Ducktown, Tennessee
| Ducktown, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Ducktown Historic District
|
|
 Location of Ducktown, Tennessee |
|
| Coordinates: 35°2′3″N 84°23′3″W / 35.03417°N 84.38417°WCoordinates: 35°2′3″N 84°23′3″W / 35.03417°N 84.38417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Polk |
| Established | 1840s |
| Incorporated | 1951 |
| Named for | Cherokee village at the site prior to settlement |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.9 sq mi (5.0 km2) |
| • Land | 1.9 sq mi (5.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,732 ft (528 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 475 |
| • Density | 221.5/sq mi (85.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 37326 |
| Area code(s) | 423 |
| FIPS code | 47-21740 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1283051 |
| Website | www |
Ducktown is a city in Polk County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 427 at the 2000 census and 475 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Ducktown was the center of a major copper-mining district from 1847 until 1987. The district also produced iron, sulfur and zinc as byproducts. Ducktown was the birthplace of Rockabilly Hall of Famer, Stan Beaver.
Literary historian Ben Harris McClary suggests that a Ducktown-area farmer named William "Sut" Miller (d. 1858) was the inspiration for the George Washington Harris character, Sut Lovingood. Ducktown and several Ducktown-area features, such as Big Frog Mountain and the Ocoee River ("Oconee"), are mentioned in the Sut Lovingood tales.
The Cherokee inhabited the Copper Basin as early as the late 18th century, well before the arrival of the first Euro-American settlers. The Cherokee village of Kawana— which means "duck town" in English— is believed to have been located at the confluence of the Ocoee River and Tumbling Creek. The village's name first appears on Cherokee annuity distribution rolls as "Ducktown" in 1799. According to tradition, Ducktown was named after a Cherokee leader named Chief Duck.
In 1836, the Cherokee relinquished control of the Copper Basin to the U.S. government as part of the Treaty of New Echota. Although the U.S. removed many of the basin's Cherokee inhabitants, several managed to avoid detection by hiding out in the surrounding mountains. They would later help build the Old Copper Road (now part of US-64). In the 1840s and 1850s, Ducktown was called "Hiwassee" or "Hiawassee," which was subsequently the name applied to the city's first major mining operation.
The copper was discovered in 1843 by a prospector, presumably panning for gold, who found nuggets of native copper. The first shipment of copper ore was taken out on muleback in 1847. More than 30 mining companies were incorporated between 1852 and 1855 to mine copper at Ducktown. Development was accelerated by a road built in 1853 connecting the area with Cleveland, Tennessee. The first smelter was built in the Ducktown district in 1854.
...
Wikipedia