At 2:40 on Saturday, February 22, 2020, The last Challenge Coin (#100) for the 2020 African American History Month Heritage Geocache Challenge was given out. Congratulations to all the Geocachers. The geocaches will remain in place for a few months for public education. Thank you for participating.
This Geocache is part of an annual Geocache Challenge put on by the Heritage Program at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area as part of our outreach to the public, to get people to explore their forest and their history, and to share the unique heritage of the families from Between the Rivers.
This Geocache is part of the “2020 Land Between the Lakes Heritage Geocache Challenge: African American History of Lyon County”. There are 7 geocaches placed in Lyon County in Land Between the Lakes related to the African American Heritage of the area. If you locate each geocache, and collect a numbered aluminum tree tag from each cache, you can turn them in at the Golden Pond Visitor Center for one of 100 Challenge Coins created for this event.
The Geocache is a 6.5” x 8” orange watertight plastic box marked “Heritage Geocache” on the top. The geocache is placed in the woods behind an open field along “The Trace”. Do not stop your vehicle on The Trace. Please find a safe location to park your vehicle off The Trace and then hike into the cache.
The “Little Chicago” Community Geocache
Before the Tennessee Valley Authority displaced the families living Between The Rivers in preparation for creation of Land Between the Lakes, this area was a thriving African American neighborhood nick-named “Little Chicago”. Local resident, Udell Majors, claimed that in the 1940s, some gambling and bootlegging occurred in part of the community which reminded someone of Chicago. The name “Little Chicago” stuck. Despite the moniker, the community had well-respected businesses, run by well-respected local leaders, and a church and school that served the local African American Population.