith in God. That faith was passed on down to their younger generations that moved away after the flood of 1965.

    Many of these people still return to Clinchmore seeking the memories of the past, and I am one of these people. When I think of how they lived there without the benefits of the the things we have to day it still amazes me how they did it.

    I should start by giving the names of the other locations that are seen in the photos, videos and in the maps, made by Willie Buttram, they are part of Clinchmore.

    The coal tipple was just up the road from Clinchmore church on the left. You may still see a little of its old foundation on the side of the road.  

    There was also Rabbit Town, about a thousand feet to the front of the church up on the left side of the mountain. Some of the old house foundations can still be seen there now, that is until the loggers have another go at it. Next to this was Flea Town, that was further on up the creek and up the left side of the mountain.

    Than there was Appalaca Camp, that was located near the creek and the main road ran through it. It is pictured in a winter time photo on this site. In one photo I am standing at a Large rock with the name APPALACA, painted on it.  This was the entrance to this camp. At one time there were some swinging bridges in Clinchmore, one was at Appalaca Camp. The bridges were long and very narrow. They were made of wood and steel cables supported them. Most of the children loved to walk and play on these bridges.

    To the right and front of the church further up the creek was the Paint Rock Camp. Near this was the Old Clinchmore school. There is also a beautiful water fall to the left side of where the old school once stood. There is a concrete reservoir near this area that provided water for the coal miner's bath house, it can be seen in one of the photos with a power pole in the forground view. Many people who lived near it would get their water from the reservoir.

    Down near the creek was a railroad that ran on the right side of the creek. There was a post office near it. There the mail car from the railroad would stop to deliver the mail.

    Also in this area was the coal companies Commissary, or store. The workers would go there and buy things they needed with the Clinchmore coal mining script. The script was round and had a large C, craved off of the middle of it.

     Further on up the creek were other houses that stood on each side of the creek bed. I once lived in one of these old houses. I don't know if this area had a name or not. Ivy Grove church was about midway to this area. The Little Red church was the last one in the area. My dad Andy Carroll, would often go and preach at the little Red Church. You can see it in one of the pictures on this site. It has a history that goes back far beyond my time. In fact it might have be the oldest church in that area.

 

Most people just walked up and down from place to place and did not miss driving cars, even though many people did own cars in the area. People would often meet each other walking on the roads and sometimes stop to talk about a church meeting or a revival in the area. The coal mining was always a main topic with the people. When I was there it was the logging people that were making the news by always traveling up and down the road by our home. The dust was always bad until evening when they stopped working for the day. A truck would past at least every five minutes and sometimes even more often. I sometimes  watched as the truck drivers drove pass with large loads of logs. They would pass our home on their way to a lumber mill some where.

    In the valley between the mountain darkness came quickly. I remember that one side of the mountain or the other seem to always be dark due to the location. The area was always cool in the hot summer months. And in winter the snow would fall very deep and lay on the mountains for weeks at a time.

    Most of the coal mining had ended when I lived there, but in its early days that was the main way of life. A coal miner's work started early each day and lasted until about sunset, and they rarely saw the brightness of the midday sun except on Saturday and Sunday when they were off from work, and many went to church in one of the three churches. The coal miners had a very hard job, they would return from the mines covered from head to toe in black coal dust. Most of them would die from what they called black lung. That comes reathing in the black coal dust.

    Most of the churches around the area were built by money earned by the coal miners who payed for the lumber.

    Clinchmore had three churches before the flood. Two of them were Baptist and one was  a little church of God. The little Red Church of God was carried away in the flood leaving only the chuch bell laying in the road. Ivy grove Baptist church was later moved closer to the town of Caryville Tennessee.

    Hundreds of stories about Clinchmore could be told by many people if they wanted to share them. And these stories should be tolded by anyone who was there and can remember the people and the area. My story is just one of the many. There is so much to say about Clinchmore and so few to say it.

    I will never forget my days at Clinchmore and how it all ended in one night by a fearful flood that washed away the community, and almost ended me and my whole family.

    Maybe someday others will tell their own stories about the area and add more to the history and memories of the coal mining town called Clinchmore, in Campbelll County Tennessee. 

     

                                     By Richard Carroll

 

Note. I may add other peoples storites here later.