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Slayden and Vanleer
Both Slayden and Vanleer were platted and developed in the early 1890s by the Vanleer Land and Development Company with Robert Stone its president. Stone’s mother was a Vanleer, the daughter of Isaac Van Leer, the brother of Anthony Van Leer. Stone had been a Colonel in the War Between the States and was a long-time manager of the Cumberland Furnace. In 1825, Anthony Wayne Van Leer purchased the Cumberland Iron Works from Iron Master Montgomery Bell. Prior to that time, A. W. Van Leer had leased the Tennessee Iron Works, located near the mouth of Bartons Creek, from Iron Master Richard C. Napier. Van Leer bought and farmed 15,000 acres of land in the Cumberland Furnace/Vanleer area. He expanded his holdings to more than 20,000 acres. 
His granddaughter, Mary Florence Kirkman Drouillard, built the mansion which is visible on the hill in Cumberland Furnace.
Vanleer, the town, was incorporated in 1915. It was located on a railroad that ran from Pond Switch to Gracie, KY. The railroad passed through several of the communities developed by Stone, including Sylvia, Vanleer, and Slayden. There was a spur constructed from Vanleer to Cumberland Furnace to transport iron ore, tobacco and passengers. One of the earliest enterprises of Vanleer was the shipment of ripened peaches by iced rail car to New York, Cincinnati and other northern cities. The peaches were grown in a 60-acre orchard owned by Messrs. Trahern, Outlaw and Eubanks. Norman Eubanks eventually organized the Peoples Bank of Vanleer in 1906. Slayden was named for the prominent Slayden family that resided in the Cumberland Furnace and Woods Valley area of Dickson County. Dr. John Slayden served for a period of time as a physician at Cumberland Furnace. The community was incorporated in 1913 and was Tennessee’s smallest municipality for many years. Organized at the intersection of the railroad and the Charlotte to Palmyra road, the community’s citizens were primarily engaged in the timber business. Huge stands of white oaks provided cross-ties for the railroad and the oaks and other hardwoods provided raw materials used in the iron industry which was thriving in nearby Cumberland Furnace. The leading businessman of Slayden was Robert H. McFall who owned a general store, the Slayden Bank and was noted for his acquisitions of timber from Lone Oak in Montgomery County to Sparta in White County. The railroad ceased operations in the 1930s and the town functions as a residential center for the northwest corner of Dickson County. In the 1990 census, Slayden had a population of 111 and grew to 185 by 2000, and Vanleer had a population of 369 in 1990 and decreased to 310 by 2000.
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© 2005 Dickson County Chamber of Commerce - 119 Highway 70 E., Dickson, TN 37055-2080 phone: (615) 446-2349 fax : (615) 441-3112 contactus@dicksoncountychamber.com |