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The 250-year pioneer heritage of Erwin and Unicoi County is an intrinsic part of East Tennessee's historical landscape. By the early 1700s, the legendary Long Hunters had ventured into this wild frontier--then part of North Carolina--following the abundant game and trade with the Native Americans. This river-fed land was soon dubbed "Greasy Cove" as a meeting place where game was cleaned. Around 1760, settlers found their way into the valley, carving homesteads out of hidden coves or fertile flatlands alongside the Nolichucky River. Unicoi County was established in 1875. The advent of the railroad in 1890 brought a new prosperity. By 1909, the Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio Railroad--later known as the "Clinchfield"--was in its boomtime, as was Unicoi County. Around 1916, the Ohiobased Southern Potteries arrived, and famed Blue Ridge hand-painted china dinnerware was born. Today, sheltered on three sides by the natural beauty of Cherokee National Forest, the area of Erwin and Unicoi County is popularly known as the Valley Beautiful.
The rushing Nolichucky River cut deep gorges into Unicoi Countys landscape, and the railroad laid track for the town of Erwins future. Formed in 1875, Unicoi Countys 201 square miles border North Carolina, with nearly 50 percent of the land protected by the U.S. government. Known as the Valley Beautiful, this community comes alive through images of yesterday and today.
This labor of love began as one of the first major projects of the newly-formed Unicoi County Historical Society in the early 1970s. By 1973, about 35 cemeteries, all in the northern part of the county, had been copied. Fifteen years went by, and then, in the winter of 1987–1988, a new committee was formed and the project was begun again. The committee found that in 1960, 15 cemeteries, mostly in the southern part of the county, had been copied, adding up to a total of 50 cemeteries that had been recorded. Final copying began in April 1988 and was completed a little over a year later. The total of 166 copied included an update of the 50 cemeteries done earlier.
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