Monteagle’s settlement history began with a 5,000-acre land grant to John Bostick in 1792. In 1855, construction began on the Mountain Goat Railroad, extending first from Cowan to Sewanee, then through what would become Monteagle, and on to Tracy City.
It was on this railroad in May 1870 that John Moffat, a Scottish born temperance leader, came to the mountain. His train stop hamlet officially became known as Moffat Station in 1871, later becoming “Mont Eagle,” and finally present- day “Monteagle” when the town was officially incorporated in 1962, as construction began on the first section of Interstate 24 in this area.
Monteagle is home to many historic sites, stories and people, including Al Capone, Andrew Lytle, the DuBose Conference Center, the Great Eagle Caper, Hamper McBee, the Highlander Folk School, Historic Highway 41–the “Dixie Highway,” Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Martin Luther King Jr., the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly, Rosa Parks and the Trail of Tears.
