Have you ever heard of the town of Old Jefferson, Tennessee? It’s long been a mystery in the Nashville area, one of many wacky stories from Nashville history. There are rumors that there’s a town under Percy Priest Lake… who knew there was an underwater town near Nashville?! But what’s true, and what’s wildly false? It’s a terrifying story because this is the tale of a ream of human mistakes that allegedly led to a town under Percy Priest Lake. Someone made a bad call, and it literally tore a town out of history.

Old Jefferson was the first county seat of Rutherford County from 1803 to 1811, when the county seat was moved to Murfreesboro.
RutherfordTNHistory
The town was located in Rutherford County, right at a bend of Stones River. Main Street ran from the wharves at the water's edge all the way to the county courthouse.
RutherfordTNHistory
Old Jefferson is actually situated right on the Trail of Tears, the infamous route west that nearly 60,000 Native Americans took when they were forcibly removed from their homelands.
Brent Moore - Flickr
The historic Liberty Hill House, also called the Johns-King House, in Smyrna, Tennessee, is not far from where Old Jefferson once stood.
Brent Moore- Flickr

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It was in the mid-1900s that the Stewart's Family Reservoir, now known as Percy Priest Lake, was approved. In 1963, construction began on this man-made body of water.
Ivy Hogan/Flickr
It took about 4.5 years to build the dam. The residents of Old Jefferson were told that their town would be underwater by the town the reservoir was finished.
RutherfordTNHistory
All of the land was bought, and the houses burned to the ground. An entire town was gone, just like that. Percy Priest Lake was supposed to swallow up the town of Old Jefferson.
As the lake was being filled, the workers realized that the water was actually draining not into the town of Old Jefferson, but into undiscovered caves. This area is known known as Long Hunter State Park.
RutherfordTNHistory
The borders of the lake did not extend quite as far south as it was thought that they would. Old Jefferson was actually not within the lake's range, and would have been spared by the lake. Sadly, it instead fell victim to the fire and was demolished in preparation for the flooding.
What a tragic end for a once thriving city.
Melissa McMasters/Flickr

Next time you hear someone ask “what’s under Percy Priest Lake?” you’ll know that there’s not actually an underwater town near Nashville! The area where Old Jefferson once stood is not far from Smyrna. Had you ever heard about a town under Percy Priest Lake? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Percy Priest Lake, Nashville, TN 37214, USA