La Follette;Jacksboro;Caryville Info Sources? (Knoxville, Chattanooga: crime, attorney, homes)

[Magster]

It would appear the two naysayers on this forum will never have anything positive to say about the area. We were so impressed with the friendliness of the folks we met, darned if we didn't actually buy a home in Jacksboro. Now, I'm being told I'm going to have to sit on the front porch with a shotgun across my knees.
Sorry, I don't buy it.
Come on down here to Florida and let me take you to places -- all over the state -- where you would not be safe walking down the street in broad daylight. The same is true in thousands of other places throughout the United States. Drugs? Horrors! Show me one bloomin' town in the U.S. where drugs aren't rampant.
So, soon we will be mixed in among the "normal people." And while we're at it, we might just make some hillbilly friends, too.
Cheers,

[NealPT]

Originally Posted by onlyme

Thanks so much for the insight about water levels. I'd certainly not considered that thus far. The county name doesn't print for some reason but I can certainly track down the body of water as you suggest. Thanks again for your response..

Look at what it's not printing and you'll understand. They have filters turned on that look for certain words.

[tokyopapa]

You people that are coming down hard on this area...are totally 100% accurate. I also live in northeastern Tennessee. Any homosexual, Yankee, Californian, African American, or anything that's not dirt poor welfare dependent caucasian will be hunted down and run out of the city. I was born here, so I didn't have any choice in the matter of living here, but you do: stay away...please, it's the least I can do for someone I don't even know.

[jacktn2]

I did not grow up here in Campbell Co. I moved here when 3 of my children
were still in elemtery school. I have been here now 9 yrs. I have seen 2 of my daughters marry,1 now attending college and have a son who is a jr in highschool.
Yes this county is laid back and we do have our problems like anywhere else, but we do not have have the problems of the big cities.
I moved here from Chicago. I grew up there. When the gangs started to emlist young children in the school. I decided it was time to move.
You say this place is full of inbred backward hillnillies. Is it because you dont want to be reminded of where you come from. I agree we dont have many factories here and we do have to travel to Knoville or Oakridge to work, but many of us finds it worth it to keep a small town where your kids can walk down the down the street without worring if they going to get jumped or killed.
The people here are friendly and willing to help out a neighbor in need. You dont find that in a big city. Yes is there are drugs here
like everywhere elese in the United States. Our sheriff dept is working on it .
So may I ask are you one of these inbred backward hillies you talk about that I havent seen here yet.

[don'tdoit]

Oh, dear sweet Maggie......were they really friendly to you while they were selling you a house? Imagine that! A smile from the local Wal-Mart cashier and a wink from the realtor and you think, "Wow, what a lovely place to live." And you buy a house in Jacksboro. I am a Godly person and I will pray for you. It may even take you a couple years to realize what I've been writing is true. If you can even outwardly admit it then. The light bulb will come on at some point, probably when you call a repair man, get an estimate, then find out after paying it that he charged you triple everyone else simply because you aren't from here. Or, perhaps it will come on when an opportunity you desire is denied you because you know no one here and don't have family here. It could be a slow process, but will eventually manifest itself.

And, as for you Mr. or Mrs. Accountable........I have stayed here 20 years because both my elderly ailing parents are here and have such extensive medical needs that it is not feasible for me to move them. I am their only child and they are dependent upon me. Someday I will relocate. But not now. But that doesn't really mean that I cannot have a valid complaint, now does it?
don'tdoit

[Mr. Bighead]

Originally Posted by jacktn2

I did not grow up here in Campbell Co. I moved here when 3 of my children
were still in elemtery school. I have been here now 9 yrs. I have seen 2 of my daughters marry,1 now attending college and have a son who is a jr in highschool.
Yes this county is laid back and we do have our problems like anywhere else, but we do not have have the problems of the big cities.
I moved here from Chicago. I grew up there. When the gangs started to emlist young children in the school. I decided it was time to move.
You say this place is full of inbred backward hillnillies. Is it because you dont want to be reminded of where you come from. I agree we dont have many factories here and we do have to travel to Knoville or Oakridge to work, but many of us finds it worth it to keep a small town where your kids can walk down the down the street without worring if they going to get jumped or killed.
The people here are friendly and willing to help out a neighbor in need. You dont find that in a big city. Yes is there are drugs here
like everywhere elese in the United States. Our sheriff dept is working on it .
So may I ask are you one of these inbred backward hillies you talk about that I havent seen here yet.

It's really hard to believe that you've lived there this long without meeting any deliverance cast members. Perhaps I can direct you to some. Take the old road from Caryville, past Shoneys, that goes "behind the mountain" and sort of parallels the interstate up to the Huntsville exit. There are several shacks and trailers surrounded by old cars and other junk in various states of decay and disassembly. Last time I went through there, I saw a shirtless guy whose back was so hairy that it looked like he was wearing a sweater. That's quite a genetic feat.

I'm much more familiar with the area around Lake City. Take 116 from Lake City, through Briceville and Laurel Grove, to the top of Graves Gap Mountain. There's an area up there called Duncan Flats, and another called Braden Flats. The Bradens and Duncans have lived on top of that mountain and married each other for at least 200 years.

Have you ever met anybody from the Lake City area with the Daugherty surname? I've met a bunch of them. Daurghertys are not bad folks. The funny thing about them is that they all look the same, and they're all dumb as a rock.

As far as my own lineage, I don't claim any extraordinary pedigree. My great great grandmother was a Duncan from Laurel Grove (at the base of Graves Gap Mountain). My grandfather has told me that he is distant cousins to some Daughertys. Luckily, my relation to the Duncans and Daughertys is several generations back, and I got fresh genes from the other side of my family. It would be a stretch to make the case that I'm backward or inbred. I can't deny that I'm a bit of a hillbilly, though a lot of locals think I'm not hillbilly enough.

Would you really consider your children safe walking along the streets of Lake City? Several people I've met in this area have been surprised when I told them I was from Lake City. I just seem so normal and law-abiding. Lake City is known in this area for being a rough town and a dump and the best place to get crank or weed. Do some grocery shopping at Shoprite and see how many normal, relatively intelligent folks you can find. I'll bet you can count them on one hand. You'll find they're outnumbered 10 to 1 by people who are mentally hindered by their genes and/or their addictions.

[don'tdoit]

That sweater-backed feller you mentioned, Mr. Bighead, is in fact James Madison of Madison Logging, a local logger who has logged these here hills since he was able to drive a logging truck. He's a decent sort, loner, probably has more money and financial prospects than the two of us put together. You probably noticed some of his logging equipment on the sides of Hwy. 63, as that is his stomping grounds. Never known him to hurt anybody....but he sure does have a healthy crop of hair growing, doesn't he?
Don'tdoit

[Mr. Bighead]

That's pretty **** funny. I didn't expect that anybody here would actually know the guy. I guess he must have some money to be able to amass such sheer volume of junk. I'm glad to hear that he's prospering. I don't mean to imply that inbred folks are neccessarily morally deficient, as genes themselves are irrelevant to morality. They're just not the sort of people that I want to emulate, even if they are my cousins.

[LGB]

I found this forum by doing a search for Caryville Tn. after 'discovering' the area a few days ago. Thanksgiving night, while traveling with my significant other and our two children, ages 10 and 13, to Gatlingburg, Tn. we exited the interstate to refuel in Caryville for the remainder of our trip to The Smoky Mts. We approached the intersection with naught a care in the world when suddenly a pickup truck came towards us spinning sideways straight into our car! Upon exiting the vehicle we learned the driver had been struck by a hit-and-run driver who had pushed his truck into our car. Fortunately, none were physically injured albeit our children were terrified. Unfortunately, our car was damaged beyond operation. Keep in mind, we are not from Tennessee and had no knowledge of the area we found ourselves stranded at 10:00 pm. with temps hovering around 40 degrees with two scared children. In no time, law enforcement were on the scene taking statements. My significant other and I sent our children to the Shell station, where we had just fueled our automobile, in an effort to keep them warm. This was not very far from the accident scene. The police sent word the hit-and-run driver had been caught and had been driving with a revoked driver's license and was driving intoxicated with no auto insurance. Meanwhile, back at the accident scene, the police officers present had called one of the good ole boys who owned a wrecker service in Caryville, even though I protested that we had someone who could help us ( i.e. AAA Membership). Fittingly enough, we discovered the wrecker service was named Sweats. The officers stated due to the car having a bursted radiator, we could not drive the car or push the car to the side of the roadway and we had to wait for our choice of wrecker service to arrive. While I wrestled with our luggage from our trunk before they towed the vehicle away, someone yelled from the Shell service station for one of the parents to come to the station immediately. We discovered a woman working at the station had called the sheriff on our thirteen year old due to him exhibiting anxiety. Instead of reassuring this young man who had just been in an automobile accident, due to a drunken driver, that he was fine, she had called for law enforcement. Later, our 10 year old daughter informed us of all that transpired in the Shell station involving the female employee. Our daughter reported this same woman was passing gas, scratching body parts and stating, ''I ate too much today.'' Also, in reference to our children to others, this woman stated,'' They ain't staying here, I'm telling them I'm closed.''

Upon explaining why our son was upset, the sherriff understood why he was behaving anxiously.

Back at the scene of the accident, our car was towed leaving us standing beside the roadway at midnight, temps in the 30s with our children and luggage beside us. At no time did any of the officers present offer to take us to a hotel or some other souce of warmth.

Even though the officers were without compassion, a couple pulled over and offered to assist us. We gladly acepted their offer to transport us to a nearby hotel. Even though I have asthma and the hotel had no smoke-free rooms, I was glad to be inside where it was warm with our children.

Upon settling into our room we called the business card left by Sweats. Sweats stated that since the police department had called him and not us, AAA would not cover the towing cost. We owed him a little over $89.00 to tow our auto for approximately four miles. Sweats also stated that our car was not leaving his garage until he was paid, yet he wold not accept our payment until AAA sent another provider. AAA stated they would not send another provider until Sweats was paid. This went on for hours and part of the next morning until Sweats agreed to release our car after receiving a call from a wonderful lady with AAA named Kendall.

After this encounter with Caryville, Tn. I am recommending any person travelling through Tennessee via the interstate to not stop for fuel or any other purpose as our encounter was surreal and felt like we had been swept into a twilight zone. I have studied behaviors for years and am still shocked by the demeanor and lack of empathy exhibited to a family who were victimized by a drunk driver in the state of Tennessee.

In closing, we were enroute to Gatlinburg Tennessee on that Thursday night, as we were scheduled to be married the next day.

Our son who was exhibiting anxiety and needing reassurance from the Shell employee that night is Autistic.

The couple who rescued us from the cold that night and drove us to a hotel, held the surname of Miracle.

[hiknapster]

Thank goodness you were rescued. There are some nice people here, but not many. They hate outsiders. I live at the foothills to the Cumberlands. This truly is an odd area. Sorry that this happened to you.

East Tennessee is usually a nice place to vacation to, but not live. Unfortunately, it wasn't even that for you.