Helenwood
Helenwood is an unincorporated community in central Scott County. It was once an important station and town along the Southern Railroad, and was populated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as coal was mined nearby. Once the coal ran out, however, Helenwood was slowly bypassed by the growing towns of Huntsville and Oneida. In 1997, an attempt to incorporate the community was struck down by a court.
The Helenwood depot was the site of the murder of Sam Young Parker in 1907, and the town was the site of a number of other murders in the late 1800s and early 1900s, developing a reputation as a rough-and-tumble saloon town.
In the 1930s, much of the town was destroyed by a dynamite blast.
See Also: Communities of Scott County
Geography & Demographics
Helenwood is the central-most community in Scott County. It was once one of the largest towns in Scott County, after the construction of the Cincinnati & Southern Railroad in the late 1870s. There was a depot and railroad siding located there, and the town sprang up around it.
With time, Helenwood came to refer to the larger geographic area served by the Helenwood Post Office (zip code 37755), which included everything south of Oneida, west of Huntsville, north of Robbins, and east of Allardt.
Today, the geographic area covered by the 37755 zip code is significantly smaller than Oneida, Huntsville, or Robbins, covering 37.92 square miles with a population of 3,567 people, or 94 people per square mile. By comparison, Robbins to the south (37852) covers 104.77 square miles, with a population density of only 25 people per square mile. Huntsville covers 118.22 miles, and Oneida covers 147.31 miles.
Helenwood is part of Scott County’s 4th civil district.
The median household income in Helenwood is $46,563, and the median home value is $111,300.
Helenwood almost became Scott County’s fourth incorporated town in the 1990s, but a court battle against it was successful. (More on that below.) Today, all of Helenwood’s territory along the U.S. Highway 27 corridor is part of the urban growth boundary of either Huntsville or Oneida. The city limits of Huntsville actually includes most of the old town of Helenwood, running along Helenwood Main Street to Helenwood Detour Road, then north along Helenwood Detour Road to the Mid-County Industrial Park, then north along the Norfolk-Southern Railroad to near Airport Road. The industrial park itself is not a part of Huntsville.
Therefore, some areas discussed in this article are actually part of the Town of Huntsville today.
Helenwood is drained by Phillips Creek, which has headwaters along the railroad north of town and runs through the center of what was once the town of Helenwood, eventually draining into New River just south of the U.S. Highway 27 bridge. The West Branch of Phillips Creek is dammed to form what is commonly called the Stump Pond along Helenwood Loop Road.
Traditionally, before the modern highway system was developed, a pike ran from Huntsville to Helenwood. Today, portions of that road remain as West Monticello Pike and East Monticello Pike. It was largely replaced with the construction of S.R. 63. Another road traveled northeast along Sulphur Creek to Paint Rock. Today, this road is called Sulphur Creek Road. It still follows the original route, crossing U.S. Highway 27 and eventually intersecting with Main Street at Firefly Lane. From the railroad depot, a main road continued west to Silcox Ford at New River, where horses and wagons crossed the river and continued on to Grassy Knob near Robbins. Another main road left the depot and followed the railroad north toward Oneida. That road is today called Helenwood Detour Road. It was replaced with the construction of U.S. Highway 27 in the 1920s. However, the main method of travel between Helenwood and Oneida was train until the last few years before U.S. 27 was built.
Business & Commerce
Helenwood has long played a key role in the industrial success of Scott County, dating back to the 1880s, when coal was discovered in the Sulphur Creek area east of town. A railroad spur was built into the Sulphur Creek area to accommodate mining efforts. During those early days, Helenwood was particularly famous — or infamous — for its saloons.
In the 1980s, Helenwood became the location of Cumberland Wood Products, which made wooden reels. Cumberland Wood remains today at the Mid-County Industrial Park, though it is no longer the major employer it once was. Also located at the industrial park is Takahata Precision Tennessee, a factory that makes precision-molded auto parts and more. It has grown to become one of the largest employers in Scott County. Next-door, Container Technologies Industries Inc. makes nuclear waste containers. Down the road is Scandia USA, which makes baler belts and other sheet rubber products, TM Hardwoods LLC, and BT Belting Inc.
Helenwood was also home to Twin K Construction for a short period of time, located in the former Haliburton building on Helenwood’s north side. However, that property is now for sale.
Along the highway is Helenwood Foods and Perdue’s Shell, though both are now located within the Town of Huntsville. Citizens Gas Utility District’s headquarters are also located in what was once Helenwood, now Huntsville. Brawner’s Scrap Yard is located next-door to Helenwood Foods, and J&W Tire and Service Center is located on the other side.
R&J Produce, which got its start as a roadside produce truck in the 1980s before later building a permanent location, is another business on the U.S. 27 corridor that now falls within the Town of Huntsville. So, too, are Twenty-Seven Supply, a hardware store, and Pappy’s Peddler’s Mall.
Churches
The primary church in Helenwood is Helenwood Baptist Church, which was established in December 1906 by a delegation from Pine Creek United Baptist Church. Prior to 1906, Baptists met in the town’s schoolhouse. Helenwood also has the St. Jude Catholic Church. Remarkably, for a county with almost 100 churches, those are the only two churches located in Helenwood. Traditionally, there was a Presbyterian church located in Helenwood, dating back to the early 1880s, but it disbanded in the mid 1900s.
Schools
The first school in Helenwood, called The Helenwood School, was built in the 1890s. A larger school was built in 1912, and the original school was sold to Helenwood Baptist Church for $50. It was used until the current church building was constructed in 1947.
Helenwood was also home to the Treat School for Boys, which was established by Edward and Wilma Treat in 1910 and housed in the defunct Campbell Coal Co. buildings. It operated until 1917 and had a summer campus at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
There were also outlying schools at Sulphur Springs and Blaze Gum, as well as a school at Cherry Fork.
Today, students from Helenwood are served by Huntsville Elementary School, Huntsville Middle School, and Scott High School.
Post Offices
The first post office in the Helenwood area was established in March 1877 and called Parch Corn. Calvin C. Terry was the postmaster. It closed in January 1892 and merged with the Helenwood Post Office. The last postmaster was Lorenzo D. Marcum.
The Helenwood Post Office opened in 1880 and remains in operation today. Writing for the FNB Chronicle, Kathleen West Pennington said that the post office started in the office of Dr. Newman in March 1880, with Alvin Parker serving as postmaster.
The Chambers Post Office opened in February 1885. J.C. Parker was the postmaster for nine days, then Francis M. Chambers was named postmaster. It closed in November 1886.
Origins
Helenwood began as Homestead in 1859. The town was surveyed on July 27, 1859, and laid out in 50-ft. by 200-ft. lots, according to Kathleen West Robbins, writing for the FNB Chronicle in 1991. She wrote that 90 of those lots were sold. The plots contained a spot for a school, a church, and a town square.
It was about this time that Helenwood Cut Cemetery was created. The first burial there occurred in 1855, and it was not called Helenwood Cut until later (so named because the railroad, built adjacent to the cemetery in the 1870s, cut through the hill).
Although plans were made for the town well before the railroad, little is known about Homestead, and there is no record of anything noteworthy occurring there during the Civil War, which caused hardship in most other parts of Scott County, including No Business, Brimstone, Buffalo, Jellico Creek, Winfield, and elsewhere.
With the opening of the railroad in 1880, things changed. Helenwood quickly grew from a siding to a depot and a fledging town, with stores and saloons. The town’s post office opened in 1880, the first store — owned by Ike Shoemaker — also opened in 1880, and the town began to be called Helenwood. This new town had Scott County’s first newspaper: The Scott County Call.
It isn’t clear where the name came from. The National Park Service says that the name stuck after a dynamite explosion destroyed part of the town in 1935. However, newspaper records show it was called Helenwood as far back as 1881. Robbins offers competing theories: a Captain Wood had a daughter named Helen, and that it took its name from the saloon days (“Hell In The Woods”).
The earliest newspaper record of the name Helenwood is Dec. 25, 1881, when the Chattanooga Daily Times reported on the opening salvo of the Cecil-West-Smith Feud.
The first coal mines at Sulphur Creek opened in 1881, and were owned by Jim and John Pemberton. The Pemberton brothers sold to Fry & Co., which became Campbell Coal Company. There were as many as 40 company houses, and a railroad spur was built along Sulphur Creek to the mines, departing the Cincinnati & Southern in a “Y” across from where Cumberland Wood Products is now located.
The Helenwood Presbyterian Church organized in 1883. The Baptists were meeting in the town’s school at the time. It was in 1906 that Helenwood Baptist Church was officially organized. The charter members were L.D. West, Ruth Wilder, John Moore, Denton Owens, and Alba Robbins. The first pastor was R.D. Ellis.
In 1912, a new three-room school was constructed just east of the existing school, which was sold to Helenwood Baptist Church for $50. It was used as the church until 1946, when a new church began to be built. It was completed in 1950. The Presbyterian church was later torn down, as well.
The mines continued into the 1900s, which was near the end of the Helenwood heyday. The mines were reopened in the 1910s by Church Pemberton, James Baker, and other business partners, who founded the Ridgeway Sprinkle Co. After World War I, in 1919, there were still more than 150 miners working at the mines. The mines closed for good in the 1920s.
A dynamite blast destroyed part of the town on April 5, 1935. A warehouse where the dynamite was being stored, the old company store, the Masonic hall, and at least eight houses were destroyed. The dynamite was ignited by a fire, which alerted the townspeople to the impending disaster and caused them to flee and avoid injury.
The Treat School for Boys, founded by Edward and Wilma Treat, began in 1910 and was housed in buildings formerly owned by the Campbell Coal Company.
Today, none of the original commercial buildings remain in Helenwood. The railroad still runs through what was once the old town, but trains do not stop there anymore. The depot has long since been torn down. Just about the only trace of Helenwood is the Cut Cemetery on the outskirts of town, and Main Street, which runs from U.S. 27 to the railroad.
First Families
Some of the early families of Helenwood include the the Reeds, the McDonalds, the Keetons, the Sextons, Wests, and Cecils.
The Sexton family
Although it would be close to impossible to pinpoint who the first person was to settle in the area that would become Helenwood, among the first were the family of Robert “Robin” Sexton (1809-1885) and his wife, Salina Keeton (1817-1855).
Sexton was the son of Timothy Sexton Jr. (1783-1850). His mother is reported to be Nancy Ellis, 1800-1860. However, this would be extremely unlikely, as Nancy would have been only nine years old at the time of her son’s birth. Sexton was the grandson of Revolutionary War veteran Timothy Sexton Sr. of Brimstone.
Robin Sexton and his wife had several children, including Emmanuel, Artema West, Rebecca West, Christopher Columbus, Malissan West, Marion, and Martha Crain. Following Saline’s death in 1855, Robin remarried to Elizabeth Newport in 1864, and had several more children: Sylvania Petre, Ellana Phillips, Emley Bryant, and Simeon.
The Keeton family
Salina Keeton (1817-1855), wife of Robin Sexton and believed to be the first person buried at Helenwood Cut, was the daughter of William Keeton Jr. and Artema Stevens (1786-1850).
The Keetons settled along Phillips Creek north of what is now Helenwood, eventually spreading to the area around Scott County Airport and to Tunnel Hill, when one of them (Baty Keeton) married into the Carson family that lived there.
William Keeton Jr. (1786-1850) was the son of William Keeton (1758-1813) and Salina “Lina” Green (1764-1820) of Virginia. He and his wife migrated from Virginia to Tennessee after their marriage.
Salina Keeton Sexton had a brother named Harrison Keeton (1818-1880) married Elizabeth J. Reed (1818-1870) and they had as many as 12 children. It was Harrison who settled on Phillips Creek. He was the father of Baty Keeton, of Tunnel Hill.
The Keeton family still lives in Helenwood today. A road across the railroad from Helenwood Main Street is named Keeton Lane. Rick Keeton, a former mayor of Scott County, grew up there.
The Reed family
Elizabeth J. Reed (1818-1870), wife of Harrison Keeton, was the daughter of Isaac Reed (1790-1854) and Phariba Hatfield (1795-1865). The Reed family would eventually become quite prominent in the New River community to the south, but Elizabeth was born in Helenwood.
Isaac Reed was originally from South Carolina, the son of John R. Reed Sr. and Nancy Morris. John and Nancy moved to the Demory area of Campbell County, east of LaFollette, in the late 1700s. Phariba, Isaac’s wife, was the daughter of Joseph Hatfield (1740-1832) and Rachel Smith (1758-1858). Joseph Hatfield was a Revolutionary War veteran who moved to present-day Scott County in the early 1800s and settled on Brimstone Creek. Isaac’s father was also a Revolutionary War veteran, though he never lived in Scott County.
Isaac and Phariba were married in 1810 in Campbell County, and they had 15 children.
The McDonald family
Elihu McDonald (1852-1907) lived at Helenwood by the 1880s. He was the son of James McDonald (1813-1863), one of the many Scott Countians captured by Confederate forces at the Battle of Rogersville in 1863 who later died in a rebel prison. James McDonald was the son of Revolutionary War veteran James McDonald (1758-1848), who moved to Winona after the war.
Elihu married Martha E. Ramsey (1861-1918) in 1876.
It’s not clear where James McDonald — who married Malinda Lawson — lived before enlisting in the Union army. If he did not live in Helenwood, Elihu may have been the first McDonald to live in the town, after the Civil War.
The Cecils
There is no name any more synonymous with Helenwood today than the Cecil family. James Timothy Cecil (1805-1871) married Phariba Reed (1810-1881), another of the daughters of Isaac Reed and Phariba Hatfield. James Cecil moved from Kentucky to Tennessee and settled in the Helenwood area.
Virgil Cecil, James and Phariba’s great-grandson, served as pastor of Helenwood Baptist Church from 1937 until 1974. His son, Milford Cecil, later pastored the church for 10 years before leaving to take the same role at Paint Rock Baptist Church. When Milford left, his brother, Roger Cecil, took the pastorship and pastored for 33 years until his declining health forced him to retire. Together, Virgil Cecil and his sons pastored Helenwood for an astounding 80 years.
Virgil Cecil’s father, Reuben Churchwell “Rube” Cecil, was also a preacher. And Rube’s brother, George Washington Cecil, was one of the most prominent preachers in Scott County’s history. He was the first pastor of First Baptist Church of Oneida, and preached the funeral of Mike King, the only Scott Countian to ever be legally hanged, from the gallows in Huntsville.
The Cecils were also at the center of the tragic Cecil-West-Smith Feud that began on Christmas Eve in 1881 at one of Helenwood’s saloons. Seventeen-year-old John Wesley Cecil — brother to preachers Rube and George W. Cecil — was shot and killed by his uncle, Robinson Crusoe West. The Cecil family, led by John Wesley Cecil’s father, William Cecil, avenged his death by killing Crusoe West. But John Wesley’s 24-year-old brother, Reason Burl Cecil, was killed in the melee.
Later, in 1883, another branch of the family, the Smiths, killed John Wesley’s 27-year-old brother, William Riley Cecil Jr., and badly wounded William Cecil, who survived.
Following Riley’s death, his wife, Lucinda Thomas, remarried to Maynard Harrison Keeton.
The West family
Nancy Williams West Cecil (1833-1900), the wife of William Cecil and the mother of John Wesley, Riley, Rube, George, and at least nine other children, was the daughter of Reuben West (1810-1883) and Emily Clemons (1811-1872). Robinson Crusoe West was her brother. She and William Cecil married in 1848.
Reuben West was the son of Charles P. West(1778-1860) and Sarah “Sally” Phillips (1788-1860). He first married Emily Clemons, and later married Elizabeth “Betty” Ellis. He and Emily had at least eight children.
Charles West and Sally Phillips were married in 1803 in Greene County, Tenn. They had at least nine children, including Reuben.
The Phillips family
Remember that the main stream through Huntsville was named Phillips Creek. The Keeton family settled on this stream. It was named for Thomas Phillips (1768-1841) and Mary Goad, the parents of Sally Phillips, who married Charles West.
Thomas Phillips was originally from Virginia but moved to Tennessee. His father was Revolutionary War veteran William Tobias Phillips. Thomas came to Tennessee with a brother, Joseph Phillips, who married Elizabeth Lawson — daughter of Revolutionary War veteran Randolph Lawson — and settled on Paint Rock Creek, and his father-in-law, Revolutionary War veteran Abraham Goad.
Major Historical Events
Helenwood was the site of several murders during its heyday. According to a list compiled by James B. Phillips and given to Critt Phillips in the 1950s (and later provided to James Toomey Baker, who provided it to Don C. Stansberry Jr.), the following murders took place in Helenwood:
• Jake Daniel, a bartender, was killed by John Terry in Strunk’s Saloon.
• John T. Pemberton killed John Paul.
• William Washington Cecil killed Jerry West.
• Jim Phillips killed As Byrd.
• Ticket Wes Owens killed Jim Phillips in Walker’s Saloon.
• Harvey Phillips cut Jim Phillips’ throat the same day Jim was killed.
• Fount Phillips killed a black man at the railroad crossing — “shot him in back just to see him jump.” Phillips was a law enforcement officer and the black man was a “strike breaker” at Robbins.
• Charlie Davis killed Jim Hammock on July 4, 1922, behind the railroad depot. Davis was later killed at Stearns, Ky. by Windy Marion Phillips, who died in prison.
• Alfred Cecil was killed in a field while plowing.
• Dave Hill was killed by an unknown person.
• Henry Potter and Alvin Parker killed an unknown man in a saloon. He was buried in a creek across from the spring in about 1880.
• The Cecil-West-Smith Feud of 1881-1883 involved the deaths of John Wesley Cecil by Crusoe West, Burl Cecil by Crusoe West, Crusoe West by several members of the Cecil family, and Riley Cecil by several members of the Smith family.
• Dan Toomey killed Louis Sexton on July 4, 1888, in Strunk’s Saloon. Dan was later killed by his brother, Jim Toomey, in Glenmary.
• John Potter killed his son-in-law, Alvin Parker, by shooting him from an upstairs window about 1890.
• John David killed Andy Adkins and “a Newport man” in Pemberton’s saloon.
• John David, Frank Hughett, and Hughett’s wife killed Louis and Jim Pemberton in front of the depot.
• Albert Hurtt killed Bill Walker.
• Scott Keeton killed Maynard Cecil.
• Press Wilder killed Fowler Keeton.
• Carl Waters killed a man named Wilson.
• Lindsay Phillips killed “a Keeton boy.”
• Lige Taver was killed by an unknown person.
• Judge James Fulton killed Sam Parker on the railroad depot. Fulton was later killed by a newspaper editor.
• Hobert Phillips killed Caney Brown.
• Mitchell Phillips killed Fount Phillips.
• A “Reed boy” killed Roebuck Phillips with “bolt on stick.”
• Earl Claxton killed Harry Foster.
On March 3, 1925, a passenger train derailed at Helenwood, killing two people as the train was being moved to a side rail.
On Jan. 24, 1931, a passenger train — the Suwanee River Special — derailed just south of Helenwood, killing three passengers and two crew members, while injuring 10 others.
On April 5, 1935, a dynamite explosion destroyed several of the buildings in town. No one was injured.
Helenwood was also home to the “Scott County Devil” in the 1920s.