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Cumberland County, Tennessee

The Cumberland Plateau’s crossroads, on Central time: Cumberland Mountain State Park and the Homesteads Tower, Ozone Falls, Black Mountain, Catoosa’s backcountry and downtown Crossville’s theaters.

Formed 1855Seat: CrossvilleTowns & communities ↓Area news ↓A short history ↓Official tourism, parks & attractions ↓Local resources ↓

Checked Oct 27, 2026 · sources at the bottom

Visitor directory

Cumberland County directory

Cumberland Mountain State Park’s stone bridge on Byrd Lake and the Homesteads Tower, Ozone Falls and the Cumberland Trail on Black Mountain, Catoosa’s backcountry along the Obed, and downtown Crossville’s Playhouse and Palace Theatre — on Central time, an hour behind Knoxville.

Cities: Crossville (county seat) · Crab Orchard · Pleasant Hill

Communities: Fairfield Glade · Lake Tansi · Mayland · Bowman · Cumberland Homesteads · Grassy Cove · Ozone

Official tourism, parks & attractions

Tourism

Parks & outdoors

  • Cumberland Mountain State Park (TN State Parks) ↗24 Office Dr, south of Crossville · the Civilian Conservation Corps’ stone bridge and dam on Byrd Lake, the paved Byrd Lake Trail, hiking and mountain-bike trails, cabins, a campground, boat and paddle rentals, the Bear Trace golf course and The Restaurant at Cumberland Mountain overlooking the lake · ranger programs on the park’s Happenings page · (931) 484-6138.
  • Ozone Falls State Natural Area (TDEC) ↗On US 70 at Ozone, about four miles east of the Crab Orchard exit off I-40 · Fall Creek drops 110 feet over a sandstone cap rock into a rock-strewn pool, then disappears underground · open sunrise to sunset; rappelling is prohibited and pets are not recommended · managed with Cumberland Trail State Park.
  • Black Mountain — Cumberland Trail State Park ↗Black Mountain trailhead off Bat Town Rd above Grassy Cove (I-40 exit 329) and Brady Mountain trailhead on TN 68 · house-sized rock formations, a loop trail and an overlook of Grassy Cove; the Cumberland Trail’s Ozone Falls section (6.7 miles) runs north from Black Mountain to the falls · all caves on Cumberland Trail lands, including Windlass Cave, are closed to protect bats from white-nose syndrome.
  • Catoosa Wildlife Management Area (TWRA) ↗Plateau backcountry north of I-40, reached from Genesis Rd (exit 320) or Peavine Rd (exit 322) · the Obed Wild and Scenic River runs through it, and the Devil’s Breakfast Table overlooks Daddys Creek on the Morgan County line · open year-round in daylight, but access depends on hunting seasons (deer muzzleloader quota hunt Oct 29–31, 2026; wild hog control Dec 9–13 and 16–20) · riding, bikes and OHVs need a license and WMA permit · TWRA Region 3, 1-931-484-9571.
  • Obed River Park (Cumberland County) ↗24 Obed River Dr, off US 70 W by the Community Complex, Crossville · 2.1 miles of paved walking trail along the Obed River, three rentable shelters, a level 1 arboretum and markers for a 1930s dam and the old railroad crossing · Parks & Recreation (931) 250-1981.

Museums & history

  • Cumberland Homesteads Tower Museum (Tennessee State Parks) ↗At US 127 and TN 68, south of Crossville · the 1937–38 stone tower that held the Cumberland Homesteads’ offices and water tank, with a museum of the New Deal homestead community and a climb to the lookout · Tennessee State Parks took over the tower from the county in late 2025 and runs it with Cumberland Mountain State Park — call the park for current hours, (931) 484-6138.

Government

  • Cumberland County government ↗County Mayor’s Office, Historic Cumberland County Courthouse, 2 N. Main St, Suite 203, Crossville · (931) 484-6165 · during courthouse construction, enter by the north side door facing the gazebo; the elevator is out of service — call ahead if you can’t use the stairs.
  • City of Crossville ↗City Hall, 392 N. Main St · (931) 484-5113 · Palace Theatre, Centennial Park, Meadow Park Lake and city services.
  • City of Crab Orchard ↗City Hall, 338 Hebbertsburg Rd, Crab Orchard · (931) 484-2815.
  • Art Circle Public Library ↗3 East St, Crossville · (931) 484-6790 · the County Commission meets in the library’s Cumberland Room.

