Red Hot Truck Stop sign - Meridian, MS

The Truck Stop went out of business several years ago, and the building was torn down, but the old sign was left standing. Not only is the sign held up by a lot of rusty scaffolding but a small portion of the brick wall remains. It is seen from Interstate 20/59 between exits 153 and 154.

Someone made a tribute website to Red Hot. See it here:
redhottruckstop.tripod.com/index.htm

Campbell County War Memorial

Located on the grounds of the Campbell County Courthouse in Jacksboro, TN.

Fraterville Miners' Circle - Lake City, TN

On the morning of May 19, 1902 in the small town of Fraterville, an oil lamp sparked a methane explosion in an unventilated active mine and caused the 5th worst mining disaster in U.S. History. The disaster killed 216 men, leaving only three men in the entire town.

At Leach Cemetery just outside of what is now Lake City, a monument was built to honor the memories of the men killed in the disaster. Here are the graves of 89 of the men buried in concentric circles around the central tall monument. In 2005, this circle was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

For more info, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraterville_Mine_disaster

A waterfall in Nashville?

I'm curious to see if anyone recognizes this location...

I'm not sure of the specific purpose , but this is at a quarry. The "waterfall" runs down into Mill Creek. Anyone who walks the greenway at Ezell park can get close enough to hear it, and anyone is brave, they can climb through a clearing to get a better view of it.

Conteaskee - McKaysville, GA

According to the marker:
Built by John Wahneetah, a Cherokee Indian, in 1914. For a period of time stood at the Cherokee Museum in Cherokee, NC. Restored by Bradley W. Deal of Cherokee descent in 2004.

In McKaysville, this faces the Toccoa River and a restaurant patio with Grand Street behind it.

Central Rexall Drugstore neon sign - Jellico, TN

Marion County Courthouse at Night - Jasper, TN

This courthouse was the third courthouse in Jasper. The first brick building was built in 1824. Needing more space, a second and bigger courthouse was built in 1880. It burned down in 1922 and this courthouse was finished in 1925. This building also suffered fire damage in 1984 and it was renovated while changing the look somewhat.

This two-story brick building is of Neo-Classical design. It features multiple arched windows and an arched main entrance pavilion. Also incorporated into the design are two story Doric pilasters and full entablature at the roof. The building is also located in the center of Jasper's town square, which is where highways US41 meets up with US64/US72.

Brownsville, TN Town Square

There are many old storefronts along the town square in Brownsville. On this particular day, they were having a festival which was being set up while i was there.

First United Methodist Church - Dyersburg, TN

Accroding to the historical marker placed by the United Methodists:

Robert M. Tarrent held a courthouse revival in 1840. The first church in Dyer Co., First Methodist, grew out of this meeting. A frame church, built 1844, deteriorated from disuse during the Civil War. In 1864 a new structure at Church and Market was dedicated by G.W.D. Harris. In 1923, this building was completed. First Methodist has built two churches: Boose Memorial, named for the first woman ordained in the Memphis Conference, and Second Church, later Ross Memorial. Strongly Supporting foreign missions, county disaster aid and community service, their motto is "The church in the heart of town with the town at heart."

George Dickel Distillery & Bust - Cascade Hollow, TN

There are two well known Tennessee Whiskey Distilleries in Tennessee. While Jack Daniels is certainly more famous, they also have a more crowded parking lot and a longer wait to go on a tour. On a beautiful summer day on a Friday early afternoon, there were three of us along the tour.

George Dickel moved to the area and bought the local Cascade Hollow whiskey in 1884. He ran the operation until 1888 and died in 1894. Then, Dickel's wife and her brother who was also an operating partner ran the business until U.S. Prohibition caused them to shut down.

Fast forward to 1958 and the brand's rightsholder decided to reopen the distillery. Their new distillery was down the road and downstream from the original location. (The original distillery is still there and on the National Register of Historic Places but it is not open to the public or viewable from the street.) For the full story:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dickel

Beale St. Gifts neon sign

The Gravesite of Daniel Boone

One of America's most storied pioneers, Daniel Boone died in 1820. In 1845, he and his wife Rebecca were reinterred here at Frankfort Cemetery along the edge of a bluff such that it overlooks the city of Frankfort, the Kentucky River and the Kentucky Capitol Building. However, after the body was moved, there has been some discussion that the wrong grave was dug up and all or some of the wrong person's bones were moved here.

