Cumberland Mountain State Park
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Cumberland Mountain State Park is a 1,720 acre (6.96 km²) state park four mi (6 km) south of Crossville, Tennessee along US 127. The park was begun in 1934 as a New Deal project of the Resettlement Administration (RA), and continued by the RA's successor the Farm Security Administration (FSA), to provide a recreational area for some 250 families selected to Cumberland Homesteads Project the Cumberland Plateau. The families in the Homestead community built the park along with help from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration. The FSA deeded the park to the state of Tennessee in 1938. Alvin C. York was the first park superintendent until he left in 1940 to advise on the filming of Sergeant York.
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[edit] The CCC at the park
The most recognized feature of the park is the stone dam. The dam is 319 feet (97.2 m) long and 28 feet (8.5 m) high with seven large arches, and was built from 1935 to 1938. The dam created a 50 acre (200,000 m²) Byrd Lake by impounding Byrd's Creek. Company 3464 of the CCC built the dam under the direction of the National Park Service. The dam is constructed of native sandstone, commonly called Crab Orachard Stone. It still stands today as the largest masonry project ever built by the CCC. CCC Company 3464, assisted by Company 1471, continued to work at the park until 1941, building trails, picnic areas, cabins, boathouse, a bathhouse, and other structures.
The Mill House Lodge is found adjacent to the dam is one of the structures. The designers of the Cumberland Homesteads project proposed a grist mill at the site of the dam. The Religious Society of Friends were brought in to construct the mill. The mill house was completed but the water wheel and the grinding machinery were never installed. Opposition to the federally subsidized mill was raised by local mills, so it was never completed. It is now rented as a cabin.
[edit] Facilities
There are many recreational facilities at Cumberland Mountain State Park. They include an olympic sized swimming pool, picnic pavilions, playgrounds, four tennis courts, horseshoe pits, shuffleboard, basketball courts, badminton, and volleyball courts. A 6,900 yard (6300 m) , 18 hole Bear Trace golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus was added in 1998. Year long hiking trails, including a 10 mi (16 km) overnight backpacking trail, are found throughout the park. Byrd Lake is available for fishing and boating by canoe, rowboat, and paddleboat.
The park contains 37 cabins and 147 campsites . The Mill House Lodge is also available for rent. The park's Cumberland Mountain Restaurant is located along Byrd Lake.
[edit] Other points of interest
The Homestead Museum, located one mile (1.6 km) from the park, depicts the Cumberland Homestead Community of the 1930's. It is found in a Crab Orachard Stone water tower, built by the CCC, at the junction of U.S. Route 127 and State Route 68. The Cumberland General Store is located directly across from the Homestead Museum. The Grassy Cove Section of the Cumberland Trail is located 11 mi (18 km) away on State Route 68, and the head of Sequatchie Valley is 12 mi (19 km) south on U.S. Route 127.