Shared with neighboring counties

Local resources

  • Emergency (police · fire · EMS)911Call 911 for any emergency · text “cumberland” to 36475 for county E-911 alerts.
  • Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office(931) 484-617690 Justice Center Dr, Crossville · Sheriff Casey Cox ⓘ source
  • Crossville/Cumberland County Emergency Management(931) 484-701642 Southbend Dr, Suite 105, Crossville · preparedness and disaster information · for emergencies call 911 ⓘ source
  • Cumberland Medical Center (Covenant Health)(931) 484-9511421 S. Main St, Crossville · emergency department ⓘ source
  • Cumberland County Health Department(931) 484-61961503 S. Main St, Crossville · Mon–Fri 8–4:30 CT ⓘ source
  • Cumberland County Mayor’s Office(931) 484-6165Historic Courthouse, 2 N. Main St, Suite 203 · Mayor Allen Foster ⓘ source
  • Cumberland County Schools(931) 484-6135368 4th St, Crossville · calendars, closings ⓘ source
  • Cumberland County Election Commission(931) 484-4919Temporarily at 2876 N. Main St, Crossville (fire damage at the old office in March) · Election Day Tue Nov 3: polls open 8 AM–7 PM CT ⓘ source
  • Veterans Services Office(931) 456-00902 N. Main St, Suite 101, Crossville ⓘ source
  • Highway emergency (cell)*THP (*847)Tennessee Highway Patrol ⓘ source
Schools, libraries & hospitals — coming soon. We’ll add official district and facility links county by county.

Checked Oct 28, 2026 · official sites only · phone numbers copied from each agency’s own page — tap ⓘ to confirm. In an emergency, call 911.

Area news

Headlines from local outlets · Cumberland County

  • WVLT 8 · Oct 28, 2026

    Crossville Commons, a $50 million, 180,000-square-foot shopping center planned at the Buc-ee’s exit, is expected to bring about 200 jobs and take roughly 18 months to build.

    Read at WVLT 8 →
  • Crossville Chronicle · Oct 26, 2026

    Early voting runs through Thursday at the Election Commission’s temporary office on N. Main St; 9,517 voters (19.19%) had voted early by Saturday, ahead of 2022 and 2018.

    Read at Crossville Chronicle →
  • Crossville Chronicle · Oct 23, 2026

    The Cumberland County Commission confirmed Philip Burnett for another two-year term as county attorney at its October meeting.

    Read at Crossville Chronicle →
  • UCNow · Oct 21, 2026

    The Tennessee Recovery Continuum Summit brought treatment and recovery leaders to Crossville to work on connecting care from treatment to long-term recovery.

    Read at UCNow →
  • UCNow · Oct 20, 2026

    Recovering Crossville opened Tisdell House, a 12-month residential recovery program for women in Cumberland County with peer recovery specialists, counseling and life-skills classes.

    Read at UCNow →

Short summaries in our words — tap through to read the full story at the outlet. All area news → · Outlet requests: [email protected]

A short history

When Tennessee became a state in 1796 this stretch of the Cumberland Plateau was a hunting ground, and settlers bound for the Cumberland River settlements rested at the stands and inns along its toll roads. Crab Orchard Inn, Kemmer’s Stand and Johnson’s Stand at Mayland served the Walton Road, laid out by the legislature to link Southwest Point (Kingston) with Nashville; Interstate 40 now follows much of the old route, and the county’s historian called it “The Road to Somewhere Else.”

In the mid-1850s the General Assembly created Cumberland County from parts of the counties around it and named it for the Cumberland Mountains. Crossville, once Scott’s Crossroads near the middle of the county, became the seat even though Crab Orchard, Grassy Cove, Mayland and Pleasant Hill were larger. No major battles were fought here in the Civil War, but raiders from both armies and guerrilla bands pillaged the plateau, and families split between the Union and the Confederacy.

The Tennessee Central Railroad reached the county in 1900, opening the Nashville and Knoxville markets to plateau farmers. In the 1930s the New Deal built the Cumberland Homesteads south of Crossville — homes of Crab Orchard stone for struggling families, a stone tower for the project’s offices, and the recreation area that became Cumberland Mountain State Park. During World War II a prisoner-of-war camp near Pomona held German and Italian prisoners, and after the war Interstate 40 and retirement communities such as Fairfield Glade and Lake Tansi brought new growth.

Read the full East Tennessee history →

Towns & communities

  • Crossville — county seat; the historic courthouse square, the Palace Theatre and the Cumberland County Playhouse
  • Crab Orchard — city on US 70 and I-40 east of Crossville, near Ozone Falls
  • Pleasant Hill — town on US 70 west of Crossville, one of the county’s early settlements
  • Fairfield Glade (community) — golf and retirement community north of I-40
  • Cumberland Homesteads (community) — the New Deal homestead houses and the Homesteads Tower south of Crossville
  • Grassy Cove (community) — farm valley below Black Mountain on TN 68

Our place stories in and near Cumberland County

    Go deeper

    Neighboring counties: Bledsoe County · Fentress County · Morgan County · Rhea County · Roane County · All counties →

    Official visitor links

    Checked Oct 27, 2026 · hours, fees and events live on these pages.

    Videos

    Video stories for Cumberland County are on the way.

    Sources

    Checked Oct 27, 2026 · We summarize; follow these for the full history. No hours or fees on this page — check official sites before you go.