If you decide to visit the gravesite for yourself, Frankfort Cemetery has made it easy as they painted a yellow stripe along the road to lead you straight there. Once there, you will see the monument which was erected around 1880 with a small fence around it. On each side of this monument is a white marble relief panel with a vignette of his life. In one panel, he is having a conversation with another pioneer, a second panel shows that he's killed a deer. Rebecca gets her own panel as she is seen milking a cow. One unusual note is that Boone is depicted wearing a coonskin hat, which is what Davy Crockett was known for.

2013 Coffee County Fair: Ferris Wheel

At the 2013 Coffee County Fair, they had this traditional ferris wheel in addition to the Astro Wheel. The Midway was operated by Kissel Rides and Shows.

I photographed this ride at a couple of different times of the day at different exposure lengths. Daytime photos were generally an hour before sunset near the "golden hour" and the night shots were done close to dusk. The daytime blurred motion photos were accomplished with a small aperture and a variable ND filter which was probably set around ND16. (Besides, how often do you get to see a daytime blurred motion ferris wheel?) For my other blurred motion fair photos, look here.

Green Hill Shrine - Brentwood, TN

Green Hill sounds like it's the name of a place, but in this case, it's the name of a person. He was a Revolutionary War Colonel who moved to this property on the east side of Brentwood in 1799. He was also a Methodist Preacher and for that reason this cemetery where he and his family is buried has been designated a United Methodist Historic Site. (There's a small gray plaque in the top left corner designating this.)

Lion-tailed Macaque

The hair of the lion-tailed macaque is black. Its outstanding characteristic is the silver-white mane which surrounds the head from the cheeks down to its chin, which gives this monkey its German name Bartaffe - "beard ape". The hairless face is black in color.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-tailed_macaque

This one is seen at the Jackson, MS Zoo.

Nickajack Cave Wildlife Refuge (view from Highway TN156)

Located in Marion County, TN, Nickajack Cave not only has quite an interesting history but also has an important collection of endangered species. The entrance is 140 feet wide and originally 50 feet high.

Originally located on Cherokee Land, the cave was located near the Cherokee city of Nickajack. Beginning in 1800, saltpeter (which is a key ingredient to gunpowder) was mined here, and eventually used for the War of 1812 and then the Civil War. Around the time of the war, the cave was owned by Robert Cravens, who also owned Lookout Mountain Cave and is best known for his Cravens House.

Starting around the 1870's, the cave opened commercially. The Shellmound Railroad Station was very close to the cave which operated passenger service to and from Chattanooga daily. Tour guides would take visitors through the cave on boats. By the 1940's, the cave was run by Leo Lambert (who also operated Ruby Falls) under the name Nickajack LaCaverns. By the early 1960's, the cave was closed commercially, but the cave was still accessible by people who were willing to walk a quarter mile in waste-deep water.

One part of the lore of the cave happened in 1927 when the cave was being shown by Lawrence S. Ashley, who supposedly disappeared in the cave during exploration. His disappearance was covered by both the local Chattanooga newspapers and the New York Times. After being "lost" from August 15 through August 22, 1927, Ashley reappeared, claiming that he dug his way out through a new entrance located 8 miles away. This entire episode was a hoax designed to gain publicity for the cave and increase the number of tourists visiting the cave.

in 1967 with the construction of Nickajack Dam about a mile away, the landscape of the entrance area has changed. What used to be an entrance 50 feet high is now half underwater. The old ticket booth and entrance gate are under the water there somewhere.

in 1968, Johnny Cash visited the cave with the intention to commit suicide. While there, he had a spiritual experience that caused him to stop his drug use.

