Burial site of Gov. John P. Buchanan

John Price Buchanan was the 23rd Governor of Tennessee (or 28th if you count duplicates). During his administration (1891-93) the secondary school system was established and pensions were granted to Confederate soldiers. His term was marred by the Coal Creek War.

Buchanan is so far the only Governor to come from Rutherford County. A public school is named after him along US41 on the south side of the county, about three miles from where he lived. He is buried in Murfreesboro's Evergreen Cemetery.

Union Camp Falls

Union Camp Falls is a small waterfall in a beautiful setting in Macon County, TN. An ankle-deep stream by the name Long Fork tumbles about 8 feet over the rocks here. The area got it's name because apparently some union soldiers camped here during the Civil War.

To get here, take highway 262 (also known as Union Camp Rd.) southeast away from Lafayette. After a few miles, on your left will be a road that slopes down from the highway for Union Missionary Baptist Church. Drive down this road past the church for a few hundred feet and you'll see a spot where a very small stream flows over the road. Before you cross that, to your right will be a place for a car or two to pull over.

UPDATE: Someone left this comment on my blog about this waterfall: Keep off private property .. Please remove this!!!

Here is my response: Perhaps this is private property, but if so, you have a bigger problem than me. The Tennessee Department of Tourism listed this as stop #43 on the Ring of Fire Byway as part of their Tennessee Trails and Byways program. See it here: tntrailsandbyways.com/trail/11/ring-of-fire/?p=3

Nathaniel Parker Cabin - Bledsoe's Fort Historical Park

The 1790's Parker family cabin is located now at Bledsoe's Fort Historical Park near Castalian Springs. Originally it was located in Rogana, about 4 miles to the north but was dismantled and relocated in the park. Parker married Mary Ramsey Bledsoe— the widow of Anthony Bledsoe— in the 1790s and commanded the fort at Greenfield.

The View From Sunset Rock - Lookout Mtn., TN

Sunset Rock is a stone formation on the west side of Lookout Mountain (Hence, the side where the sun sets) near Chattanooga, TN. The marker in the picture discusses the Civil War significance, and how generals here could overlook fighting in the valley below. The strait rock face also makes this a popular spot for rock climbing and rappelling.

To get here, there a tiny parking area atop lookout mountain, and then a short (.2 mi.) but steep descent to the bluff. Just as many places in nature, there's nothing to keep you from going over the cliff, so caution should be used.

Video: Suck Creek Highway Extended Version with Commentary

This is part 3 in a SeeMidTN.com series of scenic drives around Chattanooga.
There are 3 versions of this video:
Regular: https://youtu.be/ONunCvkAsO0
Extended: https://youtu.be/spKzPfTmUcQ
Extended with Commentary: https://youtu.be/Q5MfwUZshSY

Previous Scenic Drives around Chattanooga:
1) W Road - https://youtu.be/UoEMb9CCmCs
2) US127 down Signal Mountain - https://youtu.be/ezIBtEmIudE

This highway was completed in the early 1920s and was the most difficult stretch of the early North-South cross-county road, the Dixie Highway. Yet, it also became one of the most scenic stretches of the entire route.

In the commentary, I discuss how the road got its name, why it was difficult to build the road, how the Dixie Highway was rerouted and points of interest along the route.

And finally, here is my website:
http://seemidtn.com/

"Summer Song" - Tullahoma Fine Arts Center

A bronze sculpture was permanently installed on the Tullahoma Fine Arts Center lawn in 1999. Entitled, Summer Song, it was created by Bell Buckle artist Russell Faxon.

1849 Ringgold, GA Train Depot

Back in 1849, Ringgold was the largest city in the area, even larger than nearby Chattanooga. The depot is made of stone which was common in the area at the time.

In 1862, the Ringgold Depot was one of the places to be a part of the Civil War's famous Great Locomotive Chase. Travelling north along the Western and Atlantic tracks, Andrew's Raiders would abandon The General steam locomotive about two miles north of here.

