Buffalo Valley, Tennessee

Buffalo Valley, Tennessee
Unincorporated community
Buffalo Valley, Tennessee Show map of Tennessee Buffalo Valley, Tennessee Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 36°08′29″N 85°47′12″W / 36.14139°N 85.78667°W / 36.14139; -85.78667
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
County	Putnam
Elevation	518 ft (158 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	38548
Area code	931
GNIS feature ID	1278920[1]

Buffalo Valley is an unincorporated town in far western Putnam County, Tennessee, United States.^[1] The zipcode is: 38548.^[2] The town could be described as a ghost town.^[3]

There was much activity in Buffalo Valley at an early date. There was a grist mill before 1803. At its height, Buffalo Valley was a transportation hub with three grist mills, four general stores, a pole and timber yard, several livestock dealers, a produce dealer, a bank and two blacksmith shops.^[4] Evidence of such activity is still present today.

Flooding was a major cause of the town's decline.^[4] In the early 20th century, Buffalo Valley suffered one flood that swept a railroad bridge away and another that devastated the entire town.^[4] In the late 1990s, a scene for the movie The Green Mile was filmed in Buffalo Valley. The film utilized a railway bridge which crosses the Caney Fork River for a scene involving John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan).^[5]

As of 2019, the old Buffalo Valley School turned 90 years old.^[3] What remains of the flood-prone town are some houses,^[6] an active church,^[6] an abandoned church,^[7] a post office downtown,^[4] a few abandoned stores^[8][9] and the old school building (now a community center and library).^[4]

The southwest end of town is located at the confluence of the Caney Fork River and Big Indian Creek, with the rest of the town being along the creek.^[10][4] The area near town has abundant streams, rolling hills and large green pastures.^[4]

Long before settlement was made, there was a huge canebrake of Arundinaria gigantea (River Cane) in the area.^[4] American bison would descend from the nearby Highland Rim to the valley to graze in the winter; the town was named when a particularly large one was killed.^[4]

Buffalo Valley's climate is humid subtropical (Köppen Cfa, Trewartha Cf), giving the area mild winters and hot, humid summers. Precipitation is generally highest in spring and lowest in August to October, although a secondary peak does occur in December. On average, there are 208 sunny days, 37.4 days of highs over 90 °F (32 °C), 76.9 days of sub-freezing lows, 0.3 days of lows below 0 °F (-18 °C) and 106.8 days with at least 0.1 inches of precipitation.^[11]