Cummins Falls:Cummins Falls State Park is a 211 acre park located nine miles north of Cookeville on the Blackburn Fork State Scenic River. In the rolling hills of Jackson County where Putnam and Jackson counties meet, the stream gives way to a 75 foot drop. It is known that buffalo wallowed in the river in a shallow basin about a quarter-mile east of the falls. Indians used this area to kill buffalo as they needed as indicated by the numerous arrowheads found at the site. In the 1790s, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, Sergeant Blackburn, for whom the Blackburn Fork State Scenic River is named, was awarded this land in lieu of a pension. This land was acquired by John Cummins in about 1825 on which he built the first of two water driven mills. Because of a growing clientele, a second and larger mill was built in 1845 about a half mile or so before the falls. Local area residents came to the mill and the falls for commerce and recreation. The mill was washed away in a great flood of 1928, but by then cars and paved highways had made the trek to Cummins Falls more of a discretionary trip than a necessary one. The mill was not rebuilt but this land stayed in the Cummins family for more than 180 years until a recent effort of private individuals and public institutions worked together to purchase the land for resale to the State. Directions: From I-40, take exit 280 to TN-56 North toward Gainesboro for 7.7 miles. Turn right on TN-290, go 0.9 miles. Turn left onto Cummins Mill Road for 2.9 miles. Turn left onto Blackburn Fork Road for 0.2 miles.

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