The depot is situated on a bit of an incline from the road below. The main road through town, which used to be the Dixie Highway and is now US41 runs between this vantage point and the station. The road passes under the tracks. The main part of town is to the left.

Today, the building has been restored and the town of Ringgold uses it as a community meeting hall. Originally W&A, the tracks later became part of NCStL and are now CSX. The depot is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Elk River Dam

The Elk River Dam is part of the Arnold Engineering Development Center near Tullahoma in Franklin County, TN. The United States Air Force constructed the Elk River Dam in 1952 creating Woods Reservoir as a source of cooling water for processes at the AEDC.

Getting here was a little tricky as the area is no longer maintained and the road here is closed. from Highway 279, if you take Elk River Dam Rd. to a gravel parking lot, it's a 1/4 mile walk to the bottom. Don't confuse this with the Tims Ford Dam also on the Elk River but on the other side of Winchester.

All that's left of Evergreen Place - Nashville

For Nashville preservationists, there may not be a subject in recent memory as sore the demise of Evergreen Place.

Originally, the property belonged to Thomas Craighead, a minister who founded Davidson Academy. Here, he build a log cabin which was eventually expanded to become a wood frame and brick Tennessee vernacular farmhouse. The property was sold a couple of times before the Civil War, but then it was inhabited by the same family for 125 years.

When I was born, Evergreen Place was the oldest home in Nashville. In 1980, the widow of country music singer Jim Reeves purchased the property and operated a museum in him honor. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

After the museum closed, the home remained vacant for 15 years. All the while, people clamored for somebody to buy it and fix it up. That never happened.

Instead, a developer bought the property because it was at a prime location along Gallatin Pike (US31E). Knowing the old home was about to be turned into retail space, preservationists complained that people can't just come in and tear down history. The developers countered that nobody had stepped in for over a decade, so they might as well turn the area into something useful. The preservationists sued to prevent the tear-down, but the developers got tired of waiting and they tore it down anyway.

Today, the location is a prominent home improvement store, albeit one that a few bitter locals will never visit. Behind a new bank, two log buildings remain and one is labelled as a carriage house. To keep people out, the new owners have put a chain-link fence around the pair - because it would be bad if someone damaged a piece of history! Apparently, it's too much trouble to take care of the tall grass here. Before you know it, someone is going to call this an eyesore and there will be plans to turn this space into a hot dog stand.

Rock City's Fairyland Caverns: Goldilocks

After spending some time trying to see seven states and various unusual rock formations, visitors to Rock City finish their visit along the Enchanted Trail by enjoying the sights of Fairyland Cavern.

When Fairyland Caverns first opened, most of the scenes consisted of their gnome collection and related decor fitting a fairy tale theme, all moved into a new section of the park that needed a purpose. Then in the late 40s, Rock City hired Atlanta artist Jessie Sanders to create the glow-in-the-dark scenes from popular fairy tales and these are the scenes that still exist today.

The first thing Mrs. Sanders crafted was a deer that stands next to Snow White. From there, she created individual displays for different tales. Other than the first two scenes (which depict a mother reading bedtime stories to the children and then the children asleep with "Dream Faries" flittering about) she was given free reign to create the scenes as inspiration struck. As the figures were cast from her Atlanta studio, they would be shipped to Rock City and installed after another artist, Marcus Lilly, would paint the backdrops. Jessie's husband Charles also helped create many of the props that are seen today.

After Jessie Sanders spent about a decade creating all of the vistas along the main hallway, she envisioned her most elaborate display in 1958. Mother Goose's Village was to be a large room with a miniature mountain, adorned by a castle, and many fairy tale characters seemlessly placed together to save the attraction's best for last. After six years of construction, the fantastic finale was opened to the public in May, 1964 delighting young and old since.

