Cumberland Homesteads - Tennessee History for Kids

The Cumberland Homesteads Tower

Cumberland Homesteads

Near Crossville is a place that was completely changed by the government a long time ago. Back in the 1930s, the federal government bought about 10,000 acres of cleared timber land from the Missouri Coal and Land Co. and turned it into what was then known as a "substinence homestead." The Cumberland Homestead, as it became known, eventually consisted of about 250 homes; a school; a park area (now known as Cumberland Mountain State Park); and a beautiful stone water tower and government building.

Cumberland Mountain State Park

There are many things here to see. The tower has been turned into a small museum, and you can climb to the top of it to see the great view. One of the old homestead houses is open to the public and has been furbished to look exactly the way a house would have been decorated when it was built. And the park that the government built is today known as Cumberland Mountain State Park.

Now we're going to tell you about some of the things you'll see when you come on this trip.

A stove on display at the museum

When you walk into the tower building you'll see that there are rooms connected to it in several directions. One of them is devoted to the history of the homestead; another to the families that lived there; a third shows you some of the household items that you would have found in a 1930s house.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visits the Cumberland Homestead in the 1930s
Library of Congress photo

It is important to remember how this community differed from the ones in which most of us live today. The Cumberland Homesteads was a planned project. The government carefully chose everyone who was allowed to live there; built the roads and infrastructure; and supervised the construction of every house.

The history displays at the museum

The idea of the Cumberland Homesteads is that everyone would have a small farm (between about 20 and 40 acres). When they weren't working on their farm they would be working at one of the factories owned by the homestead (there was a canning factory here at one time). So this was, in some ways, like the Ruskin Commune in Dickson, Tennessee (although the Cumberland Homesteads was created by the government, while the Ruskin Commune was entirely created by its members).

The view from the top of the tower

And don't even think about leaving the tower museum without a trip up the long stairs to the top of the tower.

One of the homestead houses

When you leave the tower we suggest that you drive around to see some of the houses built during the homestead years. You should be able to pick them out from the other houses in the area. They are made of Crab Orchard stone (which is mined in the area).

The house you can tour

You can also tour one of the houses, and see what the interior would have looked like in the 1930s and 1940s, when people first lived here.

Here are some interior shots of the house that you can tour.

Click the photo to make it bigger.

Cool telephone!

The bedrooms are pretty small, aren't they?

Here is one of the upstairs rooms.

You still haven't seen everything yet, you know. Before you head out, make sure you swing by the Cumberland Mountain State Park. There isn't much on the park's official web site, but here is a link to it that tells you some basic stuff.

The Homesteads Tower Museum is not open year-round, but from March through December. Call 931-456-9663 or 931-484-4955 for more details. Admission is $2.

For more information about the Cumberland Homesteads, click here.