Boiling Fork Railroad Bridge

One of Cowan's most unnoticed landmarks is about to be uncovered!  In the Year 2008 a group of public and private interests are pulling together to expose a brilliant historic landmark right on the edge of downtown!  Stay tuned!

Cumberland Mountain Tunnel

It was an extraordinary feat of engineering and hard work - three years of manual labor, very few explosives, and a vision for the future. Cumberland Mountain Tunnel is one of Cowan's most famous landmarks and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is still in use today by the CSX railroad and sees over two dozen freight trains every day. The tunnel is located about 1.5 miles southeast of downtown Cowan. Although it is frequently visited, it is difficult to reach and is in a restricted area controlled and guarded by CSX Transportation. Many great photos of the tunnel can be seen in Cowan Railroad Museum, and the plaque that once stood near the north entrance of the tunnel is now located in the downtown railroad park.

Franklin County's First Court House

Stop by and visit the home of Major William Russell. The beautiful log cabin in the railroad park is actually of replica of Major Russell's home that was built by local volunteers in 1975. Major Russell was one of Cowan's pioneer settlers as well as Franklin County's first judge. His home, a log cabin located near on Boiling Fork Creek, served as Franklin County's first court house! The cabin replica in the park contains various relics and antiques donated by local citizens.  Click here to read a series of articles about the cabin and its history.

The Mountain Goat

Plans were made as soon as possible to build a railroad "up the Mountain" to access the coal deposits that were discovered as early as the 1830's. The Sewanee Mining Company built a rail line in 1853 from Sewanee to Cowan immediately following construction of the Cumberland Mountain Tunnel. The line crossed over the north entrance of the tunnel before making a sharp loop and then a parallel run alongside the mainline track into Cowan. This rail line happened to be the steepest railroad in the world at the time of its construction!

The Mountain Goat soon became an essential link for Sewanee and the outlying coal mining towns further back in the mountain. Students and visitors of the University would ride trains into Cowan on the mainline and connect to the Mountain Goat. The connection between the two lines often required an overnight stay in Cowan, which made the local hotel a popular hangout. Students who could not afford to stay in the hotel were allowed to stay overnight in the local city jail. One of the hotel's owners, Mrs. Lasater, made it abundantly clear that any student who stayed overnight in the jail was expected to be at her doorstep the following morning for breakfast.

As the coal industry began to decline along with the importance of the railroad, the Mountain Goat began to wither. In the late 1970's the Mountain Goat saw very few trains and was completely abandoned in 1985. Today the roadbed for the Mountain Goat is still intact and the sections through Sewanee and Monteagle have been converted into walking trails.  More information, including books and photos, are available at Cowan Railroad Museum.

Historic Slagtown

One of Cowan's most renowned neighborhoods is the very humble and historic Slagtown on the south side.  Slagtown represents the birth of Cowan industry with the building of an iron furnace prior to the Civil War.  The area gets it name from the excessive slag - a by-product of the smelting process - that formed a substrate for home construction and to control soil erosion.  As early as the 1920's, Slagtown was incorporated into a housing subdivision for Marquette Cement Plant.  One of the historic homes in Slagtown was brought in from a logging camp in the Carter Mountain area.  The closure of Marquette Cement Plant in 1979 began a long period of decline and deterioration for Slagtown, but the residents there have spent the past four years on a neighborhood renewal project with some help from the US Department of Agriculture.  In 2008, the neighborhood renewal will move into a fresh new phase and will see the installation of a historic marker.  Stay tuned...