Rankin Community, TN: Southern Coal Tower

(Satellite)

Jack Teague posted

The Rankin Tipple aka Coal Tower aka Coal Chute: was built in 1925. The Coaling Station is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. This coaling station was called Leadville Station. Information was taken from Rankin Bottoms Recreation Area web site.

It was one of very few remaining tipples; most were demolished by the railroad companies when diesel replaced steam in the 50s.

Mike Walker shared

Michael Sledjeski via TennesseeRiverValleyGeoTourism, YallVisitTheSmokies and EastTNvacations

A feature of this wilderness area is that the river bottoms are allowed to flood several months of the year. I tried using Global Earth to find a satellite image during the Spring or Summer when the bottom lands are flooded. The good news is that it had every year from 1984 to 2020. I've never seen such good coverage. The bad news is that they were all in December, which is probably one of the driest months of the year.