1890 - Key Features of Interest to Hastons & Many Other Families
This map was created about 86 years after Daniel Haston settled on the Big Spring Branch in what became the Cummingsville community. Daniel’s son, David Haston, died only 30 years prior to the map’s creation. The natural geographical features are the same as they were 200+ years ago. But from the time Daniel Haston settled his family in a canebrake near where Cane Creek flows into the Caney Fork, you can see how much the human-constructed infrastructure developed by 1890. But how much has it changed 133 years later?
Below the map, see the KEY that identifies each of the 22 sites highlighted on the map.
- (Old) Union Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Cemetery – David Haston was a founding member of this congregation and early meetings were held in his home, south of the river. The church was officially instituted in 1811, but probably was informally founded several years earlier. More info on the church. More info on the church. More info on the cemetery.
- River Hill Ford and Ferry – In the low water season, apparently the Caney Fork River could be forded at this site, but a ferry was there for seasons when the river was not fordable. Notice: The ford was west of (downriver from) the mouth of Cane Creek. In the early 20th Century “double bridges” were located–one from the White County side to the Van Buren County side–above the entry of Cane Creek. Another bridge spanned Cane Creek so that people could go from the south landing of the Caney Fork bridge to the west side of Cane Creek. The Caney Fork bridge was destroyed in the historic 1929 Flood.
- Big Fork Cemetery and the former site of the Big Fork Primitive Baptist Church – By 1890, the Big Fork Church had been dissolved about 35 years, but the cemetery was still a popular burial ground for families in that area. More info on the church. More info on the cemetery.
- The road leading to the Greenwood community and on to Doyle, TN – This route is basically the same now as it was when the map was created.
- Denney’s Crossroads – Apparently, only a three-way junction in 1890, in the early 1800s this was called “Denney’s Crossroads” (after William Denney, an early prominent settler in the area). Apparently, the road west of the crossroads intersection was changed in the latter half of the 1800s.
- Haston Big Spring Branch – When Daniel Haston settled at this site, the spring that emerges out of the foot of the mountain on the northeast corner of his 150 acres was called “Big Spring Branch.” The spring soon became known as the “Haston Big Spring.” It empties a large volume of clear water into a branch that runs approximately 850 yards before merging with Cane Creek. More Information.
- The lower end of Cane Creek – This is the same creek that pours over Cane Creek Falls. Fall Creek (of Fall Creek Falls) joins it and Cane Creek runs about 20 miles before its confluence with the Caney Fork River.
- Daniel Haston Farm (passed down to David and his family) – Location of Daniel Haston’s 150-acre farm, granted to him in 1808. He was a squatter on the land for about four years before the State of Tennessee could grant him the land. More information.
- Isaac T. Haston Cemetery – Isaac T. Haston was buried in 1875 at this location on his farm. Over the years, many of his descendants have been buried in this neat little cemetery. Notice the 90 degrees south-southwestern turn of the road as of 1890. The current main highway does not make that turn. But the turn is consistent with information found on the survey of Isaac T. Haston’s land. More information.
- Cane Creek Road (now Hwy. 285, Cummingsville-Cane Creek Road) – This 1890 route is essentially the same route that the current road follows along Cane Creek. In earlier years, the main route along Cane Creek was on the north side of the creek.
- “Old Spencer Mountain Road” – This is essentially the same route as the present Highway 111.
- Earlier Path/Road to and from Spencer – When David Haston and his family traveled to Spencer in 1840 and following years, this was the route he followed on horseback–through Shockley Cove and up the mountain leading to Spencer.
- General location of Lemont Road (also known as the Yates Mountain Road) – Apparently this road was not built before 1890. Those of us who grew up in that area in the mid-1900s knew it as the Yates Mountain Road.
- Thomas Jefferson Haston Century Farm – This farm became a part of the Haston family in 1879. Originally, it was owned by the Robert Gamble family, into which Hastons married. For many years most locals knew of it as the James Robert Haston place (on “Bluebird Lane”).
- Turkey Scratch Road – This is an old road that is very steep in some places, particularly near the bottom end of the road as it approaches the Cane Creek Road.
- McMinnville Road – This is still the location of the road to and from Warren County and McMinnville. The Laurel Creek community, at the bottom of the mountain on this road, is a part of Van Buren County.
- Burritt College – Burritt College, a private religious school, was founded in 1848 on the eastern edge of Spencer. Many Hastons received an excellent classical education at Burritt. It closed in 1939, but not before producing many outstanding alumni who went on to become prominent leaders in various fields.
- Dunlap Road – This old road to Dunlap, on the way to Chattanooga, was reduced to a local-only road when Highway 111 was constructed in the late 1960s.
- Dry Fork Branch – This branch flows through the “M.G. Haston” farm. A pre-Civil War rock wall runs along the west side of the branch through the Haston farm. Since the construction of Highway 111, the water flow in times of flooding has increased greatly down the branch.
- M.G. Haston Haston Century Farm – This farm, originally owned by Montgomery Greenville Haston, has been in the Haston family since 1858. It is the 3rd oldest Century Farm in the county. A Haston School and a Civil War camp were once located on the farm. Cane Creek – the same creek carrying water from Cane Creek Falls and Fall Creek Falls – flows through the farm. More information.
- Haston Point – Once this peak (now part of Fall Creek Falls State Park) was the site of a sawmill that attracted loggers from all over that area.
- Mooneyham Community – The Mooneyham community is located at the top of the mountain on Route 30 (formerly the “Herbert Domain Road”). From there, Route 30 then runs by the north entrance of Fall Creek Falls State Park and on to Pikeville, TN.
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One thought on “1890 Northern Van Buren County, TN”
Are copies of the map and legend for sale? I would like one of each.