A city on a hill cannot be hidden. That is what the Bible says. After the new town of Monterey was established along the western edges of the Cumberland Plateau, people soon discovered its rich natural beauty. In modern times, many are rediscovering what the earlier inhabitants already knew.
Before the new town of Monterey was founded by the Cumberland Mountain Coal Co., in 1893, it was a settlement of just a few families. They had stopped on land that had been settled by Indigenous people around 2,000 years before Christ. Those ancient people thousands of years before there were ever any Cherokee, Creek, Shawnee, or other tribes that ever hunted here. The Mound Builders had carved a dog-like monolith facing due west and over their village located just down the hill.
Thomas Jefferson Whittaker, the son of one of the original settlers, found a vein of coal while out hunting one day. A group of ten investors from Pennsylvania, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and some local people incorporated as the Cumberland Mountain Coal Co. and bought Whittaker’s farm, turning it into a new company-owned town.
As the railroad extended to the new town, new stores and hotels were built to meet resident’s needs. The railroad was a “must have” for the survival of the new town. It was needed to not only take coal and timber into faraway markets, but to bring supplies and people in. Before the railroad came, it took people a week or more to get to Nashville and a week to get back. Now, they could go to Nashville and back on the same day.
As with any new project, it was slow growing to begin with. Ater a couple of years, there was the West Crest Hotel, on the corner of S. Holly St. and W. Commercial Ave.; a livery stable next door to the hotel; a doctor, drug store; a feed store; and a company-owned general store. It was not until the turn of the new century that things started taking off for the new town.
As the very early 1900s rolled around, more stores, hotels, lumber, and sawmills were opening. Besides, a doctor and a drug store, a lawyer, a barber, and a new bank located in the new town. At one point, there were seven hotels operating in Monterey. Because newspaper and magazine travel writers were writing about the new town, people were coming from all over the world to see what it was all about. Even locals would come from lumber camps to get a room, a fresh bath, and somebody else’s cooking.
The fresh mountain air, the lakes, the bluffs, and the tasty food were all big draws. There are things to do for everyone like fishing, boating, bowling, long strolls, and later, the latest movies to watch. Because of its legendary good cooking, the railroad even rearranged its schedule for lunch at the Imperial Hotel instead of stopping in Cookeville.
Tourists from Nashville, Knoxville and beyond come to stay for the weekend or a month or more to get away from the hot cities to enjoy lakes, bluffs, fine dining and more. Stagecoaches from nearby cities would arrive in town to take people on excursions to Bee Rock, to eat at one of the hotels, or to the park (at the time located behind where the present nursing home is).
By the mid-1930s as new state highways were being built and improved, people started to venture to other places. In the 1940s, it was war that took them away. The railroad stopped passenger service all together in July 1955. In the 1960s, Interstate 40 bypassed whole communities.
In today’s world, new generations of people are rediscovering the “city built on the hill.” Tourists are finding the fresh mountain air, the lakes, the bluffs, the parks are still here.
The better-built roads and interstate that one lead people away are bringing people from all over the world. Many families see tourism signs on I-40, stop at the Monterey Depot Museum. They see us on social media, visit our webpages through Google searches, and some just accidently find us on their way to Dollywood and the Great Smokies.
They are always told of local restaurants, craft shops, parks, and other places to go and of things to do. Recently, a couple came back to the museum and thanked them for the recommendations. They had gone to a recommended restaurant; had a wonderful meal; bought the rest of a pie; and bought a quilt at another shop. The couple said they would definitely be back to make more discoveries. We get emails and Facebook messages from people all over the world telling us how much they enjoyed their stop “Where Hilltops Kiss the Sky.”
The best place to live ! I was born at Monterey Hospital and I still live in Monterey. I love my town.
This Monterey town is from I am from and proud to be a area resident, TJ Whittaker is my great great grand father his daughter is my great grandmother.