On my website, I have created a gallery entitled "A Tour of Rock City" where I not only have tried to photograph each individual display in Fairyland Caverns and much of Mother Goose's Village, but all the other wondrous scenes at the beloved tourist attraction. seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=chattanooga%2Frock-city

W.C. Handy Home and Museum - Beale St. Memphis

According to the sign:
The Memphis Home of W.C. Handy. Musician - Composer - Publisher. 1873-1958. Father of the Blues
In this house was born Memphis Blues, St. Louis Blues, Beale Street Blues and other great songs.
The house was moved here from 659 Janette Street in 1983 and restored by the Blues Foundation.
Museum operated by Heritage Tours.

The home and museum isn't directly on Beale St. Instead there is a sign and a gate on Beale inviting people back to see it.

Would you like to see more photos from Beale street? Check out the Beale Street gallery

Robert L Caruthers Mansion - Lebanon, TN

The Robert L Caruthers house at 241 W. Main St. (US70) in Lebanon is stop #2 on the Historic Lebanon Driving tour. Here is the text from that brochure:

This fine home was built in 1828 by Henry Reiff for Robert Looney Caruthers. Reiff was also the builder of the Hermitage in 1819. Caruthers (1800-1882) was a successful Lebanon lawyer in 1827 when he was appointed 6th district Attorney General by Governor Sam Houston. His political career included election to the Tennessee House of Representatives, 1835, United States House of Representatives, 1841-43, and appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court, 1852, replacing Judge Nathan Green Sr.

Caruthers was elected governor of Tennessee in 1863 but did not take office as Federal troops occupied Nashville preventing the General Assembly from convening. He was a founder of Cumberland University, elected President of its first Board of Trustees, 1842, and served in this office until his death. Along with his brother Abraham, he co-founded Cumberland’s law school in 1847, and served as professor of law from 1868 until 1882. Before he was elected Governor in 1863, Caruthers accepted the nomination in a speech delivered from the home’s balcony.

The home’s elegant curvilinear staircase is a feature also seen at Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, as well as Tulip Grove, both of which were also constructed by the Caruthers home builders. The federal style home, updated with Eastlake features in the 1880s, is the earliest surviving brick residence in the city.

For many decades, the home has been owned by Ligon & Bobo Funeral Home.

Andrew Jackson's Hermitage (Wide Angle)

thehermitage.com/

Lillard's Mill Hydroelectric Station

This historic mill on the Duck River is in rural Marshall County, TN and the unincorporated community that was built nearby was known as Milltown. This dam was completed in 1928 and is historically significant as one of three dams on the Duck River to predate TVA. You can read it's entry on the National Register of Historic Places here: npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/89002370

Today, the area is considered a park and popular with the locals. To get here, follow there is a gravel driveway that leads off of Milltown Rd. This driveway leads to a parking lot, and you can then walk the gravel to the Duck River. This is a calm spot in the river 1000 ft past the dam, and it is popular for swimming and rafting. To the east, you can walk along the rocky terrain to get a closer view of the dam. If you take a close look, there are some adventurous teens that have climbed onto it.

United Church, The Chapel on the Hill - Oak Ridge, TN

Text from Wikipedia:
The United Church, Chapel on the Hill in Oak Ridge, Tennessee was the city's main church during World War II. Dedicated on September 30, 1943 and completed late in October 1943, it was originally a multi-denominational chapel shared by Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations.

The building design is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 700-series U.S. Army chapel. It is a frame building built on a three-bay rectangular plan with a steepled bell tower and a gable entry porch. It was one of three Army chapels built using the same design in Oak Ridge during World War II. One of the other two chapels, the West Chapel in the city's West Village area, was later torn down, but the East Chapel in the East Village is still in use.

The U.S. Army built the chapel to house religious activities, as one of numerous community facilities in the "townsite" area of Oak Ridge. The building was dedicated on September 30, 1943, in a ceremony that included prayers and talks by a Jewish rabbi, a Catholic priest, an Episcopal priest, a Baptist minister, and the minister who was serving the United Church congregation that eventually came to own the chapel. Its name, "The Chapel on the Hill," comes from a reference in a prayer by the Knoxville Baptist minister who participated in the dedication.

