Chuckey is anunincorporated community inGreene County, Tennessee.[1] It is located on theNolichucky River, from which its name is derived. The community is the site of apost office and is assignedzip code 37641.
The defunctEast Tennessee and Virginia Railroad formerly had astation in Chuckey.[2] The current brick train depot, built by theSouthern Railway in 1906,[2] is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. Several farms in Chuckey that date from the community's earliest settlement in the 18th century are included in theEarnest Farms Historic District, also listed on the National Register. Just past the Earnest Farms Historic District sits an imposing ell-shaped brick mansion known as "Glaze Hall", built 1843–1849 by Lawrence Glaze Jr.(1784–1849). The house sits on a rise overlooking the Nolichucky River, within sight of the old Smith Bridge.[3] The bricks used to construct the mansion were all hand-fired on the farm. Both Lawrence Glaze Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth, died from an illness in 1849 before the house was to be completed.[3]
In the 1890s and early 1900s, Chuckey was home to aviation pioneerEdward Chalmers Huffaker (1856–1937). Trained as an engineer, Huffaker's 1895 paper, "The Value of Curved Surfaces in Flight," gained the attention of aviation enthusiastOctave Chanute, who helped Huffaker secure employment at theSmithsonian Institution. Huffaker worked with theWright brothers atKitty Hawk in 1901, but left after only one month due to consistent disagreement.[4][5]
The first U.S.truffle orchard to successfully produce commercial quantities of culinary-quality black Périgord truffles is located in Chuckey. Tom Michaels, who had written aPh.D. thesis on truffle cultivation, started cultivating truffles in the area in 2000 after observing that the area'slimestone soil was similar to the soil of thePérigord region ofFrance, where black truffles are native.[2][6] In 2007, the first year that truffles were harvested from the orchard, it included 2,500hazelnut trees growing on 20 acres (8.1 hectares) of land. thirty pounds (14 kilograms) of truffles were produced in the first year.[7]
Chuckey Elementary School is located in Chuckey.
Chuckey-Doak Middle School and Chuckey-Doak High School are the feeder schools for Chuckey Elementary. They are both located in nearbyAfton.
36°12′57″N82°41′18″W / 36.215937°N 82.688207°W /36.215937; -82.688207
Municipalities and communities ofGreene County, Tennessee,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |