Anderson County History and Heritage

Travel 200 years in 15 minutes. 

Anderson County offers the unique opportunity to travel through 200 years of American History in 15 minutes. You can virtually be transported from 18th Century Appalachia to the atomic age and into the future while enjoying the natural beauty of Norris Lake.

The term "Appalachian" is not only the name of the mountain range in Eastern North America. It also refers to a unique American culture of crafts, music, cuisine, heritage, and beliefs. This Culture is on display through out Anderson County.  Click here to discover Anderson County’s Appalachian Heritage.

Coal mining is one of the industries that rebuilt the South after the Civil War.  Coal mining created a booming town in North Anderson County while providing much needed jobs and energy to the area.  Discover how this community abolished the convict lease system and survived two devastating mine disasters along the Coal Creek Mining Motor Discovery Trail.

In the early 1940’s, while the Germans struggled to find the fuel source for a weapon that would give them the ultimate power, the United States was looking for a site in the mountains and valleys of East Tennessee to build a top-secret city that would be used to create the world’s first Atomic Bomb.  Discover how 75,000 people kept a secret while exploring the World War II Secret City of Oak Ridge.
 
On August 27, 1956, twelve young people in Clinton, Tennessee walked into history and changed the world. They were the first students to desegregate a state-supported high school in the south. Learn the fascinating history of the twelve and how they not only changed a community but a nation at the Green McAdoo Cultural Center.