Welcome to Opossum ...
So far, we found very little information about Opossum. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Opossum to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Opossum, please Contact Us.
Opossum would have been located within present day Hawkins County<2>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Opossum, you might consider that their post office opened in 1881.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Opossum is 1,470 feet [448 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: The area where Opossum was located is in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
The Area Codes where Opossum was located: 423 & 729<4>
Communities Also Named Opossum ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Tennessee communities named Opossum: This one is located in Hawkins County and the other is located in Lauderdale County.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Opossum.
Communities near Opossum ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Opossum.
- Kingsport
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Bloomingdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bloomingdale is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
- Population from the 2010 Census: 9,888 people
- Colonial Heights
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Church Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Carmel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Rogersville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Waycross
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Waycross is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waycross
- Estimated population in 2014: 4,091 people
- Blair Gap
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Blair Gap is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair Gap
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,870 people
- Surgoinsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Fall Branch
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Opossum. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Opossum.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Opossum. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Opossum.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Opossum. See our Newspapers Page for Opossum.
Adding Opossum to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Opossum in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Opossum was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Opossum post office opened in 1881. The Opossum post office closed in 1894.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Opossum.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Opossum, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of Tennessee's counties, including Hawkins, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Opossum - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 423 code has been Overlayed with the 729 area code. New phone numbers in the Opossum area will be assigned with one of these codes: 423 or 729. As a result, placing a call in the Opossum area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |