Trade, Laurel Bloomery and Shady Valley

Johnson County is made up of Mountain City and a string of rural communities, including Butler, Cold Springs, Doe Valley, Laurel Bloomery, Shady Valley, Trade and others. Each has its own story. Here are a few of them.

Trade

Trade sits near the easternmost point of Tennessee and is commonly referred to as the oldest community in the state. It grew up at an old trading ground where a buffalo trail and wilderness trails met, and where Indian traders, and later Daniel Boone and other pioneers, passed through the Trade Gap. Read more in Daniel Boone and the Frontier.

Laurel Bloomery

Laurel Bloomery, the northeasternmost community in Tennessee, takes its name from its early iron industry. A bloomery is a type of forge used to make iron from ore. According to the Tennessee Historical Commission marker on State Highway 91, the first forge in the area was built about half a mile north on Laurel Fork in 1810. Two more forges were built to the west, the last in 1849, and an ore bank on Ackerson Creek supplied ore until it was exhausted.

Shady Valley

High between Holston Mountain and Iron Mountain, Shady Valley sits at about 2,785 feet, making it one of the highest communities in Tennessee. The valley is known for its rare mountain bogs, where wild cranberries grow, a habitat usually found much farther north. The Nature Conservancy protects some of the remaining bogs, and the community celebrates with its annual Cranberry Festival each October.

Backbone Rock

North of Shady Valley, a narrow ridge of rock called Backbone Rock once stood in the way of the Beaver Dam Railroad, built to carry lumber and manganese ore between Shady Valley and Damascus, Virginia. In 1901 a short tunnel was blasted through the rock. It’s often called “the shortest tunnel in the world.” When the Tennessee section of the railroad was abandoned in 1918, the tunnel was widened for the road that still passes through it today, Tennessee State Route 133. The area is now a U.S. Forest Service recreation area in the Cherokee National Forest.

Do you have family stories, old photographs or corrections to share about Mountain City’s history? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us.