1889 DESCRIPTION OF PINEVILLE & A GLANCE INTO THE FUTURE

Mountain Traveler Tells of Railways Pushing Along Into Undeveloped Lands

A Traveler's Letter From Pineville

July, 1889 (Kentucky Leader)

A great deal has been written about Pineville in the last year or two, and when on comes into it for the first time he is apt to be disappointed at not seeing more of a city than meets his gaze.  It is reached by the Cumberland Valley divisions of the Louisville and Nashville, Railroad, which leaves the Knoxville branch at Cubia and runs down the Cumberland Valley.

The scenery is lovely, the further you go the more mountainous the country is, until you reach Pineville where mountains 1,200 or 1,800 feet high surround you on all sides.  The town is situated on both sides of the Cumberland River, whish is bridged in several places by handsome and substantial iron bridges.  It is the county seat of Bell County and a handsome new courthouse has just been finished and is almost ready for occupation.

The L and N will in two or three weeks be running trains through to Cumberland Gap, connecting there with the Louisville, Cumberland Gap and Knoxville Road, owned by an English syndicate, and L and N has let the contract for a road from Cumberland Gap to Big Stone Gap, there to connect with the Norfolk and Western; the work on this will be rapidly pushed to completion.  When the very long tunnel under the Cumberland Mountains at the Gap is completed, it is thought that the L and N will run their trains through to Knoxville by this route instead of connecting at Jellico with the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia.

A road of twenty-eight miles from Cumberland Gap to Morristown would give a direct line to the seaboard and a company has been formed to build it.  In addition to this, other roads are determined on, and still others in contemplation, which will radiate from the Gap. 

NOW FOR PINEVILLE ITSELF

The most important thing for a visitor is the hotels.  There are four hotels and any number of restaurants, which have the tempting signs "Bluegrass Restaurant, " "Old Kentucky Home, " etc., before their doors. Decidedly the best hotel in the place is the Pineville Hotel, built by a Louisville company and managed by Mr. B.F. Wilson.  It cost $25,000 to build and is a handsome building, well furnished with all modern conveniences. The table is first-rate. There are five churches, two Methodist and one Catholic Church already built and a Presbyterian Church under contract. 

The town has also four sawmills, two planing mills, two banks, one newspaper, fifteen stores, three brick yards, two livery stables, all of which are kept busy all the time. In addition to the common school system, there is a high school under the management of Prof. J.D. Pearce for ten months in the year, Mr. J. H. Allen, formerly of the Loughmone mines in Virginia, now the manager of the coking ovens here, says this is the best and purest coking coal he has ever seen. The mountains are covered with hard wood timber of all kinds and are full of pure cannel and stone coal and iron ore.  With the natural advantages it has, aided by the push and energy of its enterprising citizens, there is no reason why Pineville should not become a great mining center.

Apart from its values as a commercial town Pineville will become noted as a summer resort; the mountains are not only full of coal and iron, but they are extremely picturesque and beautiful, and their great height prevents Pineville from suffering the intense heat so trying in the more level countries. 

Three or four miles from the city is the Clark Creek Springs, whose waters are excellent.  I shall be able to tell  more of them after a visit to them.  The Cumberland River affords and excellent opportunity for fishing, boating and bathing.  I am about to close my letter without criticizing the narrowness of the street or mentioning the excellent system of waterworks the town has. 

I had the pleasure of meeting this morning Captain W. M. Bingham, who was one of the first settlers here in 1869, and who represented this county in the Legislature, and to him I am indebted for much of my information.  He is an ardent believer in a brilliant future for Pineville.

T. W. S.

Source:  Kentucky Explorer   August 1989