Wyatt Archaeological Museum

Here's a Tennessee tourist attraction you may not be familiar with, located right off the interstate 65 south of Columbia, TN (At the Lynnville & Cornersville exit, TN129)

Ron Wyatt was a self taught archaeologist who claims to have found several important Biblical discoveries. He has a lot of devoted followers, but also several who claim his work was fraudulent.

I first learned of him when he spoke at my middle school. (yes, it was a private school.) He brought with him what was called a piece of Noah's Ark, the remains of a piece of "fire and brimstone" that destroyed Sodom and a working model of how he thinks the Pyramids were built.

Wyatt died in 1999, but his legacy lives on in the museum. For a balanced look at his story, check the wikipedia article:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Wyatt

Here's the museum's website:
www.wyattmuseum.com/

Last Train to Here

The Clarksville in the Monkees song may have been the Clarksville in Tennessee. The last train to Clarksville was in 1968, a couple of years after the song was a hit.

L&N built this train depot in 1901 but continuous service ceased in 1966. From 1970 to 95, the station remained unused until the Montgomery County Historical Society restored it. An RJ Corman engine (seen) and caboose are outside.

A small indoor museum is open on Tue, Thur and Sat from 9am to 1pm, as well as a Farmer's Market.

And the song's writer's really didn't have this depot in mind when they wrote it, opting for a generic city title, but we can pretend, can't we?

Lawrence County Courthouse - Lawrenceburg, TN

This courthouse was built in 1974 and is a couple of blocks away from the town square, located in US 64. This courthouse replaced an older courthouse from 1905 that couldn't be repaired any more. Built as part of a major urban renewal plan, it was built for $1.1 million, and is currently being expanded.

This one certainly has a modern 70's look to it, with a large fountain in the front turned off for the season.

Salem United Methodist Church

Salem, TN, located along Old Salem Pike (Old TN 99) west of Murfreesboro.

From the historical Marker:

In small groups known as societies, early settlers held worship services in their homes. Several months before the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, in 1812 the Revs. Thomas King and John Manley established the Salem Church in the home of Thomas Jarratt. On this site the Jarratt Society built a log house of worship in 1814. Two years later, Robert Smith deeded the land to the Salem Methodist Church. Handmade bricks replaced the logs in 1834. Rebuilt in 1903, the present edifice incorporates an original brick wall within its facade
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=historical-markers/r...

New Gallery - Cheekwood: Trains! Tennessee in G

Trains! Tennessee in G is an exhbit at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in Nashville, TN running now through Dec. 2011.

The Trains! exhibit is a unique blending of model trains and some of Tennessee's most iconic locations. The Garden Train exhibit was designed by Paul Busse of Applied Imagination of Alexandria, KY.

Each of the buildings was designed using nature itself, such as sticks, twigs, tree bark, etc... The landscaping consists of over 2,500 tiny trees, shrubs and plants of over 250 varieties. There were seven different model trains running, a Southern Crescent passenger train, a Southern coal train, Chessie freight, Tweetsie Railroad, V&T RR, Thomas the Tank Engine and the Ladybug!





The rest of the set is available as an Extended Gallery.
See it here!

Nashville's Farmer's Market at Sundown

It's that time where many local farmers have their produce for sale at the Farmer's Market. The Farmer's Market began in Nashville at the City Market Building along James Robertson Parkway. Eventually, that building became a city municipal building renamed as the Ben West Building, although City Market is still etched along the concrete above the main entrance.

The Farmer's Market was then moved to where the Bicentennial Mall is today. When the Bicentennial Mall was built in the 90's, the new Farmer's Market was built next door to the mall now at its Corn cob columned location along 8th Ave. I remember going to the market as a child with my mom and she would always buy a basket of fresh peaches.

Uneeda Biscuit & Undertakers Mural - Clarksville, TN

1845
J.F. Couts' Sons
Furniture & Undertaking
(That seems to be an odd combo. However, in the day furniture makers were also good at making coffins.)
In rain or Shine - Just as fine.
(wet biscuits? I don't think so...)
Uneeda Biscuit
5c a package
National Biscuit Company

This is an old advertisement on the side of the Poston Building. The Poston Building is the oldest in downtown Clarksville, dating back to 1845, and is on the old town square. This advertisement was painted in the 1870's and was designed to be seen by riverboat traffic from those going down the Cumberland River.

Hosse & Hosse Keys Neon Sign

This is one of the nicer yet less well known neon signs in Nashville. It's located along Woodland St. in East Nashville.

Old Moore County Jail

Now a museum on the town square in Lynchburg, TN

Shamelessly cut and pasted from the internet, from the Lynchburg tourism website:
A visit to Lynchburg, Tennessee would not be complete without touring the Moore County Jail. The tour is free, although donations are greatfully appreciated to help maintain the building. Moore County Jail is the first jail in Lynchburg. Originally erected in 1872 and later reconstructed in 1893This facility remained in operation until 1990. Today the jail acts as one of the most interesting tours to be taken in the area.

More Great Tennessee Air Show Photos

Tomorrow, we will get back to regular posts, but for now, I'd like to share a few more air show photos since that just happened over the weekend.

In the picture above, pilot Jason Newburg performs a knife-edge after take-off.



if you'd like to see more of these photos, I have several in an extended gallery on the website here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=ruther%2Fsmyrna-air-...