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Sunday, May 22, 2022

Elrod Falls

Elrod Falls

Elrod Falls is a waterfall open to the public in Hancock County, TN. From the town of Sneedville, it's about 7 miles south along highway TN31, then west on Elrod Falls rd. From there, follow a couple of painted rocks which point the way to the parking area. Then, it's about 500 feet up a trail which parallels the stream at the base of the falls. On this day, the waterfall is dryer than normal, as this area had a drought going into Oct. 2019, but it did rain the day before.

GPS: 36.433980,-83.245350

This waterfall is about 50 feet tall, and empties into a small but surprisingly deep pool at the bottom. From there it cascades over several more rocks before heading downstream.

Saturday, May 21, 2022

207 Main St. (Queen Anne Cottage) - Wartrace, TN

207 Main St. (Queen Anne Cottage) - Wartrace, TN

Comes with a matching hydrant! As of 2021, this home is a solid Dark Blue, trimmed in white.

This home is on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Wartrace Historic District. Here is the description.

ca. 1880. Queen Anne Cottage. 1 1/2 story, frame, weatherboard, L-plan, gable composition roof, pedimented entry with cut-outs, Palladian serliana, decorative wooden vergeboards, porch supported by Doric columns, spindle balustrade, cornice with deptil, two interior brick chimneys.

Friday, May 20, 2022

Collierville, TN Train Station

Collierville, TN Train Station

The train station in Collierville, TN was originally built by Southern Railway for the town of LaGrange, TN. Then, in the 1940's it was moved to Collierville. In 1976, Southern realized there would be no more passenger service and the depot was given to the city and moved to its present location. Now it is on the town square and off of the quite active NS main line.

now is open as a train museum, which is under the oversight of the Memphis Transportation Museum. There are still some tracks that lead up to this station where the museum has some rolling stock on display. You can read more about the museum here: www.commercialappeal.com/entertainment/museum-on-a-roll

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Asia (TN) Community School

Asia (TN) Community School

This building certainly needs repair. After it was no longer a school, it was converted to a basketball gym. Portions of the roof and the floor have fallen in.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_School
Asia School is a former segregated school for African Americans in the Asia community of Franklin County, TN.

For many years, the Macedonia Primitive Baptist Church operated a black school on the Asia School site. In 1940, the church transferred the property to Franklin County, which assumed responsibility for the school. The current school building is a concrete-block structure that was completed around 1952. It was operated as a county public school for African-American children until 1961, when the county closed the school and returned the property to the church.

Four years after Asia School closed, Franklin County integrated its public schools. Asia School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 for its significance as an example of a 20th-century African-American school in rural Tennessee.

For more info:
web.archive.org/web/20111015093515/http://www.tn.gov/envi...

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Idler's Retreat - Smyrna, TN

Idler's Retreat - Smyrna, TN

From Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idler%27s_Retreat
Idler's Retreat, also known as the Dillon-Tucker-Cheney House, is a historic house in Smyrna, TN. It was built circa 1865 by J. D. Dillon. In 1882, it was purchased by John F. Tucker, and renamed Tucker Place. It was designed in the Greek Revival and Italianate architectural styles. By the 1940s, it was inherited by novelist Brainard Cheney's wife. The couple entertained other writers like Robert Penn Warren, Caroline Gordon, Flannery O'Connor and Allen Tate. The house was later inherited by Roy Neel, who served as the chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since May 19, 2004.

Other notes:
Original owner Joseph Dillon was a local attorney and Pro-Union legislator.
The home was briefly used as a USO headquarters.
Before the addition of Central Heat in 1957, the home was nicknamed "Cold Chimney's."
The name Idler's Retreat is based on a George Bernard Shaw quote, “A learned man is an idler who kills time by study.”

Learn more:
rutherfordtnhistory.org/harbers-history-idlers-retreat-se...

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Starry Night Clarksville

Starry Night Clarksville

This mural is painted by @draftsbyolasubomi features the Montgomery County Courthouse and Customs House museum on a background similar to Van Gogh's Starry Night. It is located off Madison St. near Hiter St. in the parking lot for Dollar General.

Monday, May 16, 2022

Hines Pond & Dam | Tracy City, TN | SeeMidTN.com Presents



Hines Pond is a nearly forgotten roadside stop along U.S. Highway 41 in Tracy City, Grundy County, TN. The pond is formed by a dam on Fiery Gizzard Creek atop the South Cumberland Plateau.

Sunday, May 15, 2022

See Beautiful Rock City atop Lookout Mountain

See Beautiful Rock City atop Lookout Mountain

Only a small number of the barns remain which advertised Rock City, the famed tourist attraction atop Lookout Mountain. The painted part of the barn seen here was originally located along highway US31E/150 in Spencer County, KY. However, after a 2014 highway widening project meant the removal of this barn, it was preserved by the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati.

Here is a newspaper article of the barn being preserved with some interesting photos:
www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2014/10/24/rock-...

Using the Google Street View history, here's where it originally was located.
www.google.com/maps/@38.001264,-85.4910179,3a,75y,168.33h...

Somehow, I managed to drive right past this barn in 2010 and didn't see it.

I'm not sure if I should count this one or not, but for now I will.
This is now one of 92 different Rock City Barns I have photographed and uploaded to Flickr in my Rock City Barns set. People often ask me how I've found so many of them. I have drawn from many resources such as books and web sites and sometimes luck, but there's not really one "go to" place to find them all. Well, now on my website, I have tried to create a one stop source for the locations of all of the barns I've been to. On my Map of Rock City Barns page, I have plotted each barn on a Map.

Saturday, May 14, 2022

Oversized Strawberry Crate - Portland, TN

Oversized Strawberry Crate - Portland, TN

The claim to fame of the small town of Portland, TN is their annual Strawberry Festival. In 2022, it is this weekend.

With that in mind, Citizens' Park along Main St. was redesigned in early 2019 with this oversized crate to hold strawberries. Likewise, oversized strawberries were placed around the crate as well as all around the block. Inside the crate are a couple of park benches.

See a video of the area here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCoi6HD-Rxo

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Video: Scenery in Murfreesboro, TN: Overall St. Trailhead | Stones River Greenway



This is one of several entry points for the Stones River Greenway in Murfreesboro, TN, but one I didn't know about until this day. Let's take a moment to enjoy the fall leaves and the babbling brook.