Wartrace, Tennessee

Wartrace is a town in Bedford County, Tennessee.

The name "Wartrace" is rooted in a Native American trail that once passed through the area. The town, initially known as "Wartrace Depot," was established in the early 1850s as a stop on the newly-constructed Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad.

During the Civil War, the town was the winter headquarters of Confederate General William J. Hardee during the aftermath of the Battle of Stones River, and the Old Chockley Tavern in Wartrace was a gathering place for Confederate officers during the Tullahoma Campaign. A skirmish was fought at Wartrace on April 11, 1862.

With the increase in rail travel in the late 19th century, Wartrace experienced a boom period. At its height, the town had six inns and hotels, and serviced 13 trains per day.

Since it's founding in 1853 Wartrace has been host to the oldest railroad line in Tennessee, lived through the skirmishes and encampments of the Tullahoma Campaign, and is still proud to be the birthplace of the world famous Tennessee Walking Horse.

[Source: Wikipedia]

Sewanee: The University of the South

The University of the South is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of the church. The campus (officially called "The Domain" or, affectionately, "The Mountain") consists of 13,000 acres of scenic mountain property atop the Cumberland Plateau, with the developed portion occupying about 1,000 acres.

On July 4, 1857, delegates from ten dioceses of the Episcopal Church — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas — were led up Monteagle Mountain by Bishop Leonidas Polk for the founding of their denominational college for the region. 

The six-ton marble cornerstone, laid on October 10, 1860, and consecrated by Bishop Polk, was blown up in 1863 by Union soldiers from an Illinois regiment; many of the pieces were collected and kept as keepsakes by the soldiers. A few were donated back to the university, and a large fragment was eventually installed in a wall of All Saints' Chapel.