The Electro-Chalybeate Well - Jackson, TN

According to the Historical Marker:
Thousands visited this artesian well in the early 1900s to drink its mineral water believed to cure stomach, liver and kidney ailments. It and the adjacent Water Plant, built in 1885, were part of 54 acre Lancaster Park which also included a zoo, a large goldfish and lily pond, bandstand, children's playground, and Johnny's popcorn stand.

Located in the middle of West Tennessee is this little artesian well, which certainly reminds me of a bygone era. Back then, the things that everyone thought had curative properties were either medicines with high alcohol content or icky water from under the Earth. I still don't think I fully understand what Electro-Chalybeate water is supposed to be, but at least it didn't smell as bad as sulphur water.

When this was built well over a century ago, it was certainly crafted with care. It's inside of a nice-looking well-maintained gazebo. The actual well - it's not so good. The water comes forth out of the ground, up the middle where it flows down the fountain. From there, a series of 8 pipes form spokes from the center of the octagon out to eight drinking fountains. Here, it looks like one of the pipes on the right had burst, but various other plumbing maladies has caused seven of the eight fountains to not work anymore. (I'm guessing that restoring the fountain's functionality isn't high on any city employee's to do list.) The one that still works is the furthest on the left in this view.

Just by looking at it, after over a century of use, there's some combination of rust / mold / chipping layers of paint that makes me think nobody would want to drink this. Yet, for those who find this refreshing or might just have more of an adventurous spirit for consuming things fresh from out of the ground, there is a warning sign that the water is untreated and partaking is not recommended. I find that ironic. Back then, it was something you should do because it's strait from the ground and healthy, but now it's something you should not do because it's straight from the ground and unhealthy. Hooray for Science. Well, the Well is well-preserved for history's sake.

Battle of Britton Lane Log Cabin

For more info:
www.bigblackcreekhistorical.com/1_the_battle_on_brittons_...

Neil House - From Trenton to Jackson, TN

The Neil House was originally built in 1837 in Trenton, TN. The antebellum plantation house was built in a Federal style with two large porches, 14-foot ceilings and 12-foot windows. The home played a role in the Civil War Battle of Trenton as citizens gathered on the roof to watch the battle unfold. Later, it became the home to Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice M.M. Neil. It was the centerpiece of the Trenton Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Trenton Historic District has multiple churches all bunched together and one of those congregations felt they needed more parking spaces. At the time, the home was not lived in, although it was in decent condition for the age. The church owned the property and decided to turn it into a parking lot. Preservationists were not happy.

Thankfully in this case there is a happy ending. The home was purchased by the Shaw family which owns Brooks Shaw's Old Country Store at Casey Jones Village in Jackson, TN. In 2010, the home was split in half and transported to Casey Jones Village. This photo was taken while the renovations were almost complete. Today, the home is restored and fitted with retro furniture under the name Providence House, and is available for events.

Denmark Presbyterian Church - Denmark, TN

More info from the local historic association:
www.bigblackcreekhistorical.com/17denmark_presbyterian_ch...

Text of the Civil War Trails marker:
This church, built by slaves in 1854, played a significant role in Madison County’s Civil War experiences. In April 1861, days after the firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, 104 local men formed a company called The Danes, later part of the 6th Tennessee Infantry (CSA). The community gathered here at the church to watch the new soldiers muster before they left for Camp Beauregard in nearby Jackson. At the ceremony, Emma Cobb presented a silk flag with the company’s name to Capt. John Ingram.

On the eve of the Battle of Britton Lane on August 31, 1862, the 20th and 30th Illinois Infantry Regiments commanded by Col. Elias S. Dennis camped in a grove of mulberry trees near the church. After the battle, Confederate Gen. Frank C. Armstrong’s cavalry brigade spent the night in Denmark on its return south. The Confederates kept their prisoners on the church’s second floor, which was a Masonic Lodge. Inscriptions believed to have been written by these Federal soldiers can still be seen along the bottoms of the walls.

By 1863, the Union army controlled much of West Tennessee. Local Confederates returning to Denmark on leave had to be careful. During one Sunday service here, a Federal patrol burst into the church and two visiting Confederates had to hide under their girlfriends’ hoop skirts to avoid capture.

