TN Dept. of Highways Roadside Park

In the earliest days of the highways, it was an era before fast food restaurants and service stations at every interstate exit. During that time, the state highway department would develop a roadside park and pull-offs for the convenience of the motorist as it was essential for there to be places to eat and take rest breaks. Most of the pull-offs in Tennessee would have a concrete picnic table, such as the two seen in this photo. Several of these parks can be found around the state, but only along the oldest routes. Most of these parks were linear, but the one seen here is triangular and located at a major intersection.

This highway Park was built in 1928 and is located along Main St. on the east side of Rogersville along highway TN347. At the time it was built, it was along the important State Route 1 at the intersection of TN70. TN1 was the states most important highway back then as the Memphis to Bristol Highway, and eventually became part of the Lee Highway and US11W. Tennessee Department of Highways was renamed Tennessee Department of Transportation in 1972.

Late 40's Chrysler Police Car

There is a storage facility north of Bristol, VA along the old Lee Highway (US11) that features a series of vintage motel signs as well as this vintage police car. Also, here is the Robert E Lee Motel Sign which used to be just south of here.

Allandale Mansion Front - Kingsport, TN

The Allandale Mansion was the dream home of Ruth and Harvey Brooks. The mansion's distinctive portico has caused the mansion to be nicknamed "The White House of Kingsport." The mansion was built in 1953 and from the 500 acre property the Brooks raised Black Angus cows and Tennessee Walking Horses. In their will, they deeded the mansion to the city of Kingsport so that it could be used by the community.

The mansion is designed in a Georgian architecture style. There are four chimneys, formal fireplaces in each main room, and a hipped roof. A grand wooden curved staircase is the main feature in the foyer.

The Barn is located along US 11W (the old Lee Highway) in Kingsport, where the city extends into Hawkins County.

See Beautiful Rock City Gardens

Although the last word is Gardens, I've never seen a picture of this barn unless the barn doors are open, making some of the letters hidden. At one time, the barn painters put GAR to the left of the door and DENS to the right of the door.

This was located just south of Loudon, TN along U.S. Highway 11, which used to be known through here as Lee Highway. Lee highway connected Knoxville and Chattanooga. As of late 2010, the last time I drove through here, this barn now appears to be gone. :(

Lee University Office of Admissions

I suppose this used to be a house of an adjoining property to the college in Cleveland, TN along Ocoee St. and then the college bought the house and converted it to offices.

And the house is along the Old Lee Highway, which is just a coincidence, being named after different Lee's.

Helms Candy Co. neon sign - Bristol, VA

This building must have been their factory. It was located on the north side of Bristol, VA along the Lee Highway (US11/19). Helms was formed in 1976 when Jobbers and Loudy candy companies merged.

Hawkins County Lee Highway Milestone Marker

Back in the earliest days of highways before the routes had numbers, the most important auto trails had names and one of the most important cross country route was the Lee Highway which connected Washington DC to San Diego. In many places along the Lee Highway (and at five places in Tennessee), there were Zero Milestone markers such as the one here. With such a marker, brochures and other place of interest could say how far they were from the zero milestone to help motorists find them. Few of these markers 90 year old markers still exist as they are obsolete as there are newer ways to mark distance, roadway expansion and widening cause them to be removed, and sometimes they are stolen as people wish to have a piece of roadside history.

Fortunately, the Hawkins County marker still exists as it is located on the east side of Rogersville at another obsolete highway feature, the Roadside Park. On the front of the marker is a plaque depicting an old stagecoach wagon. This marker had been stolen but was recently replaced. The small stone in front of it is a common USGS Benchmark from 1934. On the top of the marker is a copper compass. On the east side are the words: "To Commemorate John Carter, Sturdy pioneer, first merchant, after whom this valley is named." On the back, it says "This monument marks the route of the old East Tennessee Stagecoach line 1825-1855." On the west side, it says "To Commemorate Benjamin Hawkins of North Carolina, Senator of the United States, after whom this county is named."

Very faded "See Rock City" barn

You have to look very closely to see any of the paint. At one time, it said:
SEE
ROCK CITY
World's 8th Wonder

When travelling southbound on US11 from the city of Sweetwater, this old barn is on the left, and this farm land is right next to an Ingles grocery store. This could be some prime real estate, so who knows how much longer this barn will be here. (Of course, I thought the same thing when I first saw it in 2007.)

Bring Your Camera and See Rock City

Located along US 11, Lee Highway in McMinn County about 2 miles north of Sweetwater, TN.

This is one of 80 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 Google Map.

Robert E Lee Motel sign (refurbished)

About a year ago, when driving the old Lee Highway north of Bristol, I went looking for the old Robert E Lee Motel, which had a wonderful neon sign but had closed a few months earlier. The neon sign was gone and the motel was in serious disrepair. I ended up staying the night in the non-chain motel across the street. The lady at the front desk told me the sign was removed just a week before my stay and even though they were the competition, she was sad to see them go out of business.

Fast-forward to about a year later. I'm driving the Lee Highway again, but this time I'm going further north to Abingdon, VA. Much to my shock, there's the sign! The neon tubes have been removed, but the sign has otherwise been restored to its previous glory and permanently mounted at RC's Storage. I believe they will take care of the sign as they had other vintage things on display here.