Smotherman House - Tullahoma, TN

The Smotherman House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. Here is the write-up from the Tennessee Historical Commission press release.

Smotherman House (Tullahoma - Coffee County)
The Smotherman house was designed by Nashville architect George Waller and built in Tullahoma between 1932 and 1934. Landscape architect John Byars Holder designed the gardens at the same time. Fletcher Smotherman, a wholesale grocery businessman, moved from Murfreesboro to Tullahoma when he became part owner of the wholesale grocery and moved the company headquarters to Tullahoma. Smotherman directed Waller to design his new house to look like his former home in Murfreesboro. Both Georgian Revival Houses are two stories, red brick with classical entries, and flanked by one story extensions. The Smotherman House exhibits characteristic details of the Georgian Revival style in its symmetrical design, molded woodwork, and classical columns. In addition to being a well-known architect of residences in the South, Waller designed many school buildings, commercial buildings and churches.
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"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.

Baillet House & Tullahoma Fine Arts Center

This home on Jackson St. (US41A) in Tullahoma was built in 1868 for the Baillet Sisters. 100 years later, in 1968 it became the Tullahoma Fine Arts Center.
www.tullahomafinearts.org/past/

Here is the text of the Tennessee Historical Comission Marker:
Jane (Jennie) Baillet 1834 - 1918
Emma Adell Baillet 1838 - 1926
Affa Ann Baillet 1850 - 1934
This house was the home of Jane, Emma, and Affa Baillet whose family purchased the property in 1868. From around 1870 to 1913 the sisters, businesswomen and artists, owned and operated J. & E.A. Baillet Millinery Shop where they created original fashionable ladies wear and hats. Their legacy of Tennessee landscape and genre paintings date from 1870 and include estate portraits and historical sites of Tullahoma.

Here is the text of the Tullahoma History Trail Marker:
Now the city's regional Fine Arts Center, sisters Jennie and Affa Baillet and their parents lived and worked here beginning in the 1870's. Jennie was an artist and the family operated a millinery store downtown. They watched much of what happened in Tullahoma during its prosperous years between 1875 and 1925.

F-105 Thunderchief - Arnold A.F.B.

Several military jets are on display outside of the entrances to Arnold Air Force Base near Tullahoma, TN. This one is dedicated to the memory of Lt. Gen. Robert M. Bond.

Former Coca-Cola bottler - Tullahoma

This former Coca-Cola bottler was a state-of-the-art facility in 1941. They could produce 120 bottles of Coke per minute until 1973 when a new facility was built down the road.

Today, the building has been preserved as retail space as the Historic Shoppes at Cokers. Tenants include a restaurant, clothing boutique and WDUC radio.

Ganoe-Bussell Log Cabin - Tullahoma, TN

This cabin which dates back to ca. 1850 is located in the park in front of the old Tullahoma High school.

According to the sign in front:
This log cabin, which may be the oldest extant building in Tullahoma, was located at 607 S. Atlantic St. when it was discovered in 1990. Will and Mary Ganoe purchased the house in 1898 from the family of Thomas Wells. Ganoe descendants lived in the house until 1975

F-15C Eagle - Arnold A.F.B.

Several military jets are on display outside of the entrances to Arnold Air Force Base near Tullahoma, TN. This one is dedicated to the memory of Major James Duricy.

Ledford Mill

Ledford Mill is an 1884 gristmill listed on the National register of Historic Places. The nearest city is Tullahoma, sometimes listed as Wartrace, but is in the corner of Moore County, so it's technically in Lynchburg. Visually, it's an unusual setting for a Middle Tennessee Mill. The road leads right up to the door on an upper floor of this mill in the narrow valley.

Mills need a place to harness the power of water, and are usually situated at a waterfall or a dam. This place has both. An old large metal pipe runs from the top of the dam of Shipman's Creek to the mill. a path with a wooden pedestrian bridge leads to a bench where you can sit and watch the 20 foot waterfalls in a peaceful setting. With the lake above the dam, you can see the fish which are considered pets at the mill.

Like most gristmills, it went out of business decades ago. However, the mill was restored in 1996 by innkeepers John & Mildred Spear who operate the mill as a three room bed & breakfast. During business hours, the mill is open as a gift shop / antique store. Visitors are allowed to look around but when the paying overnight guests arrive, they get the area to themselves.

George Dickel Distillery - 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

Upper Wetumpka Falls - near Ledford Mill

Recently, I posted some photos of Ledford Mill and the waterfalls on their property. If you ever visit them, make sure to also see Wetumpka Falls which is only 1/4 mile away. The city of Tullahoma is only three miles away but technically this is in Moore County and Lynchburg.

Along Shipman Creek Road is a small paved pull-off which can hold 3 or 4 cars and you can see the waterfall from the creek.