Near the church is its historic cemetery, where three Confederate veterans, including Capt. Ingram, are buried. The Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

United States Courthouse - Jackson, TN

This is the new courthouse at 111. S. Highland St. The older Ed Jones Federal Courthouse is next door.

Random Caboose at Casey Jones Village

As part of the Casey Jones Village mega tourist attraction is the Casey Jones Motel. Behind the motel are a couple of old passenger trains and this caboose. I don't know if this is part of a "sleep on an old train car" or just something else to see while in the area.

Jackson, TN City Hall (New)

Built in 1996, the new City Hall with its notable concave window-capped entrance is located across the street from the Madison County Courthouse. The prior occupant of this block was Jackson's multi-story First National Bank building which was imploded in August, 1995.

Chessie Caboose #3255 - Jackson, TN

This Chessie caboose is on display outside the historic NCStL Depot Museum. According to the museum's sign:

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Extended Vision Caboose # 3255

The sides of the cupola project beyond the side of the car body. Introduced by the International Car Co. and saw service on most U.S. Railroads. The extended cupola allowed the crew to see past the top of the taller cars that began to appear after WWII.

The C&O, B&O, and Western Maryland Railroad became the Chessie System in 1972., taking on officially the mascot kitten used in and since 1934 "Chessie". In 1985, Chessie system became part of the CSX Railroad.

In the news: Jackson's First Presbyterian Church & Home added to National Register

This Home and the church have been added to the National Register of Historic Places in Dec. 2016.



Originally, this was land that belonged to Confederate Colonel William H. Stephens in 1824, known as Willow Banks. This home was built in 1918 by Jackson Sun newspaper owner Clarence Pigford with the house named Chevy Chase. Since 1952, the land and the home have been owned by Jackson's First Presbyterian Church who built their church building next door.



The First Presbyterian Church is located along US45 in Jackson, TN. The grounds have been named a state certified arboretum. Inside the steeple tower is a traditional carillon of 47 bells.

The church's carillon is one of 17 carillons in Tennessee. It is dedicated to the soldiers of Jackson and Madison County who offered and gave their lives for our country. The bells themselves were founded and tuned in France in the late 1940s. They chime regularly, and offer the spectacular prelude to the Jackson Starlight Symphony, a free annual concert on the church lawn.

Read more about it in this article from the Jackson Sun:
www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/local/2015/12/11/chevy-chas...

Jackson, TN NCSTL Depot

The brick building in Jackson was built in 1907 and is now open as a museum.

Neely House hotel - Jackson, TN

The following information was copied from the Jackson recreation website: www.jacksonrecandparks.com/media/leagues/3046/graphics/Fi...

The Neely house listed on the national register of historic places as the Murphy Hotel February 11, 1993 as an example of a railroad Hotel. The hotel remains intact and substantially unaltered today from its original appearance. The hotel was built of brick in the Modern-Classical style between 1910-1912. The large two story porch on the main facade was built with fluted columns and scroll-like ornament capitals. The hotel is described as a modern hotel in in every detail, with hot and cold running water in every room. The interior was designed with twenty-two hotel rooms, nine fireplaces, and three bathrooms on each floor. The hotel catered to salesmen and travelers who arrived in Jackson at the NCStL Depot across the street. Tradition states that Mr. Neely would meet trains at 4:00am to hand out coffee and sandwiches to promote the hotel. Mr. Neely was recognized as one of best hotel caterers in West Tennessee. The hotel was operated by the Neely family for the next thirty years and became one of Jackson's best known hotel building.

In 1946 Mrs. Lillie Neely sold the hotel for $5,000 to Mr. Robert J. Murphy. Since, it has been identified as the Murphy Hotel for over 50 years. Mr. Murphy was an area farmer and
purchased the hotel as a business investment. During the 1950's and 1960's passenger rail travel along the railroad declined and the hotel relied less and less on rail travelers for business.

Although Mr. Murphy died in 1960, his two daughters continued to operate the hotel. The adjacent depot was closed to passenger rail traffic in 1967 and bus traffic in 1970's, the hotel remained open to both travelers and permanent residents till 1996.

The city of Jackson, TN. purchased the hotel in 1997 with hopes of preserving the hotel by converting the structure into a children's museum About the time the children's museum was going to open, the tornado of 2003 took its toll on the hotel. The building was under insured and badly damaged. The Children's museum chose to move to a new building.

