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Barren Creek Dam Failures

Barren Creek Dam Failures is a Tennessee historical marker in Claiborne County.

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On August 3, 1916, record rainfall caused Thompson's Mill Dam to fail, sending a wall of water down the Barren Creek, that destroyed five other dams and killing 24 person, including three entire families. The Barren Creek Dam failure caused the destruction of hundreds of homes and businesses. Over $750,000 in losses occurred making this the deadliest and most costly disaster in Claiborne County history and the worst dam failure in Tennessee history.

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

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For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

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