History of Oliver Springs, Tennessee

Settled in 1821, we have a 190-year tradition based around the famed mineral springs in the area which led to part of our name. Thanks to Richard Oliver, the town's first postmaster from whom the town gets the rest of its name, Oliver Springs. 

Oliver Springs began to develop around the tourism attracted by the mineral springs. 

The land around Oliver Springs had been used for centuries as an Indian hunting ground, but it was the springs that encouraged them to stay. 

The springs, whose reputation for miraculous medicinal properties, lasted until the 20th century, were known as “Tah-hah-lehaha” to the Cherokee -- a name that means ‘healing waters.

The land remained unexplored until 1761, when Elisha Walden traveled through the Clinch and Powell River Valleys. Settlement in the area did not begin in earnest until the 1790′s. 

The town of Oliver Springs was originally known as Winter’s Gap in honor on Maj. Moses Winter, the first settler. Growth remained slow, but by 1826, Richard Oliver became the town’s first postmaster. The town was re-named Oliver’s in his honor, then briefly Popular Springs, and then to Oliver Springs. 

Joseph Richards in 1873 built the first resort hotel, which was replaced in 1895 by a 150 room hotel. From 1895 until it burned in 1905, the Oliver Springs Hotel was a nationally known destination. 

The railroad, which came to Oliver Springs in 1888, brought thousands of visitors to the springs. 

Due to being improperly insured, the Hotel was not rebuilt. The town decided to cover the springs in later years. Evidence of water conduits and reservoirs can still be seen on the site.

The oldest home in Oliver Springs is Colonial Hall. There are different accounts as to the origin and date of the house, some accounts take the original to 1799 and Major Moses C. Winters. Others believe it would date to after the property was purchased by Louis Rector in 1819 and his old log cabin was built. 

In August 1882, Col. John G. Scott for $3,000. Scott was the person that subdivided the property that would become Oliver Springs and the remainder which included the house to his daughter, Ellen W. Scott. Ellen would then sell the house, store building and some adjacent lots to Lillie L. McFerrin (formerly Hannah) on December 2, 1886.

The Abston Building was built in 1915 as a garage but has served many functions for the community since that time. It has been a bus station, a theater, a bowling alley, a church meeting location, a snack bar, a garage and finally a museum. 

The building is on the National Register of Historical Places, and now serves Oliver Springs and the surrounding communities as a historical museum and archives to house the many artifacts that have already been donated by the community. 

The museum features a meeting room, theater and Streetscape which duplicates in a smaller way the businesses of the past. Coal mining artifacts and an upstairs delight called "Days Gone By" are the newest addition to the museum. Learn more about the history of the Abston Building by visiting the OSHS Museum and Train Depot.

 In the Joseph C. Richards Estate settlement, it shows that the payment of $8,000 was paid for the construction of the Mansion on August 10, 1893. This would be six months after the prior home burned. 

The Mansion was built under the supervision of a Mr. Muecka, who was a Strutt Street and Oliver Springs resident of Austrian extraction. Only the finest craftsmen were employed. There were no construction plans, but the idea for the home came from a photo in the Scientific American Magazine.  

 The house remained in the family until the murders of Margaret and Ann Richards along with 16 year-old errand boy Powder Brown where all three met their final fate February 5, 1940. The case is still unsolved. 

The time was around 1904 on the L & N branch of the Cow Creek line at the Khotan Depot. The side spur on the left ran to the Piedmont or Khotan tipple. In the distance was the Windrock Mountain that had almost been completely clear cut of its timber. 

The newly laid track would soon begin carrying out the black gold. The Windrock Coal & Coke Company’s #1 mine is located on Windrock about four and one-half miles north of Oliver Springs. It lies in the southern edge of the Wartburg Basin, at an elevation of 2,400 feet above sea level. 

This location commands a splendid outlook over the valley to the south. The camp can be reached from the Khotan depot.

The H. Sienknecht Company department store building was occupied in the latter part of 1901 or first part of 1902. The town was booming at the time from the coal mining industry. 

The town's first bank was housed in the store building until the building next door was built; the "Oliver Springs Banking Company" was chartered in 1904. Next door to the bank was the Richards Store building that housed the "Company Store" used for the coal miners that they employed. 

The Sienknecht store building at the time was the largest in three counties. The Southern Railroad tracts ran next to the store

The Oliver Springs Banking Company Building at old Main Street.The first bank in Oliver Springs was chartered and operated in Sienknecht's Store for a short time until this bank building could be built on an adjacent lot. 

This was the town's first bank, and was chartered March 12, 1904 as the "Oliver Springs Banking Company, Inc." with H. Sienknecht, Sam Tunnell, H.C. Thompson, D.C. Richards, and J.F. Taylor as directors.  

At some time the bank's name changed to Tri-County National Bank but would close in the 1930's due to the depression.

 The Union Peoples Bank in Clinton would reopen in this building in 1947 and a photo survives today with Arthur Russell vice-president Hamilton National Bank, David Crockett American National Bank Nashville, TN, Frank Fox assistant cashier, Garvan W Walls Mayor of Oliver Springs, H.F. Rutherford president Union Peoples Bank, C.W Peak director, Harry Miller, director, Harvey M Nancey Jr. assistant vice-president Hamilton Bank, P.H. Worthington director Union Peoples Bank, Ray H Jones commander Post #112 American Legion Oliver Springs, J.M. Burkhart director Union Peoples Bank pictured. 

The building is now empty and was used in the movie October Sky as the Union Hall.