The United Church congregation that is housed in the Chapel on the Hill traces its history to July 18, 1943, when some 25 to 30 Christians of diverse denominational backgrounds gathered for Sunday worship in Oak Ridge's main cafeteria. Subsequently, several members of the group made plans to establish an interdenominational Protestant church, led by laypersons, to include all denominations. A Presbyterian minister working in Knoxville was engaged to conduct weekly services, and about 150 people representing 13 Protestant denominations became charter members of "the United Church". Governing boards of laypersons elected to lead the new congregation took up their duties on October 24, 1943.

When the Chapel-on-the-Hill was completed that same month, the United Church and the local Roman Catholic Church were given control of the building, as the only two churches then officially operating in the Manhattan Project community. During the war, when Oak Ridge's Manhattan Project facilities were operating around the clock, the chapel building was also in use nearly 24 hours a day as a venue for worship services, weddings, and other occasions for local workers of various Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish religious backgrounds.

At the peak of wartime activity in Oak Ridge, when the population exceeded 70,000, the United Church employed four ministers and conducted worship services in the Chapel on the Hill, East Village Chapel, and the Jefferson Theater, as well as Sunday school classes in several local schools and a trailer camp. By 1951, the United Church Chapel-on-the-Hill consolidated as a single interdenominational congregation, making its home in the Chapel on the Hill building.

The United Church congregation purchased the chapel and 3.72 acres (1.51 ha) of land from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission on May 11, 1955 for a price of $17,116. An adjoining educational building was added in 1956-1957. The facility continues to operate as a nondenominational Protestant church under lay leadership, employing ministers with backgrounds in mainstream Protestant denominations. Since 2007 it has been affiliated with the Center for Progressive Christianity. The church's motto is "Where People from All Denominations Meet in Their Differences, but Are One in Their Search for God."

The Chapel-on-the-Hill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 as a contributing property in the Oak Ridge Historic District.

Nashville-Davidson Co. Rock City Barn

This Rock City barn, barely within the county limits is along the Clarksville Highway (US41A).

This picture was taken in 2005. It is my understanding that the owners soon afterward repainted the barn and now you can't tell it was ever a Rock City barn.

Fall Morning on the Cumberland River

On this morning, there is still a little bit of fog left on this October Autumn morning. This scene is in Rome, TN in Smith County at the site of a historic ferry crossing.

Old Stonewall Bridge

This is The abandoned Caney Fork River Bridge, also known as Old Stonewall Bridge in Smith County, TN.

in 1901, the landowners on either side petitioned the county court to build a bridge here across the Caney Fork River near Trousdale's Ferry. The sold stock in the new Caney Fork Bridge Company to finance the bridge. The court gave them permission to build this bridge, to collect tolls equal to the ferry rate, and then give the county the right to purchase the bridge within 30 years at market price. At a cost of $12,000 the Chicago Bridge Company built the bridge in 1907-08. Then in 1927, it was sold to the county. It was in use along the Lebanon-Cookeville road until 1973 when the state built a new bridge for TN264 (From where this photo was taken).

The side of the bridge on the right is upon a bluff and the left side gradually slopes down to ground level. The bridge is a total of 703 feet long with the main 200 foot Camelback through truss seen here. The rest of the bridge to the left is a collection of Pratt truss segments along with Steel I beams forming a 90 degree curve. Following that is another 200 foot segment masonry fill approach. Unfortunately, all of that is on private property and this is about the only view you can get.

800 Russel St. - Nashville

Located in the Edgefield Historic District, this home was built in 1899. It is one and one half story tall made of brick with terra cotta and stone in a Queen Anne style.

Limestone Quarry Cave & Lake - Erin, TN

Around 1870, the Lime industry began to flourish in Erin and Houston County. Several Limekilns were built in the area and several still remain. Limestone was loaded into the fire chambers of these kilns and was converted into a fine lime powder. It was the county's biggest industry until the 1940's when the high quality limestone was depleted.

