SAND MOUNTAIN HAS INTERESTING HISTORY
September 10, 2013
By Olivene Godfrey
When I was a child, living with my family in Chattanooga, I would often hear people talk about friends who were from Sand Mountain. I envisioned a large mountain of piled up sand and wondered how people could live there.
The years went by and I forgot about the "sandy mountain". Then, I met Tam and she spoke of her dad, Thomas, who is a native of Sand Mountain, Alabama, And then, Thomas married Mary, who owns a home in Sand Mountain, Georgia.
My old interest in Sand Mountain was renewed. And, this week I asked Barry to research the mountain on the web and the report relates the interesting history of the region. Here are some of the highlights:
Sand Mountain is a sandstone plateau in northeastern Alabama and northwestern Georgia. It is part of the southern tip of the Appalachian mountain chain. Geologically a continuation of Walden Ridge, it is part of the Cumberland Plateau, separated from the main portion of the plateau by the Tennessee River and Sequatchie Valley. The average elevation is around 1,500 ft. above sea level, compared to about 650 ft. in the surrounding area. This leads to it having the coolest climate in the state of Alabama. The largest city is Albertville which is located in Marshall County.
Sand Mountain has, on average, a 2 to 4 ft. depth of soil, after which is solid sandstone bedrock. The soil is loam-based, and is a mixture of sandy loam and silty loam. It is extremely acidic, growing more so the deeper you go.
The Sand Mountain area has been inhabited for at least 9000 years, as evidenced by archaeological finds at nearby Russell Cave National Monument, near Bridgeport, AL. Cherokee and Creek villages were located in the Tennessee Valley to the west of Sand Mountain, and in Wills Valley to the east. Sequoyah, creator of the Cherokee syllabary, lived in the Cherokee Village of Wills Town, near present day Fort Payne in Wills Valley.
Sand Mountain, especially the northern end is mostly a rural, agricultural area, with a mix of chicken, cow and potato farms, and large expanses of both rolling pastures and forests. It contains many small towns and unincorporated communities.
The first Europeans to see it were probably Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his men, who are believed to have crossed Sand Mountain during their journey through southeastern North America between 1539 and 1543. One of the likely routes traces their path across Sand Mountain on the way south from the Tennessee Valley to the Coosa Valley.
Union troops crossed Sand Mountain in 1863 in an attempt to cut off the Confederate troops in Chattanooga. They were unsuccessful, and the opposing armies met at the Battle of Chickamauga in the same year, resulting in a major Confederate victory.
There is very little racial diversity on Sand Mountain, particularly the northern half, which is nearly all white. It is also one of the last places in the country with churches which still use Sacred Harp singing in their Sunday morning services, and is home to many of the largest and oldest continuous Sacred Harp singings in the country.
See you next time. Comments welcome. (As told to Tam)
By Olivene Godfrey
When I was a child, living with my family in Chattanooga, I would often hear people talk about friends who were from Sand Mountain. I envisioned a large mountain of piled up sand and wondered how people could live there.
The years went by and I forgot about the "sandy mountain". Then, I met Tam and she spoke of her dad, Thomas, who is a native of Sand Mountain, Alabama, And then, Thomas married Mary, who owns a home in Sand Mountain, Georgia.
My old interest in Sand Mountain was renewed. And, this week I asked Barry to research the mountain on the web and the report relates the interesting history of the region. Here are some of the highlights:
Sand Mountain is a sandstone plateau in northeastern Alabama and northwestern Georgia. It is part of the southern tip of the Appalachian mountain chain. Geologically a continuation of Walden Ridge, it is part of the Cumberland Plateau, separated from the main portion of the plateau by the Tennessee River and Sequatchie Valley. The average elevation is around 1,500 ft. above sea level, compared to about 650 ft. in the surrounding area. This leads to it having the coolest climate in the state of Alabama. The largest city is Albertville which is located in Marshall County.
Sand Mountain has, on average, a 2 to 4 ft. depth of soil, after which is solid sandstone bedrock. The soil is loam-based, and is a mixture of sandy loam and silty loam. It is extremely acidic, growing more so the deeper you go.
The Sand Mountain area has been inhabited for at least 9000 years, as evidenced by archaeological finds at nearby Russell Cave National Monument, near Bridgeport, AL. Cherokee and Creek villages were located in the Tennessee Valley to the west of Sand Mountain, and in Wills Valley to the east. Sequoyah, creator of the Cherokee syllabary, lived in the Cherokee Village of Wills Town, near present day Fort Payne in Wills Valley.
Sand Mountain, especially the northern end is mostly a rural, agricultural area, with a mix of chicken, cow and potato farms, and large expanses of both rolling pastures and forests. It contains many small towns and unincorporated communities.
The first Europeans to see it were probably Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his men, who are believed to have crossed Sand Mountain during their journey through southeastern North America between 1539 and 1543. One of the likely routes traces their path across Sand Mountain on the way south from the Tennessee Valley to the Coosa Valley.
Union troops crossed Sand Mountain in 1863 in an attempt to cut off the Confederate troops in Chattanooga. They were unsuccessful, and the opposing armies met at the Battle of Chickamauga in the same year, resulting in a major Confederate victory.
There is very little racial diversity on Sand Mountain, particularly the northern half, which is nearly all white. It is also one of the last places in the country with churches which still use Sacred Harp singing in their Sunday morning services, and is home to many of the largest and oldest continuous Sacred Harp singings in the country.
See you next time. Comments welcome. (As told to Tam)
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