This location
Welcome to the Pikikeville Chamber of Commerce, in addition to the services they provide for th city, this is alos where you can bring your completed passport to pick up your geocoin and a bonus free geotour t-shirt, while supplies last. The Chamber is open for pickups, Monday to Friday from 10 AM till 2 PM.
The chamber is just down the street from where more than 30 shotgun slugs pierced the automobile containing Sheriff Thomas J. Swafford and two of his deputies while it was parked outside a restaurant on October 8, 1932. The sheriff was struck six times and killed. Neither of the deputies were hit. Although wide suspicion fell on Jim Hamilton, who believed the sheriff had framed him for murder, no one was ever charged. Ironically, about a week before Sheriff Swafford’s ambush, a traveling salesman tried to sell him a bullet-proof vest; however, the $75 price was deemed too high. Had he been wearing the vest, he probably would have survived the attack.
Bledsoe County and the Sequatchie Valley
Bledsoe County is the oldest and northernmost county in the Sequatchie Valley. It became Tennessee’s thirty-third county by an act of the Tennessee legislature in November 1807 and was named for Anthony Bledsoe, a Revolutionary War patriot who migrated to Tennessee from Virginia in the late 1700s. The Sequatchie Valley was part of Cherokee lands until 1805, when the Cherokee ceded the area to the U.S. as part of the Third Treaty of Tellico. The valley was probably named after a Cherokee chief, but the name has also been rumored to mean "beautiful valley" in the Cherokee language.
The BledsoeGeo GeoTour
The BledsoeGeo GeoTour invites you to explore the history, outdoor adventure, great food, charming towns and spectacular views as you discover the stories and beauty of Bledsoe County and the Sequatchie Valley. Download your passport and begin your adventure here.