Brady Mountain
Through a generous land donation and a partnership with the State of Tennessee, TennGreen Land Conservancy protected a significant, 352-acre connection along Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park (the Cumberland Trail).
It’s likely that Brady Mountain was owned by a large land company looking to harvest coal and timber in the late 1800s-early 1900s before the federal government bought it during the Great Depression. With famine and job loss sweeping the country, President Roosevelt’s New Deal created programs to put families back to work and get them back on their feet. One such program was the Cumberland Homesteads, which provided affordable homes and restored hope to the destitute citizens of the Cumberland Plateau.
The federal government acquired Brady Mountain for the purpose of homesteading it and, somewhere along the way, it was acquired by Plateau Properties, Inc. In 2006, Plateau Properties, Inc. donated this 352-acre property to TennGreen Land Conservancy. This generous donation was made in honor of Arthur Harrison, member of the Plateau Properties, Inc. family, and Bob Brown, longtime TennGreen partner and Tennessee conservationist. This gift of land, though coordinated through TennGreen, was received directly by the State of Tennessee to expedite the process. The property includes the historic Salt Peter Cave and overlooks Grassy Cove and the beautiful Cumberland mountains.