Shellsford is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Warren County, Tennessee Warren County is a County (United States), county located on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of the United States of America, U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census ...

, in the United States. It lies west of Cardwell Mountain, roughly along the path of Old Shellsford Road and Shellsford Highway, and mostly south of the

Collins River The Collins River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of t ...

History

A post office was established in 1880 as "Meadville" but the name was changed later that year to Shells, then Shellsford, and remained open until 1904. It was named after local settler Christian (or James) Shell who built a grist mill at a ford in the river. The Shellsford Baptist Church, formed in 1810, is the oldest active congregation in Warren County and was once named "Buck Springs" after a local spring noted for easy deer hunting. It was a stop for Cherokees along the Trail of Tears. During the late 1800s the Mead & DeBard saw & grist mills at Shellsford were some of the largest employers in the Collins River Valley. It closed around the time of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The community used to host haywagon parties and guided excursions in Higginbotham Cave (now

Cumberland Caverns Cumberland Caverns is a national natural landmark and show cave located in McMinnville, Tennessee. It is the third longest cave in Tennessee and the 24th longest cave in the United States. History The caverns' main entrance was discovered by Aa ...

) during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

References

Unincorporated communities in Warren County, Tennessee {{WarrenCountyTN-geo-stub