Whitwell Map
Whitwell is a city in Marion County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,660 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Whitwell was incorporated as a city in 1956. It was originally a mining town. Whitwell's former name was in fact Cheekville. In the early 80's there was a major catastrophe;there were 13 miners that were killed in an explosion. You can see a full list of names at the monument at the Whitwell High School football field in front of the field house. Whitwell is also known for the Paper Clip Project. This project started because a few students at the local middle school wanted to see how much a million was. So they started collecting paper clips one for every Jewish individual that died in the Holocaust during World War II. They collected well over the limit they wanted which was 11 million. They collected somewhere between 30-50 million paper clips. The rail car that is used in the movie actually transported the Jews to the concentration camps. This railcar is located at the Whitwell Middle School. Whitwell also has an annual Labor Day celebration that has occurred 52 consecutive years.
Nearby cities include Jasper, Palmer, Signal Mountain, Tracy City, Dunlap.