Last updated: April 18, 2026
- Type: City
- 2020 population: ~1,700
- Former name: Cheekville
- Named for: Likely a local prominent family (Whitwell)
Whitwell sits in the Sequatchie Valley in the north-central part of Marion County. It is the site of the first court of Marion County (1817), making it arguably the county's oldest seat of government, and in recent decades it has become internationally known as the home of the Children's Holocaust Memorial and the Paper Clips Project.
First county court (1817)
When Marion County was created in 1817, the first court was held in the home of John Shropshire in what was then called Cheekville, the modern town of Whitwell. The county seat was moved to Jasper in 1819.
Coal-mining era
Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Whitwell was one of the busiest coal-mining communities in the Sequatchie Valley. Mines opened here as part of the industrial boom that followed British investment in 1877, alongside coke ovens at Victoria and iron-ore operations at Inman. Rail service connected Whitwell to the South Pittsburg smelters and to the broader Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis system.
The mining economy shaped Whitwell for generations: housing stock, small commercial strips, churches, and civic rhythms were built around the shift schedule of the mines. When mining wound down through the 20th century, Whitwell contracted but did not disappear.
The Paper Clips Project (1998–present)
In 1998, Whitwell Middle School principal Linda Hooper asked teachers to launch a Holocaust education class. When 8th-grade students struggled to grasp the scale of six million murdered Jews, they began collecting one paper clip for each, inspired by the wartime Norwegian resistance practice of wearing paper clips as silent protest.
The project grew into an international effort. A German railway transport car, the kind used to carry prisoners to Nazi camps, was brought to Whitwell and turned into the Children's Holocaust Memorial, filled with 11 million paper clips (six million for Jewish victims and five million for other groups targeted by the Nazis). The memorial was unveiled on November 9, 2001, the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
A 2004 documentary film, Paper Clips, directed by Elliot Berlin and Joe Fab, brought the story to a worldwide audience.
Landmarks
- Children's Holocaust Memorial (Whitwell Middle School), authentic German railcar with 11 million paper clips.
- Historic downtown and coal-era buildings.