Editing Orme, Tennessee (section)

==History==
Orme is rooted in a [[coal mining]] community known as Needmore, which was established in the early 1890s.  Mining operations in the valley were slow to develop, however, due to the area's remoteness and lack of adequate means of transportation for the coal. In the late 1890s, Chattanooga businessman Frederick Gates purchased the Needmore mining operations, and began negotiating with the [[Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway]] to build a branch line into the valley.  After some hesitation, this railroad agreed to build the line in 1902.<ref name=lambert>James Dennis Lambert, Jr., "[http://www.historicsouthpittsburgtn.org/OrmeTennesseeHistory1.html Orme, Tennessee, 100th Anniversary: A Centennial View of Her History]," South Pittsburg Historic Preserveration Society website, August 2002. Retrieved: September 25, 2016.</ref>

[[File:Battle-Creek-Mine-entrance-Orme-1912.png|left|210px|thumb|Entrance to a mine at Orme in the early 1910s]]

After negotiating the construction of the branch line, Gates sold the Needmore operation to Richard Orme Campbell (1860&ndash;1912), who renamed the operation the "Campbell Coal and Coke Company".<ref name=lambert />  He renamed the town of Needmore after his son, who was also named Richard Orme Campbell (the name "Orme" was the maiden name of the elder Campbell's mother, Virginia Orme).<ref name=lambert /><ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=B_ApAQAAMAAJ Richard Orme Campbell], ''National Cyclopaedia of American Biography'' (J.T. White, 1916), pp. 175-176.</ref>  Along with mining facilities, Campbell built a commissary, an office building, workers' cottages, schools, and a hotel.  Within a few years, the town had grown to several thousand residents.<ref name=lambert />

Campbell sold the Orme operation in 1905, and the new owners renamed the company, "Battle Creek Coal and Coke Company."  By 1912, the operation consisted of four [[drift mining|drift mines]],<ref name=mcintyre>William McIntyre, Jr., "[https://books.google.com/books?id=2kI6AQAAMAAJ&dq=tennessee+orme&pg=PA237 Battle Creek Mine, Tenn.]," ''Colliery Engineer'', Vol. 33 (December 1912), pp. 237-239.</ref> some reaching high up the walls of the Cumberland Plateau.  Mule-drawn rail cars carried the mined coal to the mine entrances, where it was transferred to a locomotive.  The locomotive then carried the coal to an upper [[tipple]], which in turn transferred it to a lower tipple.  At its height, the mining operation was shipping 1,000 tons of coal per day out of the valley.<ref name=lambert />  The operation was known for its "good coal, inaccessibility, irregular stratification, and consequently difficult mining."<ref name=mcintyre />

Following a miners' strike in 1939, major mining operations in Orme were shut down.  The railroad company removed the rails, and the metal was used for ongoing [[World War II]] efforts.  Afterward, Orme declined.  The hotel closed in 1945, the school closed in 1961, and the post office closed in 1970.<ref name=lambert />  The wooden railroad depot is one of the few buildings remaining from the town's mining heyday.<ref>John Wilson, "[http://www.chattanoogan.com/2014/10/14/286194/Chattanooga-Railroad-Series-Orme-Tn..aspx Chattanooga Railroad Series: Orme, Tn.]," ''The Chattanoogan'', October 14, 2014.</ref>

===2007 drought===
{{Out-of-date|section|date=June 2021}}
In 2007, Orme was one of the hardest-hit communities in the drought-ridden southeastern United States, due to its dependence on two vulnerable water sources: a waterfall-fed creek and a natural spring that delivered up to 60,000 gallons/day (227,000 liters/day).  These sources dried up to only 5,000 gallons/day (19,000 liters/day), not enough to pressurize the supply lines to the town's residents. A temporary solution was arranged whereby a truck would haul water to the town providing enough water to keep the system running for three hours each evening.<ref name="AP">{{Cite web |date=2007-11-01 |title=Town learns to live with water 3 hours a day |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21582319 |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The mayor of Orme, Tony Reames, arranged a permanent solution in the form of a connection to the municipal system of the nearby town of [[Bridgeport, Alabama]].  In his words:  "It's not a short-term solution.  It is THE solution."  The connection would be via a {{convert|2.5|mi|km|adj=on}} pipe between the two towns, paid for by an emergency grant of $377,590 from the [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]]. The project was hoped to be completed by the end of November 2007.<ref name="Bluestein">Bluestein, Greg (November 1, 2007).  Tennessee town has run out of water. ''Charlotte Observer''.  Retrieved from http://www.charlotte.com/nation/story/344047.html on November 1, 2007.</ref>