Tennessee Town Names

[skinem]

Skinem, Tn is a small unincorporated community just south of Fayetteville, TN.
It was named after my wife's great-great-great grandfather who owned a store at the crossroads. There are two stories as to how it was named...one was that he was such a sharp merchant that if you weren't careful, he'd "skin" you. The other was that he was so mean that if you got cross-ways of him, he'd "skin" you. Neither stories are real complimentary.

...and it explains my screen name. Maybe that'll stop the rumors...

[SMcalister]

It is interesting that I came across this information. I was researching the history of Skinem, TN (with no luck) when I found this. I was told a completely different story. My great (x 4-5) grandfather McAlister was a hard core gambler. It has been told to me that the town's name was originally McAlister. In a heated poker game, my grandfather bet the town name and lost. The town was the referred to as Skinem because he was "skinned" in the game. Or so that was what I was told.

[skinem]

Ok, three stories...
Makes as much sense as any of the other stories...which also come from relatives who were McAlisters!

Cousin? See you in Myrtle Beach?

[JoAnn5]

Well, in Franklin County, we have Shake Rag and Jump-off. Jump-off is up on Sewanee Mtn, so i can only assume that refers to someone or something jumping off the mountain. As far as Shake Rag.... hmmm i just don't know. Also we have a Bear Wallow Hollow just over into Lincoln County. I guess that's self-explanatory too...lol

[Psychop1]

Before there was a Cumberland County, Crossville was only known as the cross roads, which is why the town took the name Crossville.

Also, in case someone hasn't mentioned it, Tennessee means "the meeting place" in Cherokee.

[Rainna]

Thomas Drugs is located in the first settlement of Robertson County, Cross Plains, while Tennessee was still part of North Carolina, thanks to long hunter and pioneer explorer, Thomas Kilgore. In the spring of 1779 he brought family, neighbors and friends into the area and built Kilgore Station on a bluff above a tributary of the Red River. Kilgore lived to see the settlement grow into a thriving town. He died at the age of 108 in 1823.

James Yates, Kilgore’s so-in-law and the town‘s first merchant, is reported to have said “people were always coming and going across the plains,” hence the town’s name, Cross Plains, by 1812.

Even the famous and infamous, from President Andrew Jackson to outlaw Jessie James, visited Cross Plains. That observation has remained true today, over 200 years later, as people continue to move into one of Robertson County’s fastest growing “bedroom communities,” 35 miles north of Nashville, Tennessee

[tnmemories]

My father's family is from Skinem, TN. There's also a town called Bucksnort, TN that was named after a relative of his. They said he would get a few drinks in him (his name was Buck) and they'd say listen to Buck snort. Don't know if its true but its an amusing story.
I have some great memories of visiting my grandmother and aunts and uncles in Skinem (and Fayetteville), TN. Its great to hear other stories as well. Glad I found this site.