The man-made cave you see here is one of the places where the Limestone was excavated. This hill / mountain was quarried for a long time. Then, as they continued to dig, they struck a spring, which caused the cave to flood the way it is today. (The water really is that shade of blue - no photoshopping on my part to get that color!) According to legend, as the water started to fill the cave rapidly, the crew had to get out quickly and left all of their equipment down there.

The cave has three openings and two of them are easy to get to. As you drive highway TN49 (Main Street in Erin) look for the Piggly Wiggly, and you can see the lake behind it. Behind the Piggly Wiggly, there are some parking spaces and a picnic table right near one of the cave openings. From these parking spaces, you can already see one cave opening, but it's not the best one to use. (There's a No Trespassing sign at this entrance, probably because of safety concerns. Picture #4 of the series shows the view from behind the sign.) Instead, you'll want to take the path that leads around to the right for the best entrance and view. from the entrance, if you turn around and look across the outside part of the lake, you can see one of the intact limekilns.

Tennessee Woman Suffrage Memorial

From Wikipedia:
The Tennessee Woman Suffrage Memorial is located at Market Square in downtown Knoxville, TN. It honors the women who campaigned for the state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to give women the right to vote. Tennessee was the final state to ratify the amendment and have it added to the Constitution, and thus was the focus of considerable effort both from local women and women who traveled from other states to assist them. The ratification vote was passed on August 18, 1920.

The sculpture was commissioned by the Suffrage Coalition and designed and created by Alan LeQuire. It was unveiled on 26 August, 2006 as part of a day of commemorations, which included a re-enactment of a suffrage march, with women in vintage clothes and replica sashes, and carrying replica banners. Martha Craig Daughtrey was the speaker at the unveiling; she was the first female judge on a Tennessee court of appeals and the first woman on the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The bronze sculpture depicts three women who were leading campaigners for women's suffrage: Elizabeth Avery Meriwether of Memphis, Lizzie Crozier French of Knoxville, and Anne Dallas Dudley of Nashville. The base of the sculpture features text on the campaign and a number of quotations from the campaigners, including the following by Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch:

"All honor to women, the first disenfranchised class in history who unaided by any political party, won enfranchisement by its own effort alone, and achieved the victory without the shedding of a drop of human blood."

tnsuffragemonument.org/

Caldwell County Courthouse - Princeton, KY

listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Princeton Downtown Commercial District. The most distinct feature of this Art Deco courthouse completed in 1940 are the reliefs of U.S. Presidents, one of which is visible in this view if you look at the original size.

Nashville's Goo Goo Store

Located in downtown along 3rd Ave is a retail store for Nashville's most famous candy bar, the Goo Goo Cluster. The confection comes in three flavors, original, supreme and peanut butter, by the individual package or the crate-full. Plus they sell typical gift shop wares such as shirts, magnets, books, etc. The highlight of the store is a kitchen where they produce double-sized Goo Goos in flavors you can't get anywhere else. They were almost sold out on the day I was there, but for $7.99, you can get a jumbo in these flavors: Peanut Butter & Pretzel, the Howie, the Filbert, the Pink Cadillac & Coco Noir.

Raus School House

This school house in Raus was built in 1888. Now it serves as a community center. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Raus is located along Smith Chapel road about 500 ft. from highway TN130. It is in Bedford County about a mile from Moore County.

Visit Sequoyah Caverns barn - Valley Head, AL

Sequoyah Caverns is a cave and now-closed tourist attraction in DeKalb County, AL. When the cave first opened commercially, they hired the famous Rock City barn painter Clark Byers to run the operation. I suppose barn painting was still a hobby of his as he painted several of these in the area. (By my count, there are 8 in and around the county.) The Barn seen here is located near the town of Valley Head, AL. Highway AL117 as it heads west out of town curves around a bend where this barn is visible. The last line mentions the barn is 6 miles away on US11. If you look closely you can see an older message where the paint is starting to show through. There's an old white border that goes all the way around the message and in cursive, the word SEE in the top right corner. Maybe the Sequoyah message changed over the year, or perhaps it used to be a Rock City barn before Sequoyah opened up in the 1960s.

