(11) The "Old" Lost Cove Road: A cultural and historical approach to the former routes through Lost Cove

     Located approximately halfway between Sewanee and Sherwood, Lost Cove is a depression in the Cumberland Plateau whose unusually flat topography and fertile soils were once the site of a rural sub-mountain community. A... [ view full abstract ]

     Located approximately halfway between Sewanee and Sherwood, Lost Cove is a depression in the Cumberland Plateau whose unusually flat topography and fertile soils were once the site of a rural sub-mountain community. A large system of roads passed through Lost Cove, most led to individual home sites, but some connected to both Sherwood and Sewanee. This study focuses on the main roadway that passed through the bottom of the plateau near Crow Creek, climbed over the saddle into Lost Cove, and continued up the remaining portion of the Cumberland Plateau to the Sewanee/Jumpoff area. Any information related to various functions of this road is relevant to this project. It is believed that the use of this road evolved through time, beginning as a Native American footpath, later progressing into a stagecoach road with the arrival of early homesteaders, and lastly used to aid logging operations along the sides of the Cumberland Plateau. Lost Cove is the University of the South's most recently acquired tract of land, and therefore has the most unanswered questions regarding its history. Using LIDAR technology, oral history, local literature, and Franklin County land deeds, this study answers some of the outstanding questions pertaining to the history of the Lost Cove Road. The final presentation will consist of a variety of Lost Cove maps, both new and old, and an explanation of the addition or removal of significant features along the major roadways.