In 2005 the building was acquired by Hal Crocker of Crocker Construction Co. Mr. Crocker has worked closely with the Tennessee Historic Commission to restore The Neely House to its original beauty. The Hotel still features its original doors, mantles, light fixtures, bathroom fixtures and similar details. The Neely House ( Murphy Hotel ) is Jackson's only remaining example of a railroad Hotel.

The Family Restaurant & Motel neon sign - Jackson, TN

Located on the road that used to be the main road into town, The Family Motel and Restaurant has quite a nice but faded sign. The property is located along Whitehall St. and used to be highway US70 (and TN1) but now the highway bypasses this area. Based on the two cars in the parking lot, I guess the motel is still open for business, but the restaurant is a casualty. (See the white arrow in the background? That points to the restaurant.)

Below the No Vacancy sign is a hand painted sign for Ice 75¢ and if you look closely, it used to be 50¢. Perhaps you can use that as a guide for how old the sign is.

The Painted Lady - Jackson, TN

This elegant old Victorian house near the central business district of Jackson has been converted into a restaurant. "The Painted Lady" has apparently been the name of the house for a while and the cafe that opened up on the inside is known as "Lunch at the Lady."

Kelly Foods neon sign - Jackson, TN

Located at what is now an abandoned building along US70 on the west side of Jackson is this old sign with much of the neon tubes missing. Still, a lot of effort went into this dual-sided sign.

With heavy Irish imagery, We have a leprechaun who climbed the ladder up the side of a clover-laden kettle to stir the chili ingredients. Mostly faded at the bottom is the slogan "Will Steal Your Heart Away"

I don't really have any memory of this company, but they went bankrupt in 2003 and were bought out by Vietti. Here is an old commercial of theirs on youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrIId2m9Rdw

Model Train display inside the Jackson, TN Depot

The model train curator shows some of the display to a kid that was visiting the museum.

Ed Jones Federal Building & United States Courthouse

Located across the street from the county courthouse, this federal courthouse was built in 1934. It was used until 1998 when a newer courthouse was built next door (to the left from this vantage point). Still, several federal agencies use this building.

In 1988, The building was named for U.S. Congressman Ed Jones near the end of his 20 years of serving as a representative. Ironically, that Ed Jones isn't the most famous Ed Jones from Jackson. Long time Dallas Cowboy and 3x Pro-Bowl Defensive Lineman Ed "Too Tall" Jones also grew up in Jackson. I grew up as a Cowboys fan until the Titans moved to Tennessee, so for a brief moment I was excited that this building could have been named for someone other than a government official. Alas, it was named after a government official and not a popular athlete.

Jackson, TN Rock-a-Billy Stage

Since Jackson is home to the International Rock-a-Billy Hall of Fame, this small park has a stage and the Rock-a-Billy Mural. The backdrop of the stage includes an oversized Sun Records 45 and the message "Happy Birthday Carl (Perkins)! Also there's a note: "Help support the construction of Jackson's Largest Outdoor dance floor."

Greyhound Half Way Station - Jackson, TN

The subject of many images from my photostream is nostalgia, although rarely do any of these places outside of Nashville have any personal meaning to me before I photograph them. This is a rare exception.

Growing up, my family would spend every Christmas in the Dallas suburbs to be with my grandmother. In the Christmas of 1986, the rest of my family took the car because they were able to get away sooner leaving my dad and I needing alternate transportation when my school break came up. For the first (and so far only) time I traveled by bus alongside my dad. We departed downtown Nashville late and made a scheduled stop here close to midnight.

I am told this is the oldest functioning Greyhound Station in America, dating back to 1938. (It's even listed on the National Register of Historic Places.) As a kid making a stop here, that was lost on me. Today, I love the Art Deco architectural design of the place, but I don't think I would have even noticed back then.

The one thing I do remember from our midnight pit stop is my dad had to go to the counter to get a token for me to be able to use the bathroom. It was the first and almost certainly the last Pay Toilet I've ever been to. I would suspect most people my age and younger aren't even familiar with pay toilets.

Rock-a-Billy Mural - Jackson, TN

Jackson, TN is home to the International Rock-a-Billy Hall of Fame. This 28'x70' mural prominently features Carl Perkins and his band and Paul McCartney. Perkins grew up in Jackson and is credited as the founder and father of Rockabilly. Then, as the museums website explains, Paul McCartney sent it around the world.