Berlin Spring - Marshall County, TN

Berlin Spring, or Big Spring is a cave spring that begins Cedar Creek in northwest Marshall County. Over 170 years ago, the small town of Berlin formed around the source of water. The small park which is located just off US431 is also home of the once famous Berlin Rock (or Pulpit Rock). The Berlin Rock at it's scenic location made for a popular spot for all local politicians to give campaign speeches.

For more info, see the text of this 40 year old newspaper article:
freepages.school-alumni.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bethlehemc...

Remains of Lockeland Spring Water bottler

In the pioneer days of Nashville, Col. Robert Weakley built his mansion at a spring. His mansion was named Lockeland in honor of his wife's family name, and the community that sprung up around here became Lockeland Spring. (The mansion was where Lockeland Elementary School is today, where there is also a historic marker.)

At the beginning of the 20th Century, businessmen wanted to sell the water. at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, the Lockeland Springwater won a prize for its "unique mineral composition and salubrious quality." Eventually, the springwater company went out of business, and the bottling plant went out of business, and this spot remained vacant for many decades.

In 2010, the property was deeded to the Metro Nashville Parks Department with a goal of making this historic site a place to be visited again. Only the foundation of the building remains today. Much of the overgrowth has been cleared out, nature trails have been established and a couple of footbridges over the stream have been built.

The best way to get here today is at the entrance along South 19th St. @ Oakhill Dr. where there is room for a couple of cars to park on the side of the street. While there is no parking, there is an entrance for locals at the end of Woodland St. There may be an entrance from the back of Lockeland Elementary School. There are also plans to extend a trail from Shelby Park around the golf course into this area.

Tilt Shift Miniature effect: Murfree Spring

A couple of years ago, I enhanced my digital camera collection when I got a good deal on a used Canon Powershot SX40 HS. (This camera will be my backup to complement my dSLR.) It has a couple of toy settings, and perhaps the one I will play with the most is Tilt Shift Miniature Effect.

If this is new to you, it's a camera trick to make he subject of your photo look like a miniature. Now, the camera can perform this trick when you take the picture. A few years ago, I dabbled in this as something you could do in post processing. Before photoshop, there were expensive specialty tilt shift lenses you had to purchase to do it. Essentially, by blurring the top and the bottom area of the photo, your mind is tricked into thinking you're looking at something small.

Regarding the subject of this photo: In the early 19th Century, the town of Murfreesboro was established not far from the town spring. Time passed, and the city expanded; eventually the spring was forgotten as several new developments encroached on the area. Starting in 2002, with the building of the Discovery Center nearby, the city and local parks department brought the spring back to its former glory and developed the Murfree Spring Wetlands. This spring emerges from the end of a 70 foot cave.

Greeneville's Big Spring

The city if Greeneville started off as the juncture of two Indian trails, and the presence of the Big Spring furnished a stopping off place for the weary traveler. The Scotch-Irish pioneers made the spring the reason for the founding of Greeneville in 1783. As early as 1780, local preacher Samuel Doak preached to the settlers at this spot.

Today, you will find a historical marker noting the spring along main street. The spring itself seen here is in a small park behind the library and the waters flow from here behind the courthouse and many of the important Andrew Johnson locations.

Martin Springs

Martin Springs seems like it should be one of the most interesting places to visit in Tennessee, and yet I've had trouble finding anybody who had ever heard of it.

This interesting geologic feature is located in Battle Creek Valley not far from where Interstate 24 ascends Monteagle on the east side of the mountain. This is the entrance to a water-filled cave and it is said that the springs have 6500 gallons of water flow out of it every minute forming Battle Creek!

Some of the earliest history to occur here was this was along the Bell Route of the Trail of Tears and the area was used as a campsite by the Cherokee in 1838. There is a historic marker here that notes the Trail of Tears as well as Civil War Battles that took place here.

The Dixie Highway, one of the earliest cross-country highways in the country, passed right by this spring. Thornton Herbert Martin bought the land at the spring and soon opened Martin Springs Tourist Camp which offered cabins and a boardinghouse for the early highway travelers. Back then, anyone who had a spring advertised the supposed healing properties of the water. Eventually this segment of the Dixie Highway became US41 and was much traveled for many years until the interstate came through the area and US41 was rerouted. I'm not sure when the tourist cabins closed but an interstate makes it tougher to stop at spur-of-the-moment places such as this.

2021 Important update! In this post, I previously documented how I confirmed this location was open to the public and then provided directions how to find it. In April 2021, the owner contacted me and clearly said visitors are no longer permitted. I recommend you respect his wishes.

Nashville Spring Service neon sign

621 8th Ave. South, across the street from the antique mall that I was always looking at while missing this sign. They've been there since 1943. (Although this photo is 8 years old, and I am not sure if they are still there.)

Spring House at Rock Island State Park

Here at Rock Island State Park, there is a spring that comes out of the side of the mountain. If I remember correctly, this spring house didn't really serve a function and was built like this just for the looks. I once read somewhere that it had a name like the "Witches' Castle" but I can find where I read that. There are stairs leading up to it on the right, but now there is a fence you can't get around. Before that, one could at least look inside. It is across the street from the Great Falls Cotton Mill.

Cave Springs Church

Sulphur Spring road - Maury County, TN

Martin Springs

Martin Springs seems like it should be one of the most interesting places to visit in Tennessee, and yet I've had trouble finding anybody who had ever heard of it.

This interesting geologic feature is located in Battle Creek Valley not far from where Interstate 24 ascends Monteagle on the east side of the mountain. This is the entrance to a water-filled cave and it is said that the springs have 6500 gallons of water flow out of it every minute forming Battle Creek!

Some of the earliest history to occur here was this was along the Bell Route of the Trail of Tears and the area was used as a campsite by the Cherokee in 1838. There is a historic marker here that notes the Trail of Tears as well as Civil War Battles that took place here.

The Dixie Highway, one of the earliest cross-country highways in the country, passed right by this spring. Thornton Herbert Martin bought the land at the spring and soon opened Martin Springs Tourist Camp which offered cabins and a boardinghouse for the early highway travelers. Back then, anyone who had a spring advertised the supposed healing properties of the water. Eventually this segment of the Dixie Highway became US41 and was much traveled for many years until the interstate came through the area and US41 was rerouted. I'm not sure when the tourist cabins closed but an interstate makes it tougher to stop at spur-of-the-moment places such as this.



2021 Important update! In this post, I previously documented how I confirmed this location was open to the public and then provided directions how to find it. In April 2021, the owner contacted me and clearly said visitors are no longer permitted. I recommend you respect his wishes.

The Batbuilding at Springtime

The Batbuilding, or as I like to call it now, the batt&tbuilding, is seen as a downtown tree starts to bloom for the spring. With a colder March this year, the blooming seems to be a little bit later than last year, when this photo was taken on Mar. 29.

Murfree Springs

In the early 19th Century, the town of Murfreesboro was established not far from the town spring. Time passes, and the city expands; eventually the spring is forgotten as several new developments encroach on the area. Starting in 2002, with the building of the Discovery Center nearby, the city and local parks department brought the spring back to its former glory and developed the Murfree Spring Wetlands.

Mark Twain Spring - Jamestown, TN (and the World's Largest Garage Sale)

Samuel Clemens's Parents lived in Jamestown before he was born. This spring and the one block sized park, just a couple of blocks from the town square, is named in his honor.

Uploaded today in honor of the World's Largest Garage Sale (aka the 127 Sale) which is this weekend, and headquarted in Jamestown. Every year, on the Saturday of the sale, the Jamestown Jamboree is held at this park.

Springtime at Bicentennial Mall

This photo was taken 6 years ago. Some of the trees had started to bloom and showed rich color, while others had yet to start. CSX 1111 rolls on through over the bridge at the park. Notice the outline of the state of Tennessee at the bottom? This photo was taken from Capitol Hill where you can get this view of the entire urban state park.

Huntsville, TN Town Spring

Whenever I visit any small town large enough to have a town square, I usually get out of my car and walk around for a while. Usually, I have a mental list of the buildings I want to see and photograph, but I walk around long enough that I make sure there is nothing important I missed. Every once in a while you find something you don't expect to see in the central business district of a city.

Huntsville is a small town, but is large enough to be the county seat of Scott County. A short boulevard leads to the courthouse, with various important buildings surrounding it. Behind the courthouse is a parking lot, and behind that is a small park with a picnic table and an sign with an arrow pointing to the town spring, which I decided to check out.

Normally, when I think of a spring that a town has centered around, I think of the Tennessee cities of Jamestown or Greeneville where water bubbles out of the ground. However, as I walked down the large concrete stairs, I was pleasantly surprised to see a 10 foot tall waterfall. There's enough water flowing here that you could expect a small creek to be the source of the water here, but apparently the water is underground before it gets to this point. Then, the water flows out to become a small tributary of the New River. It's a nice cool spot on a hot summer day.