In The Mystery of John Hunt, Tom Carney, Editor "Old Huntsville”, states of Tazewell as it appeared in the early 1800's:
The town simply refused to grow. The land was poor for farming and the community itself provided no incentive for commerce. The only thing the town had going for it was its close proximity to the Cumberland Gap, "gateway to the western lands."

John Hunt went on hunting for the "7 springs" he had heard of and finally settled in what is now Huntsville, Alabama.   From others I have gleaned that the reason Tazewell is located where it is was in fact that there were so many "Big Springs", one a precursor to what is now Springdale, Tennessee. Could these treasures be like THE LEGEND OF SWIFT'S SILVER MINE supposedly located somewhere around Tazewell? Could this legend of the "7 Springs" handed down by the Cherokee been the "7 Springs" of Tazewell. We may be paying the penalty for destroying these legendary Springs.   The only two I remember were "Town Springs", located on the old Middlesboro road near where the intersection of the Cedar Fork and Highway 25E intersection is, and  "Hollow Springs", below the Fire Hall on Highway 33 towards New Tazewell. Both now gone.

What has happened to the growth of our beloved Tazewell, Tennessee?  Could it be its location between two large mountain ranges, the Clinch and the Powell and then again between two smaller "hills"?  Has that rugged terrain of the town and surrounding area been the reason it has refused to grow?  Or is there something more deep-rooted and diverse affecting the growth of the community.  It was never an unfriendly place, far from it.  As a young boy growing up there I felt like I was reliving the Andy of Mayberry show.  But, as I grew older I found that there were feelings of resentment for those that had keen interest in its history and conservation.  Some see it as a stymie of prosperity and growth.   Many of the older families finally moved out because of this new growth, seemingly taking us nowhere.  

Before I go on I would offer someone else’s thoughts.  An "outsider" who looks at what a rich history could have been preserved had it not been so contorted and misconstrued by others.

Marlitta H. Perkins, (14th KY Inf. [US] Regimental Historian):
I was rather surprised to find that the town did not remember/preserve more of their WBTS history. The only things I found in the local library were a few scattered papers thrown into an old shoebox and forgotten on a shelf in a backroom near the bathroom.  
It is sad though that Tazewell is destroying most of its precious history...it always pains me to see an old house disappear or watch things slowly deteriorate because nobody cares.
During the past two years I have begun to photograph old buildings and properties up and down the Big Sandy Valley so that there will be at least a record, just in case if another landmark disappears. Much damage has been done already but there is also still much left that could be saved.

Although I understand that within an area with barely enough room to build new highways and new buildings it is hard to set aside remembrances of our past, I feel there needs to be more concerted efforts to do so.   I remember the old Baumgardner House that stood directly behind the Courthouse in Tazewell and the Weir/McNeely House that stood a block west. The Presbyterian Church a street up.  Both houses torn down and moved for the logs that lay underneath their clapboard exteriors. The Church destroyed by fire in the early 1960's.  I am not aware whether it was equipped with electricity or if the cause of the fire were ever determined, but I suspect arson may have been one explanation.  

As a boy of 12 through 14 I delivered the Knoxville paper up and down the main streets of Tazewell.   There were what once were fine old stately houses.  Now most of these have given way to progress.  Not to say that my family too have not infringed upon some of these historic places.  During the excavation of my grandfather Joe Phillip's house, a brick structure that stands today, were found two shallow graves, Union soldiers still wrapped in army blankets. The remains were removed with care and are now in the National Cemetery here in Knoxville.  I think the excerpt below says it well of what has happened to many of our historic battlegrounds:

Robert Queen (1st Lieutenant, 8th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, U.S)
Sadly, however, there are many in this great county of ours that can not even put this event in the right century, let alone the right decade.  Sadder still is the fact that people today walk on ground once gained or lost with many a man's blood and never realize it.  Most of us have heard of Gettysburg, but few have heard of Fort Sanders or Blue Springs.  "Where are these places?" you ask.  Right here in East Tennessee.  Second only to Virginia, Tennessee saw more fighting on its soil than any other state.  However, most of the battlegrounds have been lost to "progress" and only a few even have a marker to indicate its significance.

I will end this short addition to my web page here in hopes that I have not indicated any certain group or individual with my thoughts.  I only hope that efforts such as the ones mentioned in the past several years continue and that Tazewell's rich history can be remembered.