Abandoned Shasteen Cemetery in Winchester, Tennessee

While boating on Tims Ford Lake in Winchester, Tennessee, my friend and I (and his 4-year-old daughter) stopped off at a small island to check it out. I believe it’s called ‘Devil’s Step Island’ and it’s marked on the map below. Up the hill, we found a small campground, and nearby, an abandoned cemetery.

This place definitely isn’t a secret, but I can’t find much information on it online, and it wasn’t anything we were expecting to find while boating.

The clearest markers show the names “Shasteen,” which makes sense because there’s a Shasteen Cemetery (perhaps the newer one) on the other side of the lake and there’s a Shasteen Bend Drive not too far away on the mainland. I believe the graveyard wasn’t originally on an island – it was on the high land before the valley was flooded.

The two markers I photographed:

Tribble -L Shasteen
Born Oct. 19 1852, died July 26, 1861

M.E. McCoy Wife of R.S. Shasteen
Born Feb. 11, 1847, Died Sept. 11, 1910.