Tennessee Copper Basin Through the Years
After attending the L&NHS convention in Athens, we drove over to Copperhill on Monday morning to see the sites and copper museum.
1. Ducktown. Image inset. Postcard.
2. Postcard dated 1914 showing new sulfuric acid plant on top of the hill. Tenn Copper Co. Copperhill.
3. Tank car loading facility at lower left. Tenn Copper Co. Copperhill.
4. Tank cars being loaded with acid ca. 1939. Tenn Copper Co. Copperhill.
5. In the early days the surrounding forests were cut to make fuel for roasting the copper ore. The sulfurous gas air pollution killed the remaining vegetation. Copper Basin erosion scene.
6. Probably US 64 going east from Ducktown. The area has been replanted and trees have grown back. Near Copperhill.
7. Dates in Copper Mining History.
8. TN 68 coming into Copperhill from Ducktown. Tenn Copper Co. Copperhill TN. Postcard.
9. TN 68. Tenn Copper CO. Copperhill TN. Back of postcardd.
10. L&N yard along the river. Ca. 1966. Tenn Copper Co. Aerial view. Postcard.
11. Back of Postcard. Tenn Copper Co. Aerial view. 1966.
12. USGS Ducktown quad, 1:48,000 scale for 1936 showing many mines plus Tennessee Copper and Ducktown Chemical & Iron Co. tracks. These two companies merged in 1936. The L&N is at the lower left along the river. Ducktown, TN-NC, 1:48,000 quad, 1936, USGS.
13. USGS Isabella quad, 1:24,000 for 1936 showing more detail of railroad tunnel southwest of Isabella. Isabella, TN-NC, 1:24,000 quad, 1936, USGS.
14. USGS Ducktown quad, 1:62,500 scale for 1943 showing a tunnel under a road between Isabella and TN highway 68. Ducktown, TN-NC, 1:62,500 quad, 1943, USGS.
15. USGS Isabella quad, 1:24,000 scale for 1957 showing no tunnel or road. Surface mining operations probably eliminated the tunnel and the road. Isabella, TN-NC, 1:24,000 quad, 1957, USGS.
16. USGS Epworth quad, 1:24,000 for 1942 showing L&N yard and part of Tenn. Copper smelter. Epworth, GA-TN, 1:24,000 quad, 1942, USGS.
17. Slag from the refuse dumps is presently being trucked out of the old smelter site. Copperhill Industries TN. 09-18-2023.
18. View of the old smelter site from the former L&N yard. Copperhill Industries TN.
19. There is plenty of smelter slag. TVR has very occasionally moved a hopper of slag. Copperhill Industries TN.
Suggested reading:
Tennessee’s Great Copper Basin by Harriet Frye. Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series published 2017.
The Tennessee Copper Company, 1899-1970 also an Images of America published 2022 by Harriet Frye. Both are 127 pages and full of photos.
I’ll cover rail operations next.
Train images used by permission of Everett N Young