South Pittsburg, TN news and local guide

In the mid-1870s British investors formed the Southern States Coal, Iron and Land Company and sent James Bowron to find sites in the valley. He chose Whitwell and Victoria for coal and coke, and Battle Creek Mines, with access to both the railroad and the river, as the iron center and commercial hub. On May 23, 1876, the post office was renamed South Pittsburg, in hopes the town would become a great iron center like Pittsburgh. Bowron's death in 1877 and the loss of other company officials stalled the effort, but the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company bought the operation in 1882. In 1886 Nashville banker William Duncan bought the townsite and organized the South Pittsburg City Company, F. P. Clute platted the town, and it was incorporated in 1887 with John G. Kelly as first mayor, as two large blast furnaces and a foundry were completed. Sources Wikipedia: South Pittsburg, Tennessee