Allred lies at the confluence of Puncheon Camp Creek and the West Fork Obey River. Indians camped at Puncheon Camp for years where they would hunt, fish, cultivate the rich river-bottom land, and make arrowheads from the flint outcrops in the area. Allred formed as a community around 1900 as the first large-scale bandmills moved into the area to process the virgin timber from the native forests.


Allred lies halfway between the foot of Cub Mountain to the south and Alpine Mountain to the north. The tiny community lies in a deep valley at 900 feet above sea level with the Cumberland Plateau escarpment towering on three sides with elevations exceeding 1800 feet. The setting makes for possibly the most picturesque part of the county with gentle to rolling farmland and the majestic West Fork Obey River at the base of the valley.


Allred was named after the Allred family, who were among the first permanent settlers of the rugged area. A trustee of the University of Tennessee, Ernest Allred purchased several thousand acres of mountainside and valley land and settled into the area just after 1900.