The Appalachia People of Tennessee

The town of Clinton became our home-away-from-home during our Tennessee stay. It’s considered part of the Knoxville Metropolitan area, although very much apart from Knoxville. Having a home-base in a part of the state we hope to one day call home was convenient.

According to the 2020 Censes, Clinton has a population of around 10,000 people. When it comes to setteling in a city in Tennessee, Clinton is about as big a town as we’d like.

Tennessee is 34th is size compared to the rest of the country, only 120 miles north to south, and 440 miles east to west. On our little excursion to visit Tennessee we averaged about four to five hundred miles a day, so that really puts the state into perspective for me. The entire state has about 7 million people living there. While that sounds like a lot (I guess); compared to California, where we currently live, that’s not much. California is the most populated state in the country with 39,345, 844 residents according to the latest Censes. You can bet it’s much higher.

Clinton offered us the opportunity to learn about the lives of the Appalachia People. Their museum is open year round, giving a voice to those who settled in the Southern Appalachia. Their stories are told through artifacts, a fully recreated Appalachian community and in the fall by hosting the Appalachia Harvest Festival. For four exciting weekends in October the 65-acre museum comes to life with food, music, crafts and living history of the hardy people who made the mountains home.

When you step out of your car, the full-time residents of peacocks and chickens are the official greeters. While the chickens tend to stay close to the visitor’s center with its restaurant and gift shop, the peacocks roam the property.

While we did spend several hours exploring all we could, and even enjoyed a slice of Humming Bird Cake at their restaurant, I for one cannot wait to dive even deeper into the lives of these amazing people.

Their lives were simple, lacking in all the frills we so often take for granted, yet these were a happy people, rich in love of community, in bonds that span generations, and in the joy of simply being in the moment. Just the exibit of fiddles and guitars tells you these are a people who made the best with what they had – and really, who could have asked for more?

How I’d love to share with you today the over 80 photographs I took of this place. Then you might realize just how special the Appalachia People truly are to the very fabric of Americana. That same spirit lives in us all.

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Sadly, tomorrow it’s time to hit the road again, taking a 3,500 mile deeper south route back to California. I do hope you continue to come along.