Things that are now gone: Becker's Bakery Neon Sign

Cakes for Special Occasions. I have several friends and family members that have fond memories of the cakes they got from here.

Lebanon Rd. (U.S. 70) in the Donelson area of Nashville

Update: I drove by this on 8/16/13 and this neon sign was replaced with a modern plastic sign. I suppose most businesses try to keep their old fashioned signs up for as long as its feasible. I'm glad that at least I got it when I did.

Christ Church Episcopal - Rugby, TN

Rugby is a small community along the Cumberland Plateau in Morgan County, founded by British Immigrants in 1880. The Rugby Colony was designed to be a utopian community, but the design failed in less than a decade. Still a few townspeople and their descendants lived in the area over the next several decades. In the 1960s, residents, friends and descendants of Rugby began restoring the original design and layout of the community, preserving surviving structures and reconstructing others.

The Christ Church Episcopal was established on October 5, 1880, and initially used the original Rugby schoolhouse for services. The current building was built in the Carpenter Gothic style in 1887 by Cornelius Onderdonk, who constructed many of the original buildings in Rugby, and consecrated by Episcopal bishop Charles Quintard in 1888. The church's alms basin was designed by English carpenter Henry Fry, who had previously done work for various churches in the London area. The church's reed