Altamont, TN

Altamont is Grundy County's seat atop the southern Cumberland Plateau, about 1,854 feet above sea level. The town was established in 1848, after Grundy County was created in 1844, through the efforts of General Adrian Northcutt, a farmer, military officer, and legislator who argued for the site. Its name joins alto and mont - height and mountain - and the setting earns both halves. State Routes 56, 108, and 50 meet around Main Street, tying the courthouse town to Beersheba Springs, McMinnville, Coalmont, Tracy City, Monteagle, Viola, Whitwell, and Pelham.

Altamont's present-day map is shaped by the plateau and the gorges around it. The western entrance to Savage Gulf, now part of the South Cumberland State Park system, lies a few miles from downtown, with Greeter Falls, Blue Hole, and other trails and waterfalls drawing visitors through the area. The county courthouse and town government keep the civic side busy, while tourism brings a different kind of traffic along the same routes. Altamont is a county seat with an elevated outlook: government in the center, mountain roads all around, and a deep natural cut toward Savage Gulf.