Cross Mountain is a mountain in the

Cumberland Mountains The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, southwestern West Virginia, the eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the ...

in the U.S. state of Tennessee. At an elevation of , it is the highest mountain in Tennessee that is not part of the Blue Ridge Province of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. It contains rich deposits of coal, and in 1911 was the site of one of the deadliest mining disasters in state history.

Geography and geology

Cross Mountain is located in the southern Cumberland Mountains, part of the larger

Appalachian Plateau The Appalachian Plateau is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are a range that run from Nova Scotia in Canada to Alabama in the United States. The Appalachi ...

province of the

. It consists of a series of ridges, running roughly northeast-southwest. Its summit, known as The Flag Pole, reaches an elevation of , is located on the border between Anderson and Campbell Counties, and contains multiple transmission antennas. Coal Creek, a tributary of the

Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...

, flows along the southeastern base of the Mountain. Slatestone Creek, flows westward down the slopes of Cross Mountain into Coal Creek. The communities of Briceville, Fraterville, and

Rocky Top "Rocky Top" is an American country and bluegrass song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1967 and first recorded by the Osborne Brothers later that same year. The song, which is a city dweller's lamentation over the loss of a simpler ...

(formerly Lake City and originally Coal Creek) are located nearby. Cross Mountain is accessible via the Cumberland Trail.

History

Prior to the settlement of Europeans, the land that contains Cross Mountain was occupied by the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

. Longhunters from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

explored the area in the 1750s and 1760s, and permanent settlement of the area began in the late 18th century. A railroad spur was extended into the Slatestone Hollow near Briceville in 1888, and major mining activities began that same year. On December 9, 1911, an explosion killed 84 of the 89 miners in the Cross Mountain Mine. The explosion was believed to have been caused by the combustion of dust and

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

gas that had been scattered by a

cave-in A cave-in is a collapse of a geologic formation, mine or structure which may occur during mining, tunneling, or steep-walled excavation such as trenching. Geologic structures prone to spontaneous cave-ins include alvar, tsingy and other ...

near one of the entrances to the mine. The Fraterville Mine disaster, the deadliest mining disaster in the state's history, also occurred near Cross Mountain in 1902.

References

{{Mountains of Tennessee Mountains of Tennessee Landforms of Anderson County, Tennessee Landforms of Campbell County, Tennessee