Estill Springs, Tennessee

Estill Springs, Tennessee
—  Town  —
Location of Estill Springs, Tennessee
Coordinates: 35°16′13″N 86°7′58″W
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
County	Franklin
Area
• Total	5.0 sq mi (12.9 km2)
• Land	4.7 sq mi (12.2 km2)
• Water	0.3 sq mi (0.7 km2)
Elevation	945 ft (288 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	2,152
• Density	456.8/sq mi (176.4/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	37330
Area code(s)	931
FIPS code	47-24440
GNIS feature ID	1283868

Estill Springs is a town in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,152 at the 2000 census. It is the fourth largest in the county, and is usually referred to as simply "Estill" by its inhabitants.

Estill Springs is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee, Micropolitan Statistical Area. The small town is also located seven miles away from the city of Winchester, Tennessee. Estill Springs has one restaurant, Samples Family Restaurant, is the place where most people, that live in that area, go for breafast and lunch during work hours; the people love it for the good, country food. Estill also has ten churches that the people attend; with only two red lights going through Estill is not difficult to pass through. The town has a at home feeling that everyone likes that lives there.

History and development

Founding

Mineral springs in the area had long been known to the Cherokee tribe of the region. Before they settled here, varying cultures of indigenous peoples had lived in the area for thousands of years.

The European-American town dates from about 1840, when the Frank Estill family, which owned considerable property in the area, donated a right-of-way for railroad construction. The combination of mineral waters, which were much in vogue as a health remedy at the time, and convenient rail access caused the settlement to develop as a small-scale spa town. It took its name from the springs. Oscar Meyer was the appointed as the first mayor of Estill.

Civil War era

During the Civil War, however, it was generally known as Allisonia, for another family which had settled in the area. It was the site of a Confederate training camp, Camp Harris, named for Isham G. Harris, the Confederate governor of Tennessee, who was a native of the county. Southern forces retreated through the town during the 1863 Tullahoma campaign, named for the nearby community which served as Confederate headquarters.

Twentieth century to present

The fad for bathing in and drinking spring waters eventually passed. Local lore has it that the long-awaited construction of United States Highway 41A through the town in 1940 caused the springs to dry up. Whatever the cause, the spa era passed by mid-century, and the hotels were razed. The new highway connected the town to sources of employment in neighboring communities, and gave it a strategic position on the main artery between Nashville and Chattanooga. The development of local lakes by the Tennessee Valley Authority generated recreational business as well

During the time of prohibition Estill Springs was home to a prominate local mobster and bootlegger by the name of Parker Jones. Parker and his rowdy gang took advantage of the heavily wooded terrain to distill their bootleg booze. Parker and his men also used Estill as their primary logistics hub to traffic the booze through middle Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Parker Jones remained in Estill for several years owning mayors, city councilmen, and police officers. The government finally caught wind of what was going on, and dispatched dozens of revenue agents to bring him and his men in. However, when they finally arrived at his hideout they found nothing and Parker was never to be seen in Estill again. Many locals claim he moved to Chicago to work with his friend Al Capone.

The Yellowhammer's Nest, the turn of the century home of noted Tennessee author Will Allen Dromgoole, was destroyed by fire in 1972.

Estill Springs was bypassed with the construction of I-24 in the 1960s, but did not suffer too badly as a result^{[citation needed]}. Highway 41A has been upgraded, nearly to interstate standard.

In 1987, a kind of national fame reached the town when a resident noticed what she took to be an image of Jesus appearing on an upright freezer on the porch of her trailer. Other witnesses believed it more closely resembled Willie Nelson. The artifact became known as the "Freezer Jesus", and it briefly became a topic of journalism and a tourist attraction.

In popular culture

• 1998, the author John Dufresne published a short story, "Freezer Jesus", which he later adapted as a screenplay. It has been produced as a short film.

Geography

Estill Springs is located at 35°16′13″N 86°7′58″W (35.270394, -86.132783).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.0 square miles (13 km²), of which, 4.7 square miles (12 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²) of it (5.61%) is water.

Demographics

At the 2000 census, there were 2,152 people, 827 households and 654 families residing in the town. The population density was 456.8 per square mile (176.4/km²). There were 917 housing units at an average density of 194.6 per square mile (75.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.77% White, 0.79% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.74% from other races, and 0.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.35% of the population.

There were 827 households of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.6% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.8% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 2.92.

Age distribution was 25.1% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males.

The median household income was $40,365, and the median family income was $44,527. Males had a median income of $31,632 versus $20,994 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,757. About 8.8% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.1% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

External links

• Estill Springs, Website, Franklin County * Civil War Trail through Estill Springs, Tennessee Back Roads
• "Will Allen Dromgoole", Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture