Overton County lies on the northwestern side of the Northern Tennessee Coal Field. It is bordered on the east by Fentress County, on the south by Putnam County, on the west by Jackson County, and on the north by Clay and Pickett Counties. The county contains 277,312 acres, or about 433 square miles. This region is characterized by bold, rugged mountain topography, having an altitude range of 700 to 2,000 feet. About two-thirds of the county lies on the Highland Rim, and the other third of the county is situated on the Cumberland Plateau. The northwestern portion of the county is on the Highland Rim. It is a broad, gently rolling plain, and has an altitude varying from 900 to 1,000 feet. The plain is often broken by low, rolling hills.
All drainage in the county is toward the Cumberland River, which lies several miles to the west of the county. The main rivers and streams draining the county are the Roaring River, West Fork Obey River, East Fork Obey River, Spring Creek, Big Eagle Creek, Mill Creek, and Mitchell Creek. A permanent settlement in Overton County was first established in 1800 at Hilham. Some settlements closer to present-day Livingston had also occurred, but their exact date is not known. Hunters had been passing through the area for several years before the first settlement had been made. The county officially organized in 1806. The county seat was established at Monroe in 1810 and moved to Livingston, the present-day county seat, in 1835.
Overton County was prosperous in its early years and compared favorably
with other sections of the state up to the era of railroad construction
in the 1860's. Railroads favored the more level areas of the state
and tended to avoid the hilly, mountainous terrain of Overton County.
This brought about a slow retrogression that lasted up to about
1900. The first railroad entered the county from Monterey to Crawford
in 1901. In 1906, the Overton County Railroad was built from Algood
to Livingston and provided Livingston a market for its goods. The
Algood-Livingston line was pulled up in 1936 when the demand for
the railroad diminished. The Crawford line suffered the same fate
in 1968. No railroads operate in Overton County today.
Overton County has a mild, pleasant climate and seldom experiences very hot or very cold temperatures. The summer months have warm days and cool nights. Some snow falls in winter, but it never remains on the ground for more than a week. The average yearly temperature is about 57 degrees Fahrenheit and the average yearly rainfall is about 54 inches.
The coalfield area of Overton County is confined to the southeastern part of the county. The largest area of recoverable coal is on a long spur of the plateau that projects northward out of the main mass between the East and West Fork Obey rivers. It is estimated that approximately 54 square miles of Overton County is underlain by mineable coal. Eleven named coal seams are known to exist in Overton County, but only two of them have known recoverable reserves. The two seams of importance are the Wilder (Bon Air) seam and the Sewanee seam.
Overton County contains approximately 12,854,000 tons of known recoverable coal reserves. The Wilder seam contains 12,451,00 tons of recoverable coal in Overton County, and the Sewanee seam contains 403,000 tons of recoverable coal. The Wilder coal is contained in the upper part of the Signal Point shale, underneath the Sewanee conglomerate. The Wilder coal is near the middle of the Fentress formation.
The Sewanee coal is contained in the Whitwell shale. This coal lies above the Sewanee conglomerate. It is typically found 20 to 40 feet above the Wilder coal. All known reserves of the Sewanee coal in Overton County are less than 42 inches in thickness and have not yet been mined on a large scale.
The Tennessee Central Railroad completed a branch from Monterey to Crawford in 1901 and from Crawford to Wilder in 1903. This opened the area up for the shipping of coal and timber. Few roads existed in the area up until this time and none of the streams were suitable for barges. The effects of the railroad were clearly displayed on Overton County's total coal production. Overton County reported 680 tons of coal produced in 1901, 3,447 tons were reported for 1902, and production for 1903 was reported at
84,930 tons. It is not known for sure if the 1901 coal was mined at Obey City, and then known as Cliff Springs, or at Crawford. General John Thomas Wilder opened a small coal mine at Mineral Springs in 1895 and hauled the coal to Monterey to the railroad.
The Brier Hill Collieries, formerly the Crawford Coal and Iron Company, began operations in 1902 when they opened Mine Number 1 (Old Baker) near Crawford. Mine Number 2 opened at Crawford in 1903. The Obey River Coal Company, also known as the East Fork Coal and Coke Company, got started about 1902 at Obey City. In 1905, the Tennessee Central Railroad built a railway bridge to reach a mine on the east side of the East Fork Obey River. As of 1925 those mines had been productive, but no large operations had developed. Mining activities remained mainly in the Crawford area for several years after 1903. The Brier Hill Collieries opened the Laurel Creek Mine in 1909 and the Overton Mine of the Overton Coal and Coke Company opened between Twinton and Davidson in 1910. The largest coal mine in the Overton and Fentress County area was the Brier Hill Collieries Twin City Mine at Twinton in 1915. The Crawford Mining Company mine near Crawford was also one of the largest mines in Overton County.
The Twin Mine of the Brier Hill Collieries contained some of the most productive coal seams ever mined in Overton County. Average thickness was around five feet and in one room it was six feet. The thinnest coal found in the mines was still four-and-a-half feet thick. The roof of the Twin mines was sandy shale and locally became sandstone in spots. This allowed for excellent mining conditions and required few timbers to be set for roof supports. Some of the smaller mines in Overton County in the Wilder seam were: Obey City No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, the Paul Farmer mines near Obey City, mines on Looper Branch, the Curtis Vaughn and Coal Company Mines on Bill Branch, and mines on Little Laurel Creek.
Overton County in 2004 is a progressive county served by Tennessee Highways 111, 85, 84, 136, 293, and 52. A number of industries now call Overton County home and with highways and the Livingston Airport, transportation is favorable for easy access to most of the county. No railroads operate in Overton County today and there are not currently any commercial coal mines in operation. The main industries are logging, manufacturing, farming, and retail. The 2004 population of Overton County is about 20,000 and Livingston has just over 3,500 residents. Livingston is the only, and has always been, incorporated town in the county.
