Editing Marion County, Tennessee (section)

==History==
Marion County was established in 1817.
In 1779 Cherokee chief [[Dragging Canoe]] moved down the [[Tennessee River]] from [[Chickamauga Creek]] to [[Running Water, Tennessee|Running Water]] creek, and he helped establish the town of [[Nickajack (Cherokee town)|Nickajack]] at the entrance of [[Nickajack Cave]]. In 1794, the town was attacked and burned by militiamen commanded by Colonel James Orr of [[Nashville, Tennessee]]. The town was rebuilt and the Chickamauga Indians continued to live here until 1838, when all of the remaining Indians were removed from Tennessee, [[Alabama]], and [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] by the [[Trail of Tears]].<ref name="MatthewsChattanooga" />

[[File:Hales-bar-dam-lock.jpg|left|thumb|Lock at [[Hales Bar Dam]], 1916]]

During the spring of 1861, early in the [[American Civil War]], Robert Cravens of Chattanooga began mining [[Potassium nitrate|saltpeter]], the main ingredient of [[gunpowder]], at Nickajack Cave. The operation was soon taken over by the Confederate Niter Bureau. At one point, Nickajack Cave was one of the main sources of saltpeter for the [[Confederate States of America]]. However, its operation was halted in late 1862. Nickajack Cave was visited by thousands of soldiers of both side troops, who travelled up and down the [[Tennessee River]] on steamboats.<ref name="MatthewsChattanooga" />

Another important mine during the Civil War was Monteagle Saltpeter Cave, located in Cave Cove, about {{convert|4|mi|km}} southeast of Monteagle. During the war, it was officially referred to as Battle Creek Cave. A 1917 visitor reported that about 25 or 30 old hoppers still remained in the cave.<ref>Marion O. Smith, ''Confederate Niter District Eight: Middle Tennessee & Northwest Georgia'', 2011.</ref>

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, coal and iron mining industries had come to dominate Marion County's economy. Mines operated in Whitwell and Inman, while iron smelters were at South Pittsburg.<ref name="tehc" />

[[Hales Bar Dam]], built on the Tennessee River in Marion County between 1905 and 1913, was one of the first major dams constructed in the United States across a navigable stream. in the 1960s, the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] replaced Hales Bar with [[Nickajack Dam]], further downstream in the 1960s, though the Hales Bar powerhouse still stands as a boathouse.<ref name="tehc" />