Station Camp
Station Camp is an unincorporated community in western Scott County, located along Station Camp Road and Williams Creek Road just outside the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. It is not to be confused with the former settlement of Station Camp Creek, which was located inside what is now the Big South Fork NRRA. Station Camp Road ends at Station Camp Ford on the Big South Fork River, which was formerly used as a river crossing to reach the Station Camp Creek community on the west side of the river.
See Also: Communities of Scott County
Geography
The Station Camp community is located along the ridgetop that separates the Big South Fork River and Williams Creek. Areas to the north of Station Camp Road are drained by Williams Creek, which empties into the Big South Fork River near the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Areas to the south of Station Camp Road are drained by several different streams that empty into the Big South Fork River between John Hawk Smith Place and Station Camp Ford.
Station Camp is part of the 37841 (Oneida) zip code. It is bordered by the Big South Fork NRRA on two sides, by Foster Crossroads and Grave Hill to the north, and the Black Oak and Coopertown communities to the east.
Business & Commerce
The only significant business located at Station Camp is Williams Creek Resort, a cabin rental company. Historically, there was a small store — Terry & Terry Store — located at the intersection of Leatherwood Road and Station Camp Road. It closed in the early 2000s.
Schools
Historically, the children of the Station Camp community were served by the Williams Creek School. Children at the west end of Station Camp would cross the Big South Fork River to attend Station Camp School on Station Camp Creek.
Today, Burchfield School (K-8) and Scott High School (9-12) serve the community.
Churches
Bethalonia United Baptist Church is the only church located in the Station Camp community. Black Oak Baptist Church is nearby.
Origins
Historically, the first settlers in this area made their homes in the creek bottoms, where the soil was richer and better suited for farming. This gave rise to settlements at Station Camp, Parch Corn and No Business, all of which are now part of the Big South Fork NRRA.
In time, settlement moved to the top of the plateau, in places like Black Oak and Station Camp.
Station Camp was located on the original Monticello Road, which connected Huntsville to Monticello, Ky. This old road provided access to the river settlements, and was the route used by part of Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s Army of the Ohio in 1863 when Union forces invaded East Tennessee.
This road was the site of the startling murder of a 15-year-old orphan girl, Angeline Moore, in the 1870s, which led to the start of the Chimney Rocks Cemetery. Other notable murders that have occurred in the Station Camp community through the years include Dan Pennington, Dick Hatfield, and Newt Blevins.
It was through Station Camp that the mail was hauled to reach the Elva Post Office at No Business Creek (and, later, Station Camp Creek). By the 1930s, settlement along the river had started to wane, and it had ended completely by the late 1950s.
As settlement patterns transitioned, some of the families that had originally settled places like Station Camp Creek and No Business found their way to the Station Camp community atop the plateau.
First Families
Early families of Station Camp included the Penningtons and the Slavens, who lived closer to the west end of the community, near or inside what is now the Big South Fork NRRA.
The Slavens
The Slaven family dates back to Richard Harve Slaven, who was the first person to settle the Big South Fork area. His descendants spread throughout the region, including many in the Station Camp community.
One of the first to move to Station Camp was Absalom Slaven (1810-1877), Richard Harve Slaven’s son. He married Elizabeth “Betty” Wood (1814-1903) in 1833. They had a large number of children, including Nancy Jane Boyatt, Sara Sweet, John Wesley Slaven, Richard D. Slaven, James A. Slaven, Elias “Shack” Slaven, Stuard Riley Slaven, Jefferson Slaven, Susanna Owens, Ale Thomas Slaven, and Emerine Ruth Pennington.
It was some of Absalom Slaven’s sons who were involved in the murder of Dan Pennington in 1872. Pennington married their sister, Susanna. Following his death, she remarried to William Wesley Owens and moved to Station Camp Creek.
The Penningtons
The Pennington family was also one of the first to settle the Station Camp area. Daniel Pennington (1846-1872) was the son of Lakey Chambers Pennington (1828-1901), who married George W. Pennington (1824-1887) in 1845. They were married at Buffalo, which is where Lakey was from. She was the daughter of Thomas Chambers and Catherine “Katie” Lawson, and the granddaughter of two Revolutionay War veterans, William Chambers and Randolph Lawson.
One of Daniel’s brothers was William Pennington, who married Patsy Smith. They were second-great-grandparents of Oneida Mayor Denzil Pennington.
The Smiths
The Smith family primarily lived on Station Camp Creek. Elijah Smith and his wife, Nancy, lived near where Station Camp Creek and Laurel Creek merge, about a mile west of the Big South Fork River. They had 10 children, including Elijah Smith Jr., whose youngest daughter, Erie Smith, married George Pennington, son of William Pennington and Patsy Smith. Elijah and Nancy were the grandparents of John “Hawk” Smith, a colorful character who lived on the river near the Black Oak and Station Camp communities.
There was another family of Smiths from Station Camp Creek, too: Anderson Smith moved there in the early 1800s and married into the Slaven family.
The Burkes
The Burke family of the Big South Fork region dates back to Jonathan Burke (1797-1875) and his wife, Nancy Cooper (1803-1880). They first lived along the Big South Fork River near Parch Corn Creek. It was at their home that the Battle of No Business occurred in 1863.
Like the Slaven family, the Burkes spread throughout the region, and many of Jonathan Burke’s descendants live at Station Camp today. Dustin Burke, a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency law enforcement officer, is among those Burkes. Rick Burke represented the community for many years on Scott County Commission.
J.D. Burke was a lifelong resident of Station Camp. He was a carpenter who was best-known for a cabin he built on the Big South Fork River in 1972. He was the son of Will Haden Burke and Rilda Thomas. He was also the pastor of Bethalonia United Baptist Church for 35 years until his death in 2023. He was a second-great-grandson of Jonathan Burke.
The road off Station Camp Road by Bethalonia United Baptist Church is named Burke Road, and much of the property along and around it is still owned by members of the Burke family.
The Wests
Will Haden Burke’s first wife was Winnie West, who died in 1923. She was the daughter of James West and Amanda Thomas. The West family lived in the area of Station Camp where Williams Creek Resort is now located. James West married into the Thomas family after living with Amanda’s mother for a period of time to help with the farm.
Another of James and Mandy’s children was Tolbert West, who married Lakey Slaven.
James West may have been the son of Reason Sevier West and Nancy Phillips. Reason West was from Helenwood. His family was involved in the Cecil-West-Smith feud of the 1880s.
The O’Neals
The O’Neal family at Station Camp dates back to John Franklin O’Neal (1868-1921), who married Arlena Marcum (1870-1953) in 1899, after the death of her first husband, Harrison Maynard Cecil, in 1897.
One of their sons was John Lawrence O’Neal (1901-1989), who married Lona Payne (1907-1962). John and Lona had five children: Orange Smith, Jewell O’Neal, Wilda Ramsey, Ira O’Neal, and Johnny O’Neal. Ira moved to Tullahoma, Tenn. His son, Mike O’Neal, has done extensive historical research regarding Scott County, especially the railroads of Scott County. Much of what we know about the abandoned railroads of Scott County’s past is due to the research of Mike O’Neal. Johnny O’Neal married Jonnie Naomi Upchurch and they had three sons: Paul, Danny, and Kyle.
Much of the land around O’Neal Lane, located off Station Camp Road near the entrance to the Big South Fork NRRA, is still owned by the O’Neal family, including all three of Johnny O’Neal’s sons, who continue to reside at Station Camp.