Fatherland Baptist Church - East Nashville

Now: YMCA East Nashville Y-CAP
This building is formerly the Fatherland Baptist Church and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the East Nashville Historic District with an address of 122 South 11th Street. Here is the text from the NRHP nominating form:

Two blocks away at 122 South 11th Street is Fatherland Baptist Church (photo #33, map #1). It also is somewhat Beaux Arts in style though less so than the previous two buildings. Built of beige brick on a stone foundation and trimmed with stone, the church is basically a gable-roofed rectangle. It is an unusual design, not closely resembled by any other church in Nashville. Brick pilasters with stone caps and bases ring the entire building creating a temple-front effect on the pedimented east end of the building. The pilasters articulate the facades into bays of equal width, three on the short end and seven on the longer sides. On the south side, at the third bay from the rear, facing Russell Street, is a square tower, one bay wide, rising to a full second story and topped by a rather small, domed, eight-sided belfry with Ionic pilasters framing each of its sides. The main entrance is in the base of this tower framed by a pair of Tuscan columns and a pediment. Sanctuary windows are arched, one to a bay, with narrower arched windows paired in each corner bay. To the rear of the entrance tower is a two-storied educational building under the same roof plane.

NW Caboose - Old Smoky Railway Museum

The Old Smoky Railway Museum is a collection of rolling stock outside the historic Southern depot in Knoxville, TN.

The Home for Aged Masons - Nashville, TN

From the Nashville Scene in Dec. 2019:
The state controls the fate of some other endangered sites, such as The Home for Aged Masons (R.S. Gass Boulevard off Hart Lane in Inglewood), a three-story Colonial Revival-style building constructed in 1913-1915. It and the nearby Boys' School, built around 1915, are the only surviving buildings from a larger complex dating to the early 20th century. The Tennessee Masons provided the campus as a home for widows, orphans and the aged, according to Historic Nashville, which placed these properties on its list.

Designed by the Nashville architectural firm of Asmus & Norton, who designed the Cathedral of the Incarnation on West End, the columned limestone building is listed n the National Register of Historic Places. It sits now on an office-building campus that houses the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and other state agencies. Purchased by the State of Tennessee in 1941 for use as a tuberculosis hospital, the property was vacated in the 1990s

From Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_for_Aged_Masons The Home for Aged Masons, formerly known as the Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home and the Middle Tennessee Tuberculosis Hospital, is a historic building in Nashville, TN.

The land was given to the Grand Lodge of Tennessee Free and Accepted Masons by Jere Baxter, the founder of the Tennessee Central Railroad. The building was designed by Nashville architects Asmus and Norton in Colonial Revival style, and was completed in 1913–1915. It housed older Freemasons and families of lower means. It was co-founded by William H. Bumpas and Marcus B. Toney, who served as its founding president. Toney was a Confederate veteran, Klansman, and Edward Bushrod Stahlman's brother-in-law. Stahlman was one of the charter members.

The building was acquired by the state of Tennessee and repurposed as the Middle Tennessee Tuberculosis Hospital in 1941. It was used as offices for the Tennessee Department of Health in the 1970s and 1980s.

The property was unoccupied from 1999 to 2009, when the state of Tennessee suggested demolishing it to save money. However, by 2016 state officials were "attempting" to preserve it.

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 19, 2008.

Lancaster Cabin - Fayetteville, TN

This log cabin is located in Stone Bridge Park in Fayetteville, TN. I don't have any info on this cabin other than the plaque dedicated to Celia Lancaster Oldham (1952-2011) in front of it.

World Trade Center One and Two

This art and World Trade Center memorial was designed and produced by Ryan Barbour of Barrel House Metal and Woodworks of Clarksville, TN in 2018. It is located at the Lewis Country Store in the Scottsboro area of Nashville at the intersection of the Ashland City Highway (TN12) and Old Hickory Blvd.

More notes as written on the plaque:
These two exact 1:136.8 scale replicas as constructed from 397 individual pieces of metal totaling 2,908.65 linear feet of mild steel. When illuminated at night, "10:28" will appear at the top of WTC 1 and "9:59" will appear at the top of WTC 2; indicating the times each tower fell. Above WTC 2, 2,977 will appear representing the total number of those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001 (not including the 19 pieces of trash who perpetrated the attacks).

This memorial is dedicated to the 2,977 people who lost their lives on that infamous day, the first responders who saved countless lives, and the brave members of our military who have relentlessly pursued justice.

Roxy Theater - Franklin, KY

I was fortunate that this classic car happened to drive by while I was here. From the comments I received, it's a 1937 Chevy 2-door sedan, which is perfect for the age of the theater.

The Roxy Theater is a Cinema in Franklin, KY which dates back to 1938. It operated as a theater until the 1960s when it was converted into municipal offices. In the last few years, the theater has been converted back into an event venue.

Litton's Restaurant neon sign - Knoxville

Litton's is located in the Fountain City area of Knoxville on the north side of town. The sign points out "Quality since 1946."

Furniture Store Ghost Sign - Nashville, TN

Here is a faded ghost mural advertisement in Nashville. I got this view from inside Nashville City Cemetery in the back by the train tracks. Since this faces the tracks, I suppose the target audience for this were people who rode passenger trains. The building it is painted on appears to be R&B Cycles at Oak St. & 6th St.

"Bros." is the easiest part of the sign to read. The line below it probably says FURNITURE but it's faded and covered in graffiti. As far as the family name of the business, I can only guess. The last letter K is obvious. The first letter probably has replaced bricks. In between, might be an OL, so maybe it's Polk Bros., but that's only a guess.

Millions have seen Rock City, Have You?

I try to photograph this barn every time I make the drive from Knoxville to Nashville - at least when my wife is driving. This time, I got some good evening sunlight. It's one of the most often seen rock city barns since it is along Interstate 40 in Roane County.

This is now one of over 90 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.

Video: Days Gone By Museum - Portland, TN

There is a not well known museum in the small town of Portland, TN which is worth the drive from Nashville. It started as a private collection of tractors, but has expanded to much more, including multiple forms of transportation: Cars (hot rods, race cars, Volkswagens, 1920s, etc.), trucks, motorcycles, fire engines, a couple of planes and a caboose. Other highlights include vintage toys, cameras, and Maytag.

If you'd like to see a gallery of the items in this video, check here:
http://seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=Sumner_County%2FDays+Gone+By+Museum

Marty Robbins Recording Studio - Hendersonville, TN

In the early 1980's it looked like Hendersonville was going to become a prime country music tourist destination. Johnny Cash set up the House of Cash on a highway named after him. Conway Twitty built his mansion and tourist destination Twitty City. Across the street, several smaller venues opened up and collectively they became known as Music Village USA. After Twitty's death, his entire property went for sale and was purchased by the Trinity Broadcasting Network which opened Trinity Music City. The smaller attractions weren't going to thrive on their own and were also purchased by Trinity.

One of these operations was this building which was a recording studio and museum opened by Marty Robbins. Robbins dies in 1982 which is right around the time it would have opened. Once owned by Trinity Music City, they have kept it as a recording studio.

Bleak House - Knoxville, TN

From Wikipedia:
Bleak House is an antebellum Classical Revival style house in Knoxville, TN. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house was first occupied by Robert Houston Armstrong and his wife, Louisa Franklin. It was built for the couple as a wedding gift by the bride's father, Major Lawson D. Franklin. Robert Armstrong's father, Drury Armstrong, gave them the land. The Armstrongs named the house after Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" novel of the same name. The bricks in the house were molded on-site using slave labor.

