We'd love to hear what you think! Campbell County is a place shaped by mountains, coal, railroads, industry, and water. Our drive begins at Rocky Top, a community that straddles the Anderson-Campbell County line and has carried three different names through three different chapters of its history. Coal Creek reflected the resource that originally shaped the community. Lake City reflected the transformation brought by Norris Dam. And Rocky Top represented hopes for a new economy based upon tourism. From there, we travel north to Caryville, once an important transportation gateway into the mountains. Before the railroad extended farther north, goods arriving by rail were unloaded here and carried through the mountains by wagon, while coal and other products traveled south to meet the railroad. The arrival of the railroad changed that relationship and helped open Campbell County's mineral wealth to outside markets. But Caryville was transformed again during the New Deal. The construction of Norris Dam altered the surrounding landscape, while TVA constructed Caryville Dam to protect the community from the rising reservoir. Nearby, the Civilian Conservation Corps developed what became Cove Lake State Park. At Cove Lake, we also discover the story of Stone Mill, once a gristmill, sawmill, community gathering place, and railroad whistle stop along Cove Creek. The mill disappeared as the Norris project transformed the valley, while hundreds of Campbell County families were displaced by the creation of the reservoir. Continuing north, we reach Jacksboro, the Campbell County seat. Campbell County was created in 1806 and named for Colonel Arthur Campbell, a Virginia frontiersman and veteran of the American Revolution. Even the origin of Jacksboro's name contains some historical ambiguity. Most modern accounts connect the earlier name Jacksonboro with Andrew Jackson, while Campbell County historian George Ridenour preserved a different tradition connecting the name to John Finley Jack. At the center of town stands the Campbell County Courthouse. The present courthouse rests upon the surviving 1885 foundation of its predecessor and, unlike many historic Tennessee courthouses, remains an active center of county government. Beside it, Campbell County's veterans memorial looks not only backward but forward, with space deliberately reserved for the names of veterans still to come. Our drive then carries us into LaFollette, a city created around coal, iron, railroads, and the industrial vision of Harvey and Grant LaFollette. Along Indiana Avenue, named in homage to the LaFollettes' home state, we explore the remnants of that industrial world. The enormous iron furnace has disappeared almost completely, but Harvey LaFollette's Victorian mansion, Glen Oaks, still stands nearby. Just beyond it is the Historic Stone Chapel, built in 1909 for Italian, Bavarian, and English Catholic families drawn to LaFollette to work on the railroad, in the coal mines, and at the coke ovens. That immigrant community also helps us understand one of Campbell County's most remarkable native sons: Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong. Armstrong became a master fiddler and mandolinist, singer, painter, poet, storyteller, and linguist. Growing up among the different ethnic communities of industrial LaFollette exposed him to languages and musical traditions he carried with him throughout an extraordinary career spanning much of the twentieth century. North of LaFollette, the surviving coke ovens at Ivydell preserve another physical remnant of the industrial system that once connected Campbell County's coal mines, railroads, coke production, and iron furnace. From Ivydell, we follow the older road north. Unlike the interstate, this road negotiates with the mountains, winding alongside creeks, through valleys, and between ridges as it gradually climbs toward the Kentucky state line. The drive itself helps explain why transportation has played such an important role in Campbell County's history. Finally, we arrive in Jellico. Its historic Main Street still preserves traces of the prosperity created by coal and the railroad, although many old storefronts now bear the fading signs of businesses and later attempts at reinvention that have themselves passed into history. Jellico also gave Campbell County another extraordinary artist: Grace Moore. Known as the Tennessee Nightingale, Moore went from childhood in Jellico to Broadway, Hollywood, the Metropolitan Opera, recording studios, and opera houses throughout Europe. Her performance in One Night of Loveearned her an Academy Award nomination before her remarkable career was cut short by a plane crash in Denmark in 1947. And standing near the Kentucky line, we consider the remarkable contrast between two nearly contemporary Campbell Countians. Grace Moore was a white operatic prima donna, Hollywood actress, and recording star from Jellico. Howard Armstrong was a Black string-band virtuoso, polyglot, painter, and poet from LaFollette. Neither fits comfortably within a narrow stereotype of an Appalachian artist. But both were Appalachian artists. This is the story of Rocky Top, Caryville, Jacksboro, LaFollette, Ivydell, and Jellico... ...of coal mines, railroads, Norris Lake, coke ovens, and a vanished iron furnace... ...of Howard Armstrong and Grace Moore... ...and of the mountains, industries, communities, and people that created Campbell County, Tennessee. 📚 Sources Dr. G. L. Ridenour, The Land of the Lake John P. Van Huss, research and historical materials concerning the La Follette Coal, Iron & Railway Company, the LaFollette iron furnace, and the Ivydell coke ovens Grace Moore, You're Only Human Once Documentary material and recorded recollections of Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong Charles K. Wolfe, “Music,” Tennessee Encyclopedia Tara Mitchell Mielnik, “Arthur Campbell,” Tennessee Encyclopedia Charles M. Binnicker, “Grace Moore,” Tennessee Encyclopedia Adrion Baird, “Campbell County,” Tennessee Encyclopedia Campbell County Historical Society materials Historical Marker Database, HMDB.org Historical markers located throughout Campbell County Field research conducted in Rocky Top, Caryville, Cove Lake State Park, Jacksboro, LaFollette, Ivydell, Jellico, and other sites throughout Campbell County 🎙️ Credits Hosted by Big John Summers Produced by Summers Media Enterprises Music by Big John Summers 📣 Follow & Support Follow The Tennessee History Nerd on Facebook, Instagram, and X for additional Tennessee history content, including on-location videos, historical interpretation, behind-the-scenes research, and stories from across the Volunteer State. 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