Olio
Ghost town · Van Buren County, Tennessee

Olio is a ghost town in Van Buren County, Tennessee. It is one of 6 former communities in Van Buren County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 45th among the 86 Tennessee counties with a vanished settlement on record.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists Olio as a historical populated place on the Smartt Mountain topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 35.5487° N, 85.4722° W.
Key facts
| USGS quadrangle | Smartt Mountain |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 1,866 ft |
| Nearest living town | Beersheba Springs, TN |
| Distance to it | 12.7 miles |
| GNIS feature ID | 1312083 |
| Coordinates | 35.54868, -85.47219 |
What's there now
Olio is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Beersheba Springs, TN (population 610), about 12.7 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 1,866 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.
Nearby places
- Gillentineghost town · Van Buren County · 6.2 mi
- Sophaghost town · Van Buren County · 8.5 mi
- Laurel Coveghost town · Van Buren County · 13 mi
- Harricanghost town · Grundy County · 13.4 mi
- Grovesghost town · Warren County · 13.6 mi
- Caneridgeghost town · Van Buren County · 14.7 mi
- Gladecreekghost town · Bledsoe County · 14.9 mi
- Purdonsghost town · Grundy County · 14.9 mi
- Hillisghost town · Warren County · 15 mi
- Skilesghost town · Bledsoe County · 15.9 mi
- Schoolfieldghost town · Bledsoe County · 16.9 mi
- Meadeghost town · Van Buren County · 18 mi
Questions
Where is Olio?
Olio is in Van Buren County, Tennessee, at 35.5487, -85.4722.
How many ghost towns are in Van Buren County?
Van Buren County, Tennessee has 6 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (Domestic Names) — GNIS Domestic Names, feature record (public-domain)
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line and ACS — Census Gazetteer + ACS 5-year population (public-domain)
Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.