Environmentally, the cave his home to about 100,000 Gray Bats, which is an endangered species. Every evening, many of the fly out of the cave for about 45 minutes to feed on insects. In 1980. the Tennessee Wildlife Refuge Agency closed off access into the cave and added a fence across the entrance. Also at the cave are Indiana Bats which hibernate here. Cliff swallows nest on the natural rock face above the entrance to the cave. Until the cave was flooded, there were three species that lived only at the cave including a crustacean, a pseudoscorpion and a beetle.

From the parking area, the TWRA added a 1,000 foot boardwalk which provides the best view of the entrance and the nightly bat show.

Tullahoma Caboose

according to the nearby historical marker:
The car displayed here is a side bay window model caboose built in 1964 by the Louisville & Nashville railroad at the company's south Louisville yards. The exterior is restored to the original L&N red.

The purpose of a caboose was to provide crewmen a better view of potential problems with the train. Some of the earliest cabooses were designed with a cupola or "crow's nest." As train cars became taller, however, the side bay window was introduced. The early wooden L&N cabooses were distinguished by cupolas, while the NC&StL cabooses were designed with the side bay window. After NCStL merged with L&N in 1957, the L&N incorporated the bay window design

Lafayette Cinema at Dusk

Located just off of the Lafayette town square, is this 1935 single screen theater.

Bee-Line Motel - Dothan, AL

Not only is this motel with an old fashioned sign just a couple of blocks from the center of town, it is also located along Business US231, which is along the route to Panama City for a lot of people. Many decades ago, US231 was also known as the Bee-Line Highway from which the motel took its name.

2011 TN State Fair: Creative arts Muscle Car Quilt

Top row: 77 Firebird, 67 GTO, 69 Chevy Camaro SS, 67 Chevelle SS
2nd row: 70 Chevelle SS, 55 Belair, 68 Pontiac Firebird, 69 Buick GS
3rd Row: 57 Chevy Belair, 70 Camaro, 58 Impala, 70 Oldsmobile 442
4th row: 70 Olds 442, 67 Firebird, 70 Pontiac Judge, 70 Chevelle SS
I think this is the manliest quilt I've ever seen at a fair.


In addition to the few fair photos I have uploaded to flickr, I have many more which have been added to this gallery on the SeeMidTN.com website:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=nashville%2F2011-tn-...

See 7 States from Rock City

This well maintained Rock City barn is in the northern part of Grundy County on highway US41 near Pelham, TN

A Chattanooga Sunset

The sun is about to go down behind Signal Mountain with the Tennessee River in the foreground

In the news: Knoxville fire & sign

Recently, there was a huge warehouse fire in the building with this Philco ad:



The fire was about 7 years to the day after a fire wiped out most of the rest of the same warehouse complex. See an after photo here from Flickr user cikmatt.

Also here's a news video from Knoxville TV station WBIR.

Now, for a happier story out of Knoxville, regarding the L&N Station neon sign.



Local students are working to have the sign restored. Full story HERE. Thanks to agilitynut from the wonderful website RoadsideArchitecture.com for the tip.

Billy Jim Vaughn Memorial - Brentwood, TN

Billy Jim Vaughn served as a scoutmaster for the Brentwood Boy Scouts for several decades but died a few years ago. In Nov. 2012, this statue and memorial was dedicated to him. It is located behind the Brentwood United Methodist Church.

Fleetwood Coffee Roof Ad

In all my travels in Tennessee and beyond, this is the third Fleetwood Coffee painted advertisement I've come across (all in East TN), but the first one not painted on a barn. This building is located south of Benton, TN along US411. Of the two other barns I've seen so far, one is in Meigs County and the other is near Oliver Springs.

Gate to Burritt College - Spencer, TN

Burritt College was a Church of Christ affiliated school which started in 1848 (which is the date on this stone gate built by students). Some of the buildings remain in addition to the historic gate. Here is the text of the historical marker for the school:

Established 1848 through the efforts of Elihu Burritt, a blacksmith who intended that the youth of his community should get the benefits of education denied to him. It closed it's doors in 1939 as a result of the development of the public school system and improvement of communication facilities.

For the thorough story:
www.therestorationmovement.com/burritt.htm