CLIFTON AND WAYNE COUNTY, TENNESSEE

CLIFTON AND WAYNE COUNTY, TENNESSEEBy W. O. Thomas

By W. O. Thomas

The resources of Wayne County are multiplex. Many counties may claim special consideration because of fertility of soil, or this one thing or that one thing; but the varied resources of Wayne County invite every line of human endeavor. Here may be found profit for the husbandman, the lumberman, the iron-monger, the artisan who would work in wood, the artificer who deals with metallic substances, the capitalist who invests in natureâ€™s inexhaustible storehouse. For this is yet a virgin country, and nature, fresh, virile and vigorous, awaits the magic wand of Midas.

Wayne County has seven hundred square miles of land, two hundred square miles of which are underlaid with iron deposits, almost all in sufficient quantities and of a quality that would justify actual investment and operation. Indeed, in point of natural wealth it would be hard to find a county that surpasses Wayne. Timber, iron ore, marble, building rock, phosphate, kaolin, cement rock, mineral paint, fertile valleys, sturdy, God-fearing, liberty-loving peopleâ€”what more do you wantâ€”where else can you find such a plethora of good things? As we write, an endless procession of wagons is passing, bearing cross-ties, telegraph and telephone poles, cotton and other farm products, all consigned to merchants here or to be shipped direct by way of the Tennessee riverâ€”natureâ€™s great highwayâ€”for Clifton is a mighty part of commerce, and is the entrepot for a vast extent of territory.

For half a century the mainstay of this section has been the timber and tie industry. Yet in all this time the timber has only been exhausted from a ten or twelve mile fringe fronting the Tennessee river. Some idea may be gained of the immensity of this industry when it is stated that there are shipped annually from Clifton alone 3,000,000 feet of lumber and 300,000 cross-ties. The principal woods are oak, poplar, ash, hickory, chestnut and pine. There are several hundred thousand acres of fine timber lands in Wayne County that are yet untouched.

Wayne County unquestionably possesses fine advantages for the farmer, the stock man and the lumberman. But it is as a mineral section its advantages are so apparent and overwhelming that the wonder grows that a second Birmingham does not mark the site where Clifton now stands. It may all be explained in one phraseâ€”lack of railroad facilities. Clifton has magnificent river facilities, and they will be measurably increased when the government work on Colbert Shoals is completed. At present Clifton is at the head of deep water navigation. Straight through to St. Louis the traffic is unimpeded the year round, and boats touch at this point every day. Yet, while this service is admirable, it cannot altogether compensate for the lack of railroad facilities. However, the time is near at hand when this deficiency will be remedied. For some time a movement has been in progress which it is believed will eventuate in the building of the Tennessee Industrial Railroad. The road as surveyed will run from Fox Bluff to Florence, Ala., a distance of nearly two hundred miles. Clifton is only forty-two miles east of Florence, and that enterprising little city is making every effort to get into the Wayne County ore fields. It is generally believed that the Frisco System is behind this project. This would give the Frisco an almost directline from the Birmingham and Wayne County iron districts into St. Louis and Chicago and open a great section of country not now traversed by any road.

I. G. RUSSA prominent capitalist of Clifton, Tennessee

I. G. RUSS

A prominent capitalist of Clifton, Tennessee

The only iron furnaces operated at present in this county are two at Allenâ€™s Creek, a point on a branch of the N., C. & St. L. Ry., about thirty miles from Clifton. They are operated by the Bon Air Coal & Iron Company, and have a daily output of about ninety tons each. In the earlier days of its history, however, many charcoal furnaces were scattered throughout the county. In those days no iron ranked higher than the Brownsport pig. Because of its remarkable tensile strength it was listed several dollars higher than other pig. Take an ordinary pig and strike it a sharp blow with a heavy hammer, and it will snap like glass. A bar of the Brownsport pig would bend in the shape of a crescent before it would break.

The mineral field has long been regarded as among the best in the South. The ore occurs in banks and pockets. At several places the bankshave developed a thickness of 110 feet. The material associated with the ore is a red clay. It constitutes by weight one-third of the mass, leaving two-thirds ore. These ores are the brown hematite. The analysis is not variable, as in many sections of the country, rarely running below 45 or above 55 per cent metallic iron. The percentage of this ore runs higher and it is capable of being much more easily and cheaply handled than the deposits in the famous Birmingham district. One lump of brown hematite iron ore measuring sixty tons has been taken from the Wayne County ore field. The average analysis of this lump was 57 per cent metallic iron and less than 1 per cent phosphorus.

