Editing South Pittsburg, Tennessee (section)

==History==

What is now South Pittsburg remained a primarily agrarian area until the construction of a branch line of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad (later the [[Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway]]) into the Sequatchie Valley in the late 1860s.  Small-scale mining operations began during this period.  When a post office was opened in 1869, the community was called Battle Creek Mines.<ref name=lambert>Dennis Lambert, "[http://www.historicsouthpittsburgtn.org/SPHistory1.html The Birth of South Pittsburg, Tennessee]," South Pittsburg Historic Preservation Society website, c. 2004. Retrieved: August 18, 2015.</ref>

In the mid-1870s, several British investors formed the Southern States Coal, Iron and Land Company, in hopes of establishing a major industrial operation in the Sequatchie Valley.  The company dispatched James Bowron to investigate the area for potential town and manufacturing sites.  Bowron chose the [[Whitwell, Tennessee|Whitwell]] and Victoria areas in northwestern Marion County for the company's coal mining and [[coke (fuel)|coke]] production operations, and the Battle Creek Mines area as the company's iron production center and commercial hub.  The latter site was chosen primarily for its immediate access to both the railroad and the [[Tennessee River]].  On May 23, 1876, the name of the Battle Creek Mines post office was changed to "South Pittsburg" in hopes that the city would one day grow to become a great iron manufacturing center like [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]].<ref name=lambert />

The death of Bowron in 1877, along with several other key company officials within a short period of time, halted the Southern States operation.  In 1882, the company was purchased by the [[Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company]] (TCI), which resumed the development of the mining and iron production facilities.  In 1886, the townsite of South Pittsburg was purchased by Nashville banker William Duncan, who helped organize the South Pittsburg City Company in December of that year.  The town was platted by F.P. Clute, and incorporated in 1887 with John G. Kelly as its first mayor.  This revival of the city's development roughly coincided with the completion of two large [[blast furnace]]s and a [[foundry]], allowing large-scale iron production to begin.  South Pittsburg experienced rapid growth in the 1890s, but struggled after TCI relocated to [[Alabama]].<ref name=lambert />

In 1906, the Dixie-Portland Cement Company (later Penn-Dixie) established a cement production center in what was then known as the Deptford area, south of South Pittsburg.  The company hired New York insurance executive Richard Hardy to oversee the development of a company town, which became known as "Richard City" after Hardy.  After becoming president of the company in 1914, Hardy initiated a major expansion project in Richard City.  Many of the town's houses, churches, businesses, and even utility poles were constructed using the company's cement.  The plant operated until 1980, when Penn-Dixie went out of business.  The site was later purchased by [[Vulcan Materials Company|Vulcan Materials]].<ref>Kelly Wilkerson, "[https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1127 Richard City]," ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''.  Retrieved: August 18, 2015.</ref>  Richard City was annexed by South Pittsburg in 1985.<ref>Carroll Van West, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh11WlwYe9wC&dq Tennessee's Historic Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide]'' (University of Tennessee Press, 1995), p. 263.</ref>