There are two parts to the falls, the smaller upper part is a five foot tall tiered section and the main waterfall is a 15 foot plunge into a tiny slot canyon. I've been told that there used to be a moonshine still by the upper part several decades ago, so you might see someone call this Moonshine Falls.

Getting to the top is done via a short but steep and muddy trail up the right side of the stream. getting up close to the main plunge is easy as you can get as close as you want as long as your willing to walk up the stream.

I enjoyed this waterfall but it was not without its costs. I brought with me two cameras, my Canon EOS 50D for these still photographs and a Canon Powershot SX40 for HD video. As I was setting up for one of these photos, the SX40 fell out of my pocket into the stream and it was completely soaked, but only for a few seconds. I didn't get home for several hours, but I had that camera dry in a bag of rice for a couple of days but it still wouldn't power on. :( If you'd like to see the final video I ever made with that camera, which is of Wetumpka Falls, look here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=roV9EWrplSY

George Dickel Distillery - 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

Wetumpka Falls - near Ledford Mill

Last year, I posted some photos of Ledford Mill and the waterfalls on their property. If you ever visit them, make sure to also see Wetumpka Falls which is only 1/4 mile away. The city of Tullahoma is only three miles away but technically this is in Moore County and Lynchburg.

Along Shipman Creek Road is a small paved pull-off which can hold 3 or 4 cars and you can see the waterfall from the creek.

There are two parts to the falls, the smaller upper part is a five foot tall tiered section and the main waterfall is a 15 foot plunge into a tiny slot canyon. I've been told that there used to be a moonshine still by the upper part several decades ago, so you might see someone call this Moonshine Falls.

Getting to the top is done via a short but steep and muddy trail up the right side of the stream. getting up close to the main plunge is easy as you can get as close as you want as long as your willing to walk up the stream.

I enjoyed this waterfall but it was not without its costs. I brought with me two cameras, my Canon EOS 50D for these still photographs and a Canon Powershot SX40 for HD video. As I was setting up for one of these photos, the SX40 fell out of my pocket into the stream and it was completely soaked, but only for a few seconds. I didn't get home for several hours, but I had that camera dry in a bag of rice for a couple of days but it still wouldn't power on. :( If you'd like to see the final video I ever made with that camera, which is of this waterfall, look here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=roV9EWrplSY

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

Ledford Mill Falls

Ledford Mill is an 1884 gristmill listed on the National register of Historic Places. The nearest city is Tullahoma, sometimes listed as Wartrace, but is in the corner of Moore County, so it's technically in Lynchburg. Visually, it's an unusual setting for a Middle Tennessee Mill. The road leads right up to the door on an upper floor of this mill in the narrow valley.

Mills need a place to harness the power of water, and are usually situated at a waterfall or a dam. This place has both. An old large metal pipe runs from the top of the dam of Shipman's Creek to the mill. a path with a wooden pedestrian bridge leads to a bench where you can sit and watch the 20 foot waterfalls in a peaceful setting. With the lake above the dam, you can see the fish which are considered pets at the mill.

Like most gristmills, it went out of business decades ago. However, the mill was restored in 1996 by innkeepers John & Mildred Spear who operate the mill as a three room bed & breakfast. During business hours, the mill is open as a gift shop / antique store. Visitors are allowed to look around but when the paying overnight guests arrive, they get the area to themselves.

Dickel, TN Post Office

The George Dickel Distillery may not have the market share or the international name recognition of Tennessee's more famous Whiskey, but there's one thing they do have. The Dickel people are the only distillery to have their own functional post office. (At least, I think that was the claim.) From here, all mail is collected and sent to the nearby Tullahoma post office which also has the same zip code of 37388.

The George Dickel Distillery is located in Cascade Hollow, an otherwise rural area between Tullahoma and Normandy. Across the street from the distillery is the visitor's center which doubles as a gift shop that looks like a general store. The store also includes the post office in the back which has been there since the 1960s. When the post office was installed then, it was designed with retro furnishings to match the design of the rest of the store..

Rutledge Falls statue and a mystery.

Don't most waterfalls have statues at them?

Rutledge Falls is a popular waterfall on private property near Tullahoma. As long as visitors respect the property and keep it free from trash and vandalism, it will remain open to the public. They provide a trail from a small parking area on the street where it's about 1,000 feet to get this view.

The statue was originally a decoration at the State Capitol where it was cast in 1859. There were three of these statues representing three different styles: Morning, Noon and Night. (This one is night as the lady is about to pull a cloak over her head.) After they were on display for several decades, the Capitol grounds went under some renovations in 1958 and these statues were relocated to storage at Ellington Agricultural Center.

Now for the Mystery part. It isn't so much about how this one statue got here but about whatever happened to the rest of them. Now, nobody knows where they are. The owner of the property here was TN State Senator Lyndon "Pop" Jennings and he came across one of them and asked permission for it to be "The Lady of the Falls" a couple of years after the Capitol renovations

The full story can be read here.