Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Copperhill

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Copperhill

Copperhill dates to 1890, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 128 buildings between them. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1920.

1890founded
3on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Copperhill’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Copperhill began

When was Copperhill founded?

1890

Copperhill dates its founding to 1890 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 1,102 in 19202020 census: 443136 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1890.The full story ↓

What stands out about Copperhill’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Copperhill Historic District takes in 74 historic buildings.Old housesHalf of Copperhill’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Copperhill, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 129 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
129
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Copperhill Historic District
Center & Abernathy Store Building, built 1925Copperhill Historic DistrictNewtown Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
Center & Abernathy Store BuildingBuilt 1925
All 3 listings
Copperhill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1992Newtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1992

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Copperhill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Copperhill.

Read it all →

Copperhill is located in a geological region known as the Copper Basin, which was the site of a major copper mining operation between the 1840s and 1987. According to the original border surveying plan, Copperhill (and Ducktown, Tennessee) would have been in North Carolina. In 1819, surveyors were instructed to follow the highest ridges to the Georgia state line. However, at Unicoi Gap surveyors immediately turned south for 15 miles, reportedly because they ran out of liquor and heard there was a moonshine still at the Georgia border.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Copperhill’s post office has been open since 1898. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mc Cays
1890–1908
Isabella
1893–1998
Copperhill
1898–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
NewtownStaffordtown
Gone or out of use
Copperhill Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Copperhill, 1890 to 1998

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890
    FoundingCopperhill is established
  3. 1890Post officeThe Mc Cays post office opens
  4. 1893Post officeThe Isabella post office opens
  5. 1898Post officeThe Copperhill post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906Born hereChad Kimsey is born here
  8. 1908Post officeThe Mc Cays post office closes
  9. 1911Born hereJohnnie Chambers is born here
  10. 1912Born hereElizabeth Hamer Kegan is born here
  11. 1925BuiltCenter & Abernathy Store Building is built
  12. 1934Born hereMary Ellen Epps is born here
  13. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1938In the archiveTennessee Copper Company
  15. 1998Post officeThe Isabella post office closes
By decade

Copperhill, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s16 items
Tennessee Copper Company1938Tennessee Copper CompanyCopper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill), Tenn1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill), T…Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill), Tenn1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill), T…Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill), Tenn1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill), T…Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill), Tenn1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill), T…Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill, Tenn1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill, Te…Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34316v1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34316vCopper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34317v1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34317vCopper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34319v1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34319vCopper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34320v1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34320vCopper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34322v1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant1a34322vCopperhill TN1939Copperhill TNCopper miners' homes. Copperhill, Tennessee1939Copper miners' homes. Copperhill, TennesseeThe homes of copper miners. Copperhill, Tennessee1939The homes of copper miners. Copperhill, TennesseeCopper mining and sulfuric acid plant1939Copper mining and sulfuric acid plantCopper mining and sulphuric acid plant. Copperhill, Tennessee1939Copper mining and sulphuric acid plant. Copperhill, T…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Copperhill on the map, 1935 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Copperhill. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Copperhill on the 1935 USGS mapCopperhill on the 1941 USGS mapCopperhill on the 1973 USGS map1935Mineral Bluff sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Copperhill.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Tennessee Copper Company
Retake this viewTennessee Copper Company, 1938

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Copperhill’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Copperhill, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,102

Between 354 and 1,102 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Copperhill’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Copperhill

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Elizabeth Hamer KeganAmerican archivist and historian · b. 1912
J
Johnnie ChambersAmerican baseball player · b. 1911
C
Chad KimseyAmerican baseball player · b. 1906
M
Mary Ellen EppsAmerican politician · b. 1934
Joel EavesAmerican football player · b. 1914
Help out

Finish Copperhill’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTennessee Copper Company: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Copperhill’s history

What year was Copperhill founded?

In 1890, according to Wikidata. Copperhill’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1920 counted 1,102 people here.

What is on the National Register in Copperhill?

Three places: the Center & Abernathy Store Building (listed 1992), the Copperhill Historic District (1992) and the Newtown Historic District (1992).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.