Clairfield is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Claiborne County,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, United States. It is located in the upper
Clearfork Valley in the
Cumberland Mountains
The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, southwestern West Virginia, the eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the ...
of northeastern Tennessee. It is the site of a post office, assigned
ZIP code 37715. The population of the
Zip Code Tabulation Area
ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are statistical entities developed by the United States Census Bureau for tabulating summary statistics. These were introduced with the Census 2000 and continued with the 2010 Census and 5 year American Community S ...
corresponding to Clairfield's ZIP code was 1,002 as of the 2000 Census.
History
The Clearfork Valley remained sparsely populated throughout much of the 19th century, due mainly to limited bottomlands along the river for farming, poor soil, and the general isolation of the area. The few who settled in the valley mostly practiced
subsistence farming
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...
. In the years after the Civil War, the farmers living in the valley began selling timber and mining rights to outside entrepreneurs.
During the 1880s, timber entrepreneur
Alexander Arthur
Alexander Alan Arthur (August 30, 1846 – March 4, 1912) was a Scottish-born engineer and entrepreneur active primarily in the southeastern United States in the latter half of the 19th century. Flamboyant, charismatic, and energetic, Arthur u ...
began buying up large amounts of land in the areas around
Cumberland Gap
The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its rol ...
, including much of the Clearfork Valley, with ambitious plans to establish a major industrial center. While Arthur's schemes failed, the completion of a railroad line connecting the Clearfork with
Jellico and
Middlesboro in 1905 opened the valley to major coal mining operations. A string of company towns, including Clairfield, sprang up throughout the valley during this period. By 1910, three companies— King Mountain Coal, New Jellico Coal, and Standard Coal and Coke— were operating
drift mines
Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is above ...
at Clairfield that produced a total of 750 tons of coal per day. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, increased mechanization and the advent of less-labor intensive surface mining led to a decline throughout the Clearfork Valley.
Geography
Clairfield is located in the Clearfork Valley, a very rugged and remote area of northeastern Tennessee. The community occupies a relatively broad hollow along the Clear Fork just east of the Claiborne-
Campbell Campbell may refer to:
People Surname
* Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell
Given name
* Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer
* Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
county line, and south of the Tennessee-
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
state line.
Eagan Eagan may refer to:
People
* Daisy Eagan (born 1979), American actress
* Dennis Eagan (1926–2012), British field hockey player
* Eddie Eagan (1897–1967), American sportsman
* James Eagan (1926-2000), American politician from Missouri
* John J. ...
lies further down the valley to the west, and
Pruden lies at the state line to the northeast.
Tennessee State Route 90
State Route 90 (SR 90) is a state highway in Campbell and Claiborne counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It serves the communities of Morley, White Oak, Eagan and Clairfield in Tennessee, and Pruden at the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.
R ...
is the only major highway in the area.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the Zip Code Tabulation Area that includes Clairfield has a total area of .
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,002 people in the Zip Code Tabulation Area corresponding to Clairfield's ZIP code,
Fact Sheet: Zip Code Tabulation Area 37715
, U.S. Census Bureau with a population density of 14 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the community was 98.8% white non-Hispanic. The median resident age was 35.1 years.
The average household size in 2000 was 2.6 people. The percentage of family households was 77.4%; 39.7% of residents reported 1999 income below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
.
The estimated median household income in 1999 was $16,477 as compared to $38,874 with that of the state. The estimated median price of a house or condominium was $23,400.
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Claiborne County, Tennessee
Unincorporated communities in Tennessee