Freshwater pearls may not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think about Tennessee history…but for decades, Tennessee rivers were at the center of one of the most unusual industries in America.

Long before cultured pearls became common in jewelry stores, rivers across Tennessee produced natural freshwater pearls inside native mussels. By the late 1800s, the state found itself in the middle of a full-blown “Pearl Rush,” especially along the Clinch River near Clinton, Tennessee. Pearl hunters waded the rivers barefoot searching for mussels, brail boats dragged the river bottoms, and buyers traveled from New York City to East Tennessee to purchase pearls for the jewelry trade.

But pearls were only part of the story.

The shells themselves became enormously valuable for the manufacture of mother-of-pearl buttons before plastics transformed the industry after World War II. Eventually, Tennessee mussel shells became even more important internationally as the primary source of nuclei used in cultured pearls around the world.

But like many Tennessee stories, this one didn’t simply end.

It adapted.

Today, the Tennessee River Freshwater Pearl Museum and Farm near Camden preserves the legacy of this unusual industry while continuing the only freshwater pearl culturing operation in North America.

This is the story of rivers, mussels, pearls, aquaculture, environmental change, and one of Tennessee’s most surprising hidden industries.

Key Sources

February 27, 2026 interview with Bob Keast, owner of Birdsong Resort and Marina and the Tennessee River Freshwater Pearl Museum and Farm

Fred Ward, “The Pearl,” National Geographic, August 1985

Gemological Institute of America — “Freshwater Pearling in Tennessee”

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency — Freshwater Mussels in Tennessee resources and conservation materials

Tennessee River Freshwater Pearl Museum and Birdsong Resort historical and educational materials

Tennessee Blue Book — Tennessee State Gem materials

McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture freshwater mussel exhibit resources

Historical marker archives concerning “The Market Place of Pearls” in Clinton, Tennessee

Appalachian History — “A Pearl Rush Grips Clinch River Residents”

WKRN Hidden Tennessee feature on the Tennessee River Freshwater Pearl Farm

On-site research and field observations conducted at the Tennessee River Freshwater Pearl Museum and Birdsong Marina and Resort

Credits

Hosted by Big John Summers
Produced by Summers Media Enterprises

Foley/Sound effect recordings by Big John Summers

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