Cumberland City, TN

Cumberland City had 305 residents in 2020, in Stewart County along Route 149 near the Cumberland River and Lake Barkley. The lake’s broad shoreline is paired with one of the region’s most recognizable industrial landmarks: TVA’s Cumberland Fossil Plant, built between 1968 and 1973 on 1,425 acres. Its two coal-fired units once represented 2,470 megawatts of generating capacity, and the plant’s stacks could be seen for many miles across the Tennessee landscape.

The town’s geography has another surprise beneath the ordinary roads and river views. The Wells Creek impact crater is centered just south of the plant, and Wells Creek meets the Cumberland River at the crater’s north wall. Nearby Stewart-Houston Industrial Park adds another link between the town and the area’s working landscape. Cumberland City therefore sits at an unusual intersection of lake country, river geology, and large-scale power infrastructure, with Clarksville about 20 miles to the northeast. Route 149 ties those pieces together while keeping the town connected to the farms and smaller communities of Stewart County.