Tim Isbel, commissioner for Anderson County, will present “A Vision for Rocky Top’s Coal Creek Miners Museum” at the next UT Science Forum meeting Friday, November 14 from noon to 1 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena Dining Room C-D.
The town of Rocky Top, Tenn., was formerly known as Coal Creek, named after the stream that runs through the town. This area was the site of a long struggle in the 1890’s, known as the Coal Creek War, between miners and coal companies over the use of unpaid convict labor in the coal mines. The coal miners were eventually victorious, ending the Tennessee’s convict labor program.
In 2013, the Anderson County Commission voted to purchase the former Bank of America building in Lake City and donate it to the City of Lake City to be used for the home of the Coal Mining Museum. PlanET awarded the City of Lake City a Community Enhancement Project, which included a conceptual design for the Coal Creek Miners Museum. Mr. Isbel will share plans for the new Coal Creek Miners Museum in Lake City.
The UT Science Forum is free and open to the public.