This Cumberland Plateau seems to have been formed by God for the benefit and blessing of the valley of Mississippi and the Cotton growing regions of the Southern States... easy of access at many points, it must become the summer resort of those wealthy planters, who desire to recruit their families during the summer months, and are yet unwilling to be far separated from their planting interests.  The time is not distant when this whole plateau will be covered over with the villas, and cottages, and watering places, and will teem with the most refined society of the South and West.  This will be the place of meeting of the South and West, and Wilmington, Charleston and Savannah will here shake hands with Mobile, New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis, and cement the strong bond of mutual interest with the yet stronger ones of friendship and love.  

"THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH"

"We find in the New York Journal of Commerce the annexed interesting letter, dated Sewanee, Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee, August 20:

It is but very recently that this part of the country has come under the notice of tourists. Prior to the construction of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad it was a terra incognita, but now, thanks to the facilities of the iron rail, it is becoming one of the fashionable resorts of the Southern country.

The watering place par excellence is Beersheba Springs, which are daily becoming popular—less for the virtue of the waters than for the pure mountain air and even temperature which is so bracing and pleasant to those whose homes are in the low cotton lands.

The Cumberland range differs, I believe, from any other mountain range in this country, in the character of its formation. It is an elevated plain, from five to forty miles in width, and when once on the mountain, you see only a gently undulating region around you, without a rock or peak in sight. The idea is well expressed by the remark of a writer, that it seemed as though this was the true level, and that the valleys below had been scooped. Pleasant, shady roads, a generous growth of timber, a meadow-like grassy surface, chestnuts, oaks, pines, and elm and hickory, give it a beautiful verdure.

Much attention is now being directed to this locality, on account of its selection as the site of the proposed University of the South, under the auspices of the ten most Southern Dioceses of the Episcopal Church. Instead of wasting their means in local institutions, they have wisely united in a powerful effort to establish what is yet unknown in this country—a true university, on a scale as extensive as any in Europe.

The Cumberland plateau has been selected as its site, on account of its elevation and salubrity, and a princely domain of 10,000 acres has been secured for the institution, traversed by the railway of the Sewanee Mining Company.
The whole of their domain is beautiful and picturesque, affording every variety of society, from the quiet shady nook, the purling stream and the sparkling spring, to the extensive views and tremendous chasms and cliffs along the crest of the mountain. Imagine the Caatskill [sic] Mountain House to be on the margin of a plateau of miles in width and over a hundred in length, and you will have an idea of some of the views on the University site. More than a hundred springs, some of them chalybeate and some freestone, have been discovered bursting from under the sandstone cap which overlays this part of the plateau.

The principal spring, formerly called Rainy Spring, is now appropriately named after the projector of the University—Bishop Polk's spring.

There seems now no question but what this magnificent plan will be carried out according to the conception of its founders. More than four hundred thousand dollars have already been secured for the endowment, during the last twelve months, and this from probably not over one hundred persons. A more general canvass will be made during the ensuing year and it is expected that not less than one million of dollars will be secured.
Operations will be actively commenced towards the buildings early in the ensuing year. It is a part of the system that the interest of the funds raised shall alone be used—thus keeping its constantly increasing principal intact; so that when it goes into operation it will have the income of its whole capital to further its development and secure its success.
The plan seems very popular with all classes at the South, and it is by no means considered as restricted to the religious body under whose patronage it is created, but as a great institution designed to benefit the whole South, and to raise the standard of education throughout our whole country.

It is a part of the project to encourage the establishment of summer residences for the planters of the South, where they can bring their families and servants and pass the hot season with all the advantages of a temperate climate, and with the pleasant association of a literary and highly cultivated society, while the advantages of proximity to the libraries and lecture halls of the University will be an additional attraction." -Louisiana Democrat, Alexandria, La., , September 21, 1859, p. 1, c. 6 (http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts/alexandria_louisiana_democrat.htm, as of 6/9/05)

"The core of this positioning is relationships—both intellectual and personal—that are formed through Sewanee’s unique character and community.  This character and community arise from the combination of the University’s location on top of the Cumberland Plateau in south central Tennessee, its heritage and inspiration as an Episcopal institution, and its history and reputation as a fine liberal arts institution. The relationships that grow out of this community offer students, faculty, staff, and alumni an intense and richly textured experience that is among the best available in higher education... The positioning identifies Sewanee’s singular location on the Mountain, its Southern heritage (courtesy, warmth, trust), and its Episcopal roots as features that together create a unique community in which these relationships can grow and endure."  -Intergrated Communications and Marketing Plan for Sewanee: The University of the South, January, 2004