Deer Lodge 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 Morgan 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 along Tennessee State Route 329 west-southwest of Sunbright. Deer Lodge has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

with ZIP code 37726, which opened on April 16, 1886. The community was established as a health resort in the 1880s by

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

colonist Abner Ross.

History

Deer Lodge was originally situated around a tract of land acquired by the Davidson family in the early 1800s. In 1845, James Davidson built a grist mill and saw mill on the land. In 1876, Peter Fox purchased the land and attempted to establish a sheep ranch, but was unsuccessful. Deer-Lodge-Congregational-tn2

In 1884, Fox sold the land to Abner Ross, a former

colonist. Ross, who had been the proprietor of Rugby's Tabard Inn, decided to convert the tract into a mountain resort. He constructed a Victorian-style house, Walnut Knoll, which was soon followed by a string of similarly-styled houses built by new residents. He also constructed a printer works, which has since been relocated to Rugby. By the end of the 1890s, Deer Lodge had two hotels (the Mountain View and Summit Park), a newspaper (the ''Southern Enterprise''), a theater, a band, a planing mill, and numerous clubs and civic organizations.Calvin Dickinson, ''Morgan County'' (Memphis State University Press, 1987), pp 49-50, 79. By the mid-20th century, the community had declined, however, as many children and grandchildren of the original settlers moved away.Brian Stagg, "Deer Lodge," ''An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee'' (Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, 1981), pp. 155-157.Barbara Stagg,
Historic Rugby
' (Aracadia Publishing, 2007). The population of Deer Lodge was just 155 in 1930.

Geography

Deer Lodge is located in a remote section of the Cumberland Plateau in western Morgan County. State Route 329 connects the community with U.S. Route 27 and Sunbright to the northeast and the east-west oriented State Route 62 to the south. Beyond SR 62 is the vast Catoosa Wildlife Management Area. Deer Lodge straddles the

Tennessee Valley Divide The Tennessee Valley Divide is the boundary of the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and its tributaries. The Tennessee River drainage basin begins with its tributaries in southwestern Virginia and flows generally west to the confluence of t ...

, with waters in the northern part of the community flowing toward the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River, and waters in the southern half flowing toward the

Obed River Obed River is a stream draining a part of the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. It, and particularly its tributaries, are important streams for whitewater enthusiasts. The Obed River rises in Cumberland County, Tennessee, just south of Crossvi ...

References

External links

* Unincorporated communities in Morgan County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee {{MorganCountyTN-geo-stub