Tennessee County History Series – CLAIBORNE
by Edgar A. Holt
Page 55 – Roads and Bridges
Pages 56
thru 61.
Although
little mention is made of Lafayette G. Payne during his term as County Judge
1918-1924 he was instrumental in many of the projects in Claiborne County
during those years. The county had
fallen into corruption during the early part of the 20th century, up until
about 1910 when Judge J.H.S. Morrison became County Judge and took control to
restore a semblance of order and honesty to the county financial records.
County
trustees were held accountable for a faithful and honest accounting of the
monies entrusted to him. One trustee
left office without making a settlement and four and one-half months later the
county judge reminded him of his obligation.
A
particular instance that is mentioned in the book above is the routing of the
Dixie Highway over the route of the old Kentucky Road from Cumberlnad Gap to
Tazewell, then over what is now State Route 33 from Tazewell to New Tazewell,
Sandlick, and Barren Creek to the Union County line. Quick action was needed because it was reported some other route
might be chosen if there were a delay.
Judge Morrison presided at special session August 1917 and the court
took affirmative action and authorized the judge to issue $25,000 in six
percent bonds. A special tax levy was
imposed for years 1918-1922. In
September 1920 the court, with Judge
L.G. Payne presiding, approved the issue of $42,000 to keep roads in
repair. 
John Wesley Rose was the
Clerk of Court. (click on picture of bond coupon for
enlargement)
Also the
use of county owned road equipment became a issue. In April 1921 a special session of the court was called to
consider what should be done to make the county’s pike road equipment available
because such machinery was then being detained by “certain citizens living on
or near Cedar Fork.” The court approved
a resolution to employ counsel “and to take such actions as may be required in
order to restore such machinery to the County.” The county asserted its rights to control its own machinery but
at the cost of wasted time.
1920 Census Claiborne County –
Grandfather - J.T. (Joseph Phillips) – Road Supt (click for enlargement)
In 1921
the court accepted a plan by the Tennessee State Highway Commission that the
county change from macadam specifications to a hand-laid base, or Telford
method, consisting of rock laid in varying sizes from the base to the top when
small rocks were to be used and followed by a bituminous surface. This method was slow and somewhat more
expensive, but more resistant to wear.
With the county’s acceptance, the state and federal governments would be
responsible for subsequent maintenance.
This change applied only to the Dixie Highway section. The county accepted the proposal, and to
this date (1981) that section of the highway has stood the stress of heavy
traffic.
If you
want to see a section of that highway you will have to go out the section of
highway beside the Forstee Freeze Drive-In referred to by most locals as “The
Concrete”. This highway is preserved
along this section today after the four lane U.S. 25-E has by-passed it
entirely. Other businesses include the
Hobart Bunch Car Lot at the end of this section.
 |
It is
also along this section of Highway during WWII that a P-51
Mustang was forced to make an emergency landing, which brought out the
entire town. My family lived just above
this stretch of highway and were some of the first on the scene. The plane had experienced some malfunction
which a local mechanic quickly fixed.
Before taking off the plane dumped it’s wing mounted drop fuel
tank which were retrieved by my brothers Eddie and Phil. The article to the right tells of a P-47 landing but after doing a complete search found that the P-47 does not carry an external fuel tank of any kind. During my early childhood this fuel tank
that lay below our house on top of Breastworks Hill became a hideout and
meeting place for our childhood clubs.
I have a picture of the fuel tank among my pictures and will try and
locate it.
On the
flip side -
(Edwards,
Lawrence. Gravel in my shoe: tales & talk of mine own people in the
Cumberland wonderland before the invasion of Messrs. Ford & MacAdam brought
the triumph of machine over man. Montevallo, AL, Times Printing Co., 1963. 181
pp)