The home was used by Confederate Generals James Longstreet and Lafayette McLaws as their headquarters during the 1863 Battle of Knoxville. Three Confederate sharpshooters who were stationed in the house's tower were killed by Union cannonballs. Two of the cannonballs are still embedded in the walls, and Civil War-era sketches of the slain soldiers are displayed on the walls of the tower.

The home now belongs to local Chapter 89 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and is commonly called Confederate Memorial Hall.

Blue Circle neon sign - Livingston, TN

Blue Circle Hamburgers was a chain of fast food restaurants that was popular in East Tennessee a few decades ago. However, today only one location remains open. In my travels through East Tennessee, I have seen signs of some of the former locations repurposed for a new business. This is the only one I had seen in Middle Tennessee. I didn't realise they made it this far west. (Or maybe someone just liked the sign and brought it here.)

Old Federal Building at dusk - Richmond, KY

Completed in 1890, the Richardsonian Romanesque building was used as a post office and a federal district court. The four story building has a tall tower with an open belfry and clock-faced dormers on the steep pyramidal roof. The exterior is made from smooth and rusticated ashlar-cut stone.

Today, the building is named "Madison Hall of Justice" above the three entrance arches. The building also was once the Richmond City Hall. Sometimes, it has been called the McCreary Building after the former governor and then congressman who secured federal money for the building.

Lebanon, TN City Hall - Castle Heights

From Wikipedia:

Castle Heights Military Academy was a military academy in Lebanon, Tennessee.
The Academy was founded as Castle Heights School in 1902. In 1918, it became a military preparatory school. The school ceased operations in 1986 in the face of declining enrollment. Its buildings have been restored and now the main building serves as the Lebanon City Hall, Lebanon Museum and History Center.

This building is stop #13 on the Historic Lebanon Driving tour. Here is the text from that brochure:
David E. Mitchell and I.W.P. Buchanan opened the Castle Heights School in 1902. Mitchell had just been named president of Cumberland University where Buchanan was professor of mathematics. Their idea was to create an environment unlike any other preparatory school. Students who did not live in town were required to board at Castle Heights.

The school had ninety-four boarding students and fifty-nine day students its first year. In 1917, the school changed into a military academy. Castle Heights Military Academy (CHMA) closed its doors forever August 13, 1986.

For eighty-four years the school had shaped boys, and girls beginning in 1973, but was not able to carry on, hindered by a lack of enrollment and adequate financing.

The remaining buildings of the former campus were added to the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District in 1996.

Eureka Foundry - Chattanooga

This old building is seen along the US27 Freeway (old I-124) in downtown Chattanooga.

Bobby's Idle Hour Tavern

Bobby's describes itself as the only live music venue along Nashville's Music Row. Fans of Roadside America will recognize this for it's 10 ft tall moldy weather-worn 2D guitar playing musician statue

See Ruby Falls barn on a Foggy Morning

This Ruby Falls Barn is located at a bend along Interstate 24 in Coffee County, TN near mile marker 100. On this early morning, there was still some pre-dawn fog in the fields.

American Baptist College - Griggs Hall

Griggs Hall was the first building constructed on the campus in 1923. It was named to honor the legacy of the Griggs family: Dr. Sutton E. Griggs was the first president of American Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) and his father, Dr. A.R. Griggs, served as the secretary of the National Baptist Education Board. In 1948, a fifty-foot addition to the structure was completed. The school's first cafeteria was originally housed in the basement of the hall, along with modest laundry facilities.

This building is a contributing building to the American Baptist Theological Seminary Historic District listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

For more info, check this detailed listing on the NRHP website:
www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/13000399.pdf

Cardinal Motel - Bowling Green, KY

This mom and pop motel in Bowling Green doesn't have an old fashioned neon sign, but instead has a Cardinal statue out front. It's located on Nashville Rd. (US31W/231)

Tennessee Central Depot - Lebanon, TN

This train depot was built by Tennessee Central in Lebanon, TN. I'm not sure how old it is, but TC went out of business in 1968, so it's older than that. Today, it belongs to Nashville & Eastern railroad which has their sign on the side.