Brushy Mountain Destination Development

Morgan County is home to Tennessee’s most famous (or perhaps infamous) prison, Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. In 2009, when the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) closed Brushy Mountain, Morgan County and the Tennessee Historical Commission partnered with TDOC to ensure that the prison was preserved as an important historic property with the opportunity for future use. However, redevelopment plans were stalled for several years due to issues with the poor state of the prison’s infrastructure.

Beginning in 2014, Morgan County, the East Tennessee Development District, and state legislative leaders began to work with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to facilitate a private developer’s repurposing of Brushy Mountain as a distillery and tourism destination. Leveraging two TNECD grants, an ARC grant, and private funding to improve the prison’s infrastructure, Brushy Mountain reopened in 2018 and continues to serve as one of East Tennessee’s premier tourism destinations.

Funding Sources