Wild Strawberries

The history of Strawberry Plains in western Jefferson County dates back to the late 1700’s. Andre Michaux, a French historian and soldier in the Revolutionary war, told of his visits there from 1793-96. He recorded his visit on May 22 to Colonel King on the Holston River at the McBee’s Ferry. The area, as described by Michaux, was barren north and east of the ferry where wild strawberries matted the earth and in season. “The berries covered the ground as with a red cloth. The fetlocks of a horse walking through the fields became red like blood.” The burning of vegetation learned from the Indians is the reason the area was so barren. This barren area became known as Strawberry Plains, the only community with that name in the United States.