LEFT PAGE — “One Hundred Years’ Growth at Cleveland” By John Morgan Wooten, Bradley County Historian

First Settlers Located There 100 Years Ago Site Selected on Account of Fine Springs — Named for Revolutionary Hero.

Stage Coach Stop

Growth of Bradley County Seat Has Been Steady.

Cleveland, Tenn. — One hundred years ago, 1836, the first permanent white settlement was made at the present location of Cleveland, Tenn.

Previous to this date a white man by the name of Andrew Taylor, who had married an Indian wife and was allowed a reservation in the Indian county, had built a log house on the lot now occupied by the post office and was living there when the treaty of removal was made with the Cherokee Indians.

The location was known to first settlers as “Taylor’s Place” and the location soon became a favorite stopping place for emigrants and prospectors on account of the many springs in the vicinity.

Springs Determined Location.

The first consideration of a homeseeker was a spring of flowing water. The friendly attitude of Andrew Taylor toward new settlers together with the numerous springs in the vicinity of his reservation attracted many settlers, and it soon became the largest and most important colony of the Ocoee district.

So, when the first county court met on the first Monday in May, 1836, to call an election to select a permanent seat of justice for the new county of Bradley, “Taylor’s Place” was one of two places nominated. The other place was three miles east on the reservation of a wealthy Indian, Deer-in-the-Water. The location is on the present Cleveland-Benton Pike, where B. L. Finnel now lives.

The Hiwassee Railroad Company had surveyed its line of road from Dalton, Ga., to Knoxville, Tenn., through this reservation, and the road bed had been partly graded and wood stringers for the track delivered. The railroad company assured the voters a railroad depot would be built at this point and emphasised the importance of having the county seat on the railroad.

The large colony that had formed at “Taylor’s Place” countered with the argument that water was of more importance to a town than a railroad. They correctly contended that the first consideration of a homeseeker was a spring of flowing water.

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So when the first county court met on the first Monday in May, 1836, to call an election to select a permanent seat of justice for the new county of Bradley, “Taylor’s Place” was one of two places nominated…

Child Named Before Birth

The legislative act erecting Bradley County, Feb. 10, 1836, designated that the county seat when established should be called Cleveland, in honor of Col. Benjamin Cleveland of North Carolina, a Revolutionary hero. The name of the county seat would be Cleveland, regardless of where located. The name was given by the legislature before the location was selected.

Col. Benjamin Cleveland, for whom [continues onto next page]

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RIGHT PAGE

[Photo caption:] Bradley County’s beautiful courthouse, located in the center of Cleveland, was erected in 1892. It is the third to be built on the site, the first being constructed of logs. Right, scene on Ocoee Street, Cleveland’s chief business street. The new Cherokee Hotel is seen in the background.

[Text continues below photo:]

…at the proposed location on Deer-in-the-Water’s reservation there was but one small spring, and to dig wells at that time was expensive and unsatisfactory, while at Taylor’s Place there were many large springs and flowing water to supply a large city for all purposes.

This argument prevailed and the present location of Cleveland won over Deer-in-the-Water by one vote.

As the town would not move to the railroad, the railroad moved to the town and the old road bed through that section was abandoned, a new survey was made routing it through the new county seat.

While the original survey of the road was made in 1836 the line was not completed until 1851, when the first train pulled into Cleveland.

Child Named Before Birth

The legislative act erecting Bradley County, Feb. 10, 1836, designated that the county seat when established should be called Cleveland, in honor of Col. Benjamin Cleveland of North Carolina, a Revolutionary hero. The name of the county seat would be Cleveland, regardless of where located. The name was given by the legislature before the location was selected.

Col. Benjamin Cleveland, for whom the county seat was named, was a noted officer in the Revolutionary War. He commanded a company at the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780 — one of the decisive battles of the Revolution.