Straight Creek runs along the northwest side of Wallen's
Ridge to the Clinch River in Claiborne
County, Tennessee; Bear Creek runs along the other
side of the ridge. Depending upon their exact location
along Straight Creek, residents at one time or another
probably considered themselves residents of Sandlick,
Lone Mountain, Walker's
Ford, or of Straight Creek itself. The U.S. Postal
Service currently includes the area under New Tazewell.
While many of the Walkers were on Bear Creek, some,
including Jacob
Shuff Walker and Isaac
Walker and some of their descendants, lived on Straight
Creek.
As in most of Claiborne County, road names have changed,
especially since the advent of 911 emergency service.
Today, Straight Creek can be reached from Highway 33,
turning onto Lone Mountain Road, although, in earlier
times, that segment of Lone Mountain Road was often
called the Sandlick Road and may have had other names
as well. It can also be reached by turning onto Lone
Mountain Road from US-25E, although the trip is much
longer.
A short distance to the east of the creek is a road
called in modern times Straight Creek Road, although
it has also been known as Upper Straight Creek Road
in the past and perhaps by other names. It does not
actually come near the creek but leads into New Tazewell.
While little of the area was actually flooded when
Norris Dam was built, TVA purchased many lots at the
lower end of the creek which are still owned by the
utility. TVA produced a series of what they call Stage
D maps of the area and the landowners they bought out;
such maps can be purchased through the link at right.
Some notes about the map: Jacob Shuff Walker lived
just to the east of and behind the Straight Creek Church
and is buried on his old property. His brother Isaac
lived on what is called Sandlick Road on this map just
to the west of the area shown on the map. A small portion
of Bear Creek is included, but a more extensive map
of Bear Creek is available.
