Rock Island, Tennessee

History

Early history

The Chickamauga Path, which spanned Middle Tennessee north-to-south, connecting the area with Kentucky and Alabama, forded the Caney Fork at a large rock island. This path later became the Old Kentucky Road, which roughly parallels the modern State Route 136. Another trail, known as the Black Fox Trail, passed east-to-west just south of Rock Island.

In 1793, in the latter part of the Cherokee–American wars, a skirmish was fought at Rock Island between a small contingent of soldiers pursuing several Chickamaugas, who had reportedly stolen horses. The Tennessee historian J.G.M. Ramsey reported:

(Lt. Snoddy) pursued them to a large camp near the Rock Island ford of the Cany Fork, where he took much spoils. Evening coming on, he withdrew from the camp, about a mile, to an eminence, where he halted his men, and they lay on their arms all night.

The Chickamauga assaulted Snoddy's position the following day, but were beaten back.

Among the earliest settlers in Middle Tennessee settled at Rock Island in the late 1790s. They included William "Rock" Martin and Joseph Terry. In 1806, Rock Island became the county seat for the newly created White County and court was held in Terry's cabin. The new county encompassed all of what is now White and Warren Counties, and parts of the counties of Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Franklin, Grundy, Putnam, and Van Buren Counties. Rock Island was the county seat for three years. General John D. Rodgers, veteran of the War of 1812 and Seminole Wars owned a tavern and operated a ferry just above the island. Gen. Andrew Jackson presided over several sessions of the Tennessee Supreme Court here. The town by the river remained an important point along the Old Kentucky Road until the coming of the railroad in 1881.

The Webb Hotel (#100005145) a Craftsman style house constructed in 1909 to accommodate the rising demand for tourism in Rock Island, was known for its homestyle dinners on Sunday afternoons. The hotel was frequented by country music star and member of the Grand Ole Opry, Uncle Dave Macon. On March 27, 2020, the Webb Hotel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Recreation

Rock Island is home to Rock Island State Park & Great Falls Dam.

Climate

Rock Island has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) under both the Köppen climate classification system and Trewartha with eight months (March through October) averaging at least 50 °F (10 °C), a July summer average of 77.1 °F (25.1 °C) and a January winter average of 38.5 °F (3.6 °C).

|Jan record high F = 78 |Feb record high F = 82 |Mar record high F = 85 |Apr record high F = 89 |May record high F = 92 |Jun record high F = 107 |Jul record high F = 104 |Aug record high F = 103 |Sep record high F = 96 |Oct record high F = 95 |Nov record high F = 85 |Dec record high F = 77 |year record high F = 107 | Jan avg record high F = 67 | Feb avg record high F = 72 | Mar avg record high F = 79 | Apr avg record high F = 85 | May avg record high F = 88 | Jun avg record high F = 93 | Jul avg record high F = 94 | Aug avg record high F = 93 | Sep avg record high F = 90 | Oct avg record high F = 84 | Nov avg record high F = 76 | Dec avg record high F = 70 | year avg record high F = 96 | Jan avg record low F = 11 | Feb avg record low F = 16 | Mar avg record low F = 23 | Apr avg record low F = 32 | May avg record low F = 42 | Jun avg record low F = 55 | Jul avg record low F = 59 | Aug avg record low F = 59 | Sep avg record low F = 48 | Oct avg record low F = 33 | Nov avg record low F = 23 | Dec avg record low F = 18 | year avg record low F = 9 |Jan record low F = -1 |Feb record low F = 3 |Mar record low F = 15 |Apr record low F = 22 |May record low F = 35 |Jun record low F = 50 |Jul record low F = 55 |Aug record low F = 52 |Sep record low F = 41 |Oct record low F = 27 |Nov record low F = 15 |Dec record low F = 4 |year record low F = -1 | access-date = November 1, 2025}}

References

References

1. {{GNIS. 1299773
2. Tennessee State Parks, [http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/brochures/pdf/rockisland.pdf Rock Island State Park official park brochure]. Retrieved: 29 January 2009. PDF.
3. Arthur Crouch, ''The Caney Fork of the Cumberland: The Story of a River, Its History, Features, Moods, People and Places with Particular Reference to Rock Island and the Area Above Great Falls'' (Nashville, Tenn.: Crouch, 1973), 2–3.
4. J.G.M. Ramsey, ''The Annals of Tennessee'' (Johnson City, Tennessee: Tennessee Overmountain Press, 1999), 606.
5. Crouch, ''The Caney Fork of the Cumberland'', 3–5.
6. Historical Marker.
7. Goodspeed's History of Tennessee, County Histories, The Goodspeed Publishing Co., Nashville TN, 1886-1887, History of Warren County, transcribed by Fred Clark.
8. https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/global/climate-zones/jetstream-max-addition-k-ppen-geiger-climate-subdivisions
9. https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=ohx
10. https://open.oregonstate.education/permaculturedesign/chapter/climate-classification-systems/