Buffalo Valley is an

unincorporated town An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in far western Putnam County,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, United States. The zipcode is: 38548. The town could be described as a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

History

There was much activity in Buffalo Valley at an early date. There was a grist mill before 1803. At its height, Buffalo Valley was a transportation hub with three grist mills, four general stores, a pole and timber yard, several livestock dealers, a produce dealer, a bank and two blacksmith shops. Evidence of such activity is still present today. Flooding was a major cause of the town's decline. In the early 20th century, Buffalo Valley suffered one flood that swept a railroad bridge away and another that devastated the entire town. In the late 1990s, a scene for the movie The Green Mile was filmed in Buffalo Valley. The film utilized a railway bridge which crosses the

Caney Fork River The Caney Fork River is a river that flows through central Tennessee in the United States, draining a substantial portion of the southwestern Cumberland Plateau and southeastern Highland Rim regions. It is a major tributary of the Cumberland Rive ...

for a scene involving John Coffey (

Michael Clarke Duncan Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957September 3, 2012) was an American actor. He is best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor a ...

). As of 2019, the old Buffalo Valley School turned 90 years old. What remains of the flood-prone town are some houses, an active church, an abandoned church, a post office downtown, a few abandoned stores and the old school building (now a community center and library).

Geography and Environment

Topography and Hydrology

The southwest end of town is located at the confluence of the

and Big Indian Creek, with the rest of the town being along the creek. The area near town has abundant streams, rolling hills and large green pastures.

Flora and Fauna

Long before settlement was made, there was a huge canebrake of

Arundinaria gigantea ''Arundinaria gigantea'' is a species of bamboo known as giant cane (not to be confused with ''Arundo donax''), river cane, and giant river cane. It is endemism, endemic to the South Central United States, south-central and southeastern United St ...

(River Cane) in the area.

American bison The American bison (''Bison bison''; : ''bison''), commonly known as the American buffalo, or simply buffalo (not to be confused with Bubalina, true buffalo), is a species of bison that is endemic species, endemic (or native) to North America. ...

would descend from the nearby

Highland Rim The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee, North Alabama, and Kentucky which surrounds the Central Basin. The Central Basin is a geological dome which has subsequently fractured and eroded to produce a basin. The Highland R ...

to the valley to graze in the winter; the town was named when a particularly large one was killed.

Climate

Buffalo Valley's climate is

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between la ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfa'',

Trewartha Glenn Thomas Trewartha (1896 – 1984) was an American geographer of Cornish American descent. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with a Ph.D. in 1924. He taught at the University of Wisconsin. He gave an address to th ...

''Cf''), giving the area mild winters and hot, humid summers. Precipitation is generally highest in spring and lowest in August to October, although a secondary peak does occur in December. On average, there are 208 sunny days, 37.4 days of highs over 90 °F (32 °C), 76.9 days of sub-freezing lows, 0.3 days of lows below 0 °F (-18 °C) and 106.8 days with at least 0.1 inches of precipitation.

Notes

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Putnam County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee