America turns 250 while Campbell County marks its 220th year

CARYVILLE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF)- On Saturday, July 4, from 1-7pm at Cove Lake State Park at Caryville, there will be a 4th of July “250” Event presented by the Campbell County Historical Society in conjunction with the Campbell County Commission.

This is a multi-county exhibition, Norris Highlands Expo, displaying history that includes patriotic attractions from the counties surrounding Norris Lake and the Highlands of the Plateau. From Daniel Boone and Abraham Lincoln at Cumberland Gap to Sergeant Alvin C. York and Mark Twain across the Big South Fork down to the Manhattan Project and TVA’s first dam, Norris, these are the stories of our Backwoodz region, the world’s most famous backwoods.

This “Museum District”, with more than a dozen museums across the area, is certifiably the Heritage Capital of Tennessee. With the Smithsonian-affiliated Museum of Appalachia squarely in the middle of these crossroads, this is the Metaphysical Center of the Appalachian Universe. The four National Parks and nine State Parks add to the history with each park telling important stories about the pioneer settlements, social experiments and industrial developments that impacted America and the world. This is where America became America.

The Campbell County Historical Society, in anticipation of America’s Semiquincentennial celebration, launched a campaign in 2025 to chronicle these assets for a new driving trail called the Norris Highlands Freedom Trail. Combining scenic routes that include portions of three National Scenic Byways and substantial parts of the White Lightning and Top Secret Discover Tennessee Trails, this 250 mile loop uniquely tells the story of America’s 250 years.

The Clinton 12, the celebrated first public school successfully integrated in the South, the Coal Creek War, the first southern state to end convict leasing, and Historic Rugby, the British Colony of Thomas Hughes with the first free public library in the South, all help tell the amazing tale.

Also haunting these hills, one will find the Cradle of Country Music with the likes of Union County’s Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins and others, Brushy Mountain, the first maximum security penitentiary in Tennessee, Brushy Mountain housed James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Then there’s Thunder Road, the birthplace of NASCAR. All are included in this fascinating section of the Tennessee.

Inspirational individuals like Homer Rodeheaver, founder of modern Gospel publishing and the song leader for evangelist Billy Sunday, the “Tennessee Nightingale” Grace Moore, the early 20th century opera and film star, Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, a renowned musician and artist, Ben Harney, the Father of Ragtime, and author Alex Haley have all made their indelible mark upon the world with ties to our little triangle in North Tennessee.

At the event, in addition to the Expo, there will be food trucks, live music, a veterans tribute, a kids zone and a host of craft vendors. It all begins with a Veterans Breakfast at 11:30am at Shelters 3 & 4 and a parade that arrives at the park between noon and 1pm from Jacksboro. A highlight of the day’s performances will be Loretta Lynn and Elvis on stage together. The “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and the “King of Rock ‘N’ Roll” will be portrayed by Emily Portman and Bobby D and will surely bring down the house.

We appreciate all of our sponsors and the State of Tennessee for providing funding for this once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza. One of our treasured exhibitors will be the “Tombstone Medic” who works on cleaning and preserving veterans headstones and markers. We hope to have a new headstone soon for Major James Grant at Anderson County Park, formerly Colonial Grantsborough one of the first towns in Tennessee in 1798. Ulysses S. Grant  fought at Bunker Hill, clerked for Baron Von Steuben at Valley Forge, where he overheard Washington praying for supplies, which then miraculously arrived, and moved in the circles of Governors William Blount and John Sevier along with the founders of the Transylvania Colony.

We only celebrate the 250 once. So let’s make it count!

By the way, this year is also Campbell County’s 220th Anniversary; 1806 – 2026. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-07/01/2026-6AM)