BEECH RIVER PHOSPHATE PROPERTY

Allenâ€™s Creek, a town of 1,500 inhabitants, deserves special mention here because of the fact that the furnaces and iron mines of the Bon Air Coal & Iron Company are located there. This company operates two furnaces at Allenâ€™s Creek, and mine both iron ore and limestone. The concern also manufactures a very high and superior grade of silicon iron, which is used all over the United States as a softener by foundries and machine shops, and for all purposes where a fluid iron is required. Extensive plants have been constructed for washing the ore and preparing it for the furnaces. Probably the largest deposits of brown ore to be found in the South are near Allenâ€™s Creek and are the property of the Bon Air Company. At one point as much as 100,000 tons of the ore is known to have been taken from one acre of land. The management of the plant at Allenâ€™s Creek is in the hands of Mr. G. W. Bragg, a very worthy and capable man, who appears to have the interest of the company at heart at all times. The capacity of the furnaces is 200 tons of pig iron per day.

The coal mines of the Bon Air Company are situated in Cumberland and White counties, where three collieries and two hundred coke ovens are in operation. This is where all the celebrated grades of Bon Air coal and coke are mined and made ready for market. The daily output is about 2,000 tons of coal and coke.

The Bon Air Coal & Iron Company is one of the largest companies in the South and its extensive business interests are managed by the following gentlemen: John P. Williams, president; J. M. Overton, vice president;W. C. Dibrell, treasurer, and C. Cooper, secretary. The main business office is in the Arcade Building, Nashville.

Here are inexhaustible deposits of the Florida white rock, the best phosphate known to commerce. A field of it is being developed in the adjoining county of Decatur, near Parsonâ€™s. It runs from 75 to 83 per cent B. P. L. It is far superior to the Mt. Pleasant phosphate, containing as it does but little deleterious substance. This land is controlled by the Beech River Phosphate Company. T. S. Hughes, Clifton, Tenn., is secretary, and Jno. A. Pitts, of Nashville, is president.

The lands of this company, consisting of 9,261 acres, are situated in Decatur county, Tennessee, just west of the Tennessee river, and from two to seven miles distant from that stream, and lie along both sides of Beech river, a tributary of the Tennessee, and the Perryville Branch of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railwayâ€”(originally the Tennessee Midland).

The best rock as found analyzes as follows:

The composite analyses of twenty different samples selected at random from various parts of the property, showed:

These analyses were made by Prof. J. C. Wharton, of Nashville, Tenn.

The location of the property is especially favorable to transportation. A large part of it is immediately on the railroad, and all of it is easily accessible by spur track; while if desired, tramway could easily be provided for carrying the output to Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi river points. It is a difficult matter to make a computation on the tonnage, but it has been estimated by experts at from ten to fifteen million tons. From the developments as made, and the rock exposed, a conservative calculation places 500,000 tons in sight.

It has been demonstrated that the rock can be prepared for market and loaded on cars at Parsons, Tenn., for $1.25 to $1.50 per ton, including all expenses.

Underlying Clifton and adjacent to it are inexhaustible beds of the best hydraulic limestone cement-making rock. This section also abounds in acres for the manufacture of paints and the finest of lithograph stone.

One mile from Clifton there is an immense deposit of kaolin or Chinese clay. It is a valuable constituent, largely used in the manufacture of pottery and the enameling of book paper.

Eleven miles southeast of Clifton, near the Waynesboro pike, between Eagle and Hardin Creeks, are 1,225 acres of land on which are a fine deposit of manganese. The analysis shows 39.31 per cent manganese. The veins run from five to fifteen feet on the surface.

On Factorâ€™s Fork is a great deposit of building rock of peculiar and marvelous quality. When first mined it is so plastic that it may be easily fashioned into any desirable shape, but a few days exposure to the air hardens it into the consistency of adamant. In the same section has been found a fine quality of lithographing stone. Concerning phosphates, it may be added that within the corporate limits of Clifton may be seen a nine foot face of the Mt. Pleasant phosphate.

It has been known for many years that this section has shown evidence of the presence of both oil and gas. In his geology of Tennessee the late Professor Killebrew showed that this point shows the first indications of these constituents south of the Cincinnati uplift. Wayne County is in the direct geological line with the oil fields of Pennsylvania and Texas. At Cincinnati the oil region stopped abruptly. The next point where it wastaken up was in the Beaumont fields. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that oil exists somewhere on this line nearer Cincinnati than Beaumont. It is confidently predicted by experts that oil will be found here at a depth of less than one thousand feet.

FRANK HUGHES COLLEGE

Some very fine mineral and timber property in the vicinity of Clifton is owned by Mr. I. G. Russ. This land is now on the market. It consists of 5,000 acres known as the Old Shannonville or Bob Property; 2,000 acres known as the Walker Furnace property; and 1,200 acres known as the Carrollville or Glen Kirk property. Part of these lands are now under option and every indication points to a rapid development of these and other similar properties in the near future.

The Bob property is situated on the east side of the Tennessee river, six miles below Clifton. The land lies in the big bend of the river and is two miles wide at the narrowest point, while it is sixteen miles around by water. The elevation is high, making it one of the healthiest points in the state. Regular lines of steamboats from St. Louis and Paducah, making connections with all the railroad points from Cairo, Ill., on the Ohio river, to Florence, Ala., on the Tennessee, pass this property at all seasons of the year. The summers are delightful, the winters are mild. The erosion of limestone and iron has given this land a strong soil and fitted it well for grains, fruits, grasses, etc. A more suitable piece of property for colonization purposes cannot be foundin the United States. For this purpose it has been subdivided into tracts of about one hundred acres each.

There are 560 acres of bottom land, 1,507 acres of flat land, and 3,376 acres of hill land. There is enough red and white oak and pine to make 500,000 cross-ties. It is estimated that there are about two million feet of hickory, one-half million feet of ash, two hundred thousand feet each of elm and gum, and three to five hundred thousand feet of saw oak, poplar and pine. There is also a large amount of cedar and a vigorous growth of young hickory.

RUSS HOTEL

The Walker Furnace property comprises 2,000 acres, and lies between Clifton and Hardinâ€™s Creek. It is finely timbered and contains phosphates and iron ore. In addition to its other timbers it has a fine body of chestnut, estimated to cut between eight and ten thousand telegraph poles.

The Carrollville or Glenkirk property consists of 1,200 acres. It is historic ground, as once upon a time the old town of Carrollville came within one vote of being made the capital of the state. It embraces the site of Glenkirk, one of the best shipping points on the river. The land has a phosphate deposit that fertilizes and enriches it to such a degree that it annually produces a heavy yield of cotton, corn, fruit, grain and grass. It also contains inexhaustible deposits of cement and marble of a superior grade.

Overland, Clifton is twenty-five miles from Maury, the nearest railway point. Direct by water it is eighty-five miles from Johnsonville. A splendid line of packets plies the Tennessee, operated by the St. Louis & Tennessee River Packet Company, with headquarters in St. Louis. The steamers include theClyde,Kentucky,Shiloh,Memphis,SavannahandSaltillo. Recently theChattanooga, an independent boat, has been put in commission by the enterprising citizens of that city. Clifton is served by all of these boats, thus giving a magnificent service. TheShilohis a mail packet, and makes three round trips a week between Danville and Savannah. It is the fastest boat on the river, and because of the regularity of its schedule enjoys a large passenger traffic.

The overland trip from Allenâ€™s Creek takes one through Waynesboro, the county seat of Wayne County. This is a town of about eighthundred people. Its newest acquisition is a splendid court house, recently finished at an expense of $25,000. Waynesboro is also situated in the midst of a great iron region and its best days are yet to come.

Clifton has a population of 1,200 souls; for unlike some places, every man, woman and child in Clifton has a soul of rare quality. In all the essentials that go to make good citizenship Clifton is in the front ranks. The people are earnest and conscientious, have a firm grip on life, and live it with unvarying fidelity to high ideals.

WHARF SCENE AT CLIFTON, TENNESSEE

Clifton is the only town on the Tennessee river between Florence and Paducah that has an electric light and ice plant. To go further than this, it has the best equipped and most luxuriously appointed hotel within the same limits. It was built four years ago by Mr. I. G. Russ at a cost of $25,000, and is known far and wide for its comfort and hospitality.

Three other things the town is noted forâ€”its newspaper, its bank building and its college. TheClifton Mirroris a co-operative institution, owned by the business men of the town. It is edited by one of the stockholdersâ€”H. M. Jackson. As a consequence theClifton Mirrorscintillates with both original and reflected brightness, and is doing a great work in pushing this section to the front.

The Peopleâ€™s Bank of Clifton is steam heated and lighted by electricity and possesses every modern convenience.

Probably the greatest institution in Clifton is the Frank Hughes College. The college was only completed last summer and the first term is now being taught. Rev. J. Thompson Baker, B.L., Ph.M., is the principal of the college and he has gathered about him a faculty of earnest, ambitious educators. The school has met with phenomenal success. The enrollment for the first term is over two hundred.

The building is a splendid structure. It was erected at a cost of $15,000. It is steam-heated and lighted by electricity, and possesses every modern convenience. The money to build it was raised by private subscription, and it is a grand monument to the generosity and faith and love of a noble people.

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