Burgess Falls State Park preserves a steep Tennessee gorge where the Falling Water River drops about 250 feet in less than a mile from the Highland Rim toward Center Hill Lake. Along this short course, the river passes through the Falling Water Cascades, Little Falls, Middle Falls, and the 136-foot Burgess Falls within a limestone gorge lined by high sheer walls. The falls were named for Tom Burgess, a Revolutionary War veteran whose family used the rapids for a grist mill and later a saw mill. In the 20th century the river also powered local electricity generation before preservation efforts helped create the park in 1971.