Introducing: Our Town

Deep in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, 90 miles northeast of Nashville, sits Gainsboro, Tennessee—a town of just over a thousand people where families have lived for generations. "I was related to pretty much everyone here," one resident recalls. But in the fall of 2024, something strange began happening: outsiders started buying up large tracts of land. "It piques my interest because most time he would sell it to Jim Bob over the holler," a local says, describing the usual pattern of land sales. This was different. Developers with right-wing ties had purchased hundreds of acres, and their ambitions went far beyond real estate speculation.

The newcomers had a vision. "We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the healthy natural human way of life, the Christian way of life," one of them explained. The first thing you see when their project pops up online is the phrase "Pioneers in Appalachia." The goal was not simply to build houses or a resort—it was to create a social experiment, a model community built around a specific set of ideological and religious principles. For the people of Gainsboro, this came as a complete shock. "We were all flat footed. We didn't have a clue," one resident admits.

A land grab in the making