Changed By Time: The Olive Hill Community In Tennessee

Abstract

The following work evaluates the impact that state and federally funded highway projects have had, and are continuing to have, on the small rural community of Olive Hill in West Tennessee. Located in Hardin County, Olive Hill's history spans almost two centuries from 1817 to the present and the changes in the community during that period are inextricably linked to the transportation corridor that crosses through it. The history of Olive Hill is connected to each stage of transportation development in the rural South from dirt roads built for horse and wagon to four-lane divided highways built for modern automobiles. During each phase of transportation improvement Olive Hill was affected in both positive and negative ways. However, improvements in modern transportation have been the most detrimental to the community and a current highway project will destroy the community altogether. To preserve this history, the purpose of this thesis is to document the community and place those transportation developments in a historical context.