South Pittsburg, Tennessee
| South Pittsburg, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
| City | |
South Pittsburg City Hall
|
|
 Location of South Pittsburg, Tennessee |
|
| Coordinates: 35°0′30″N 85°42′38″W / 35.00833°N 85.71056°WCoordinates: 35°0′30″N 85°42′38″W / 35.00833°N 85.71056°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Marion |
| Area | |
| • Total | 5.9 sq mi (15.3 km2) |
| • Land | 5.9 sq mi (15.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 630 ft (192 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,992 |
| • Density | 556.3/sq mi (214.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 37380 |
| Area code(s) | 423 |
| FIPS code | 47-70060 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1314091 |
| Website | southpittsburgtn |
South Pittsburg is a city in Marion County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,992 at the 2010 census. South Pittsburg is home to the National Cornbread Festival.
What is now South Pittsburg remained a primarily agrarian area until the construction of a branch line of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad (later the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway) into the Sequatchie Valley in the late 1860s. Small-scale mining operations began during this period. When a post office was opened in 1869, the community was called Battle Creek Mines.
In the mid-1870s, several British investors formed the Southern States Coal, Iron and Land Company, in hopes of establishing a major industrial operation in the Sequatchie Valley. The company dispatched James Bowron to investigate the area for potential town and manufacturing sites. Bowron chose the Whitwell and Victoria areas in northwestern Marion County for the company's coal mining and coke production operations, and the Battle Creek Mines area as the company's iron production center and commercial hub. The latter site was chosen primarily for its immediate access to both the railroad and the Tennessee River. On May 23, 1876, the name of the Battle Creek Mines post office was changed to "South Pittsburg" in hopes that the city would one day grow to become a great iron manufacturing center like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The death of Bowron in 1877, along with several other key company officials within a short period of time, halted the Southern States operation. In 1882, the company was purchased by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (TCI), which resumed the development of the mining and iron production facilities. In 1886, the townsite of South Pittsburg was purchased by Nashville banker William Duncan, who helped organize the South Pittsburg City Company in December of that year. The town was platted by F.P. Clute, and incorporated in 1887 with John G. Kelly as its first mayor. This revival of the city's development roughly coincided with the completion of two large blast furnaces and a foundry, allowing large-scale iron production to begin. South Pittsburg experienced rapid growth in the 1890s, but struggled after TCI relocated to Alabama.
...
Wikipedia