Ms. Karr,
I would like to know the reference (book title, author, publisher, date) in which you obtained your information that Tennessee was mostly Union. This could be further from the truth. A casual thumbing of the pages of "Tennesseans in the Civil War, Parts 1 & 2" will show that the majority of soldiers from the state were Confederate and if you look by country you will see the disposition of where these units came from. East Tennessee had strong Unionist sentiment, however, this did not keep the state from succession.
The Pleasant, Tennessee Post Office was in Claiborne County and was opened in 1852 and closed in 1903.
Could you please provide more data on how you came upon the conclusion that, "Many of these small communitues lost that identification after the war?" That is a pretty generalized statement that I would like to see some empirical data to back it up.
Respectfully,
Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
War Between the States Historian
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
http://39thgavolinfrgt.homestead.com/39thHomepage.html