Etowah Depot Museum to unveil new Old Line exhibit

PHOTO BY PAUL LEACHLinda Caldwell of the Etowah Depot Museum, left, discusses details of the new "Old Line Railroad: Mileposts through Time" exhibit with Loy Williamson. Williamson contributed a number of historical photographs to the exhibit, which focuses on the "The Hiwassee Loop," which connects Etowah and Copperhill in Southeast Tennessee.
PHOTO BY PAUL LEACHLinda Caldwell of the Etowah Depot Museum, left, discusses details of the new "Old Line Railroad: Mileposts through Time" exhibit with Loy Williamson. Williamson contributed a number of historical photographs to the exhibit, which focuses on the "The Hiwassee Loop," which connects Etowah and Copperhill in Southeast Tennessee.
photo Staff File PhotoThe old Etowah train depot in downtown Etowah, Tenn.

ETOWAH, Tenn. - The Etowah Depot Museum is set to unveil "Old Line Railroad: Mileposts Through Time," an exhibit celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad connection between Etowah and Copperhill in Southeast Tennessee.

On Thursday, contributors got a sneak peek of the exhibit, which matches interpretive text with a wide variety of old photographs, artifacts, maps and railway schematics that tell the story of "The Loop," which still winds its way around the Hiwassee Gorge. The exhibit opens to the public Monday.

Loy Williamson, a self-described "picture collector," said he was glad to play a role in the exhibit's creation.

"[The history is] something that doesn't need to be forgotten and this is something that will help it from being forgotten," Williamson said.

Research and development of "Mileposts Through Time" was organized by the Etowah Historical Commission with assistance from Adam Alfrey, curator of exhibits for the East Tennessee History Center, according to a recent historical commission news release.

A $25,000 Lyndhurst Foundation grant is a key funding source for the exhibit and the upcoming restoration of an L&N caboose located on the museum grounds.

The exhibit helps tell the story of why the Old Line was built, which was to create a commercially viable means of exporting the mineral wealth from the Copper Basin, said Linda Caldwell of the Etowah Depot Museum.

The Old Line's story is Etowah's story, too, as the early 20th century boomtown was created to serve the railroad, she said. While the city currently has a population of less than 4,000 people, it once boasted of a population of 13,000.

The exhibit is located on the second story of the large depot building, which housed divisional offices for L&N until 1931, when the Great Depression forced the railroad to consolidate its administration and cut the Etowah office.

"It was a blow to the town, not just the loss of the division headquarters jobs, but the loss of prestige," Caldwell said.

Although Etowah did not disappear, the exhibit brings to light a number of Old Line communities that no longer exist, including Probst, McFarland and Austral. Probst and McFarland have been reclaimed by nature and Gee Creek Campground stands where Austral used to be.

The Old Line's story is not just a local one, either, said Caldwell, citing the use of leased African-American convict laborers from North Geogia to handle "the tough, ugly work" of cutting through the Hiwassee Gorge in the late 19th century.

In addition to the exhibit, the museum also offers a 24-page newspaper print gazette that tells various aspects of the Old Line story as part of the 125th anniversary efforts.

Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.

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