Crossville

History

Crossville developed at the intersection of a branch of the Great Stage Road, which connected the Knoxville area with the Nashville area, and the Kentucky Stock Road, a cattle drovers' path connecting Middle Tennessee with Kentucky and later extending south to Chattanooga. These two roads are roughly paralleled by modern US-40 and US-127, respectively. Around 1800, an early American settler, Samuel Lambeth, opened a store at this junction, and the small community that developed around it became known as Lambeth's Crossroads. The store was at what has become the intersection of Main and Stanley Streets, just south of the courthouse. By the time a post office was established in the 1830s, the community had taken the name "Crossville". In the early 1850s, James Scott, a merchant from nearby Sparta, purchased Lambeth's store and renamed it Scott's Tavern. When Cumberland County was formed in 1856, Crossville, being nearest to the center of the county, was chosen as county seat. Scott donated the initial for the erection of a courthouse and town square. The county was divided throughout the conflict, sending a roughly equal number of troops to both sides. After World War I, U.S. 70 helped connect the town and area to markets for its produce and goods. Additional highways built after World War II improved transportation in the region.

Geography

Crossville is located at the center of Cumberland County at (35.954221, -85.031267). The city is situated atop the Cumberland Plateau amid the headwaters of the Obed River, which slices a gorge north of Crossville en route to its confluence with the Emory River to the northeast. Crossville is roughly halfway between the plateau's eastern escarpment along Walden Ridge and its western escarpment along the Highland Rim. Several small lakes are on Crossville's outskirts, including Lake Tansi to the south, Lake Holiday to the west, and Byrd Lake at nearby Cumberland Mountain State Park. The average elevation of Crossville is about above sea level. Crossville developed at the intersection of two major stage roads by which settlers moved through the area. The roads were gradually widened, improved and turned into paved roads. Two major federal highways—U.S. Route 70, which traverses Tennessee from east to west, and U.S. Route 127, which traverses Tennessee from north to south—now roughly follow the old routes. Interstate 40, which runs roughly parallel to U.S. 70, passes through the northern part of Crossville. Crossville is about east of Cookeville, north of Chattanooga, and west of Knoxville. According to the United States Census Bureau, Crossville has an area of , of which is land and , or 1.95%, is water. |date=November 2014 }}

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Stone Memorial High School
  High · Crossville · 1,031 students · 16.9:1 ratio
• Cumberland County High School
  High · Crossville · 985 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Glenn Martin Elementary
  Elementary · Crossville · 764 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• Homestead Elementary School
  Elementary · Crossville · 722 students · 19:1 ratio
• Stone Elementary
  Elementary · Crossville · 624 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Frank P. Brown Elementary
  Elementary · Crossville · 615 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Pleasant Hill Elementary
  Elementary · Pleasant Hill · 613 students · 17:1 ratio
• South Cumberland Elementary
  Elementary · Crossville · 587 students · 16.8:1 ratio