Town file
Whiteside, Tennessee
Whiteside, Tennessee (Marion County, Tennessee) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 209, "You Want One Of Her Bones?" (4 February 2021). In November 1986 Tara Michelle Stow was fourteen years old, an eighth-grader who lived with her grandmother in Tiftonia, Tennessee, near Chattanooga.
- Town
- Whiteside
- County
- Marion County
- State
- Tennessee
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 209
- Approximate location
- 34.995, -85.487
Episode 209 / 4 February 2021 / 152 min / full
You Want One Of Her Bones?
""Whiteside, Tennessee ... it's actually Egypt Holler to be exact but Whiteside is the town there ... this is in southeastern Tennessee just north of the Georgia border"; "it's in Marion County, Area Code 423"" about 0:06:25
The case: Murder of Tara Stow (November 29th, 1986). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2021
- Population
- 132
- Median household income
- about $43,000
- Median home value
- $106,100
- Two-bedroom rent
- $740
- Cost of living
- 80 out of 100
- Religious
- 35.9 percent
- Property crime
- ▲ more than double
- Violent crime
- ▲ more than triple
History, in brief
- In the late 1700s Dragging Canoe, a Cherokee leader, lived at Running Water, which was what Whiteside used to be called, at a Chickamauga Cherokee town. about 0:07:14
- During and after the American Revolution Dragging Canoe's forces were sometimes joined by the Chickasaw, the Shawnee and other tribes, along with British loyalists and Spanish and French agents, to fight the Americans. about 0:07:31
- Dragging Canoe served as war chief of the Chickamauga Cherokee from 1777 until he died in 1792. about 0:08:45
- He died of exhaustion, or probably a heart attack, after an all-night celebration following a battle he had won, during which he danced all night. about 0:08:54
- Whiteside was previously called Running Water, Etna, and Etna without the A. about 0:09:20
- The town is named after James Anderson Whiteside, an attorney, railroad promoter and land investor. about 0:09:37
- James Anderson Whiteside was described in an account of the day as never a very strong man physically, temperamental but self-controlled, kindly mannered, careful and methodical, and was called one of nature's gentlemen. about 0:09:56
- He cast his vote in favour of secession. about 0:10:22
- The Whiteside Train Tunnel and the Whiteside Trestle, built in 1863, were a big deal for the Civil War because of passage and transportation. about 0:10:31
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia14 miles
- Summerville, Georgia36 miles
- Section, Alabama40 miles
- Tullahoma, Tennessee49 miles
- Rome, Georgia53 miles
- Cherry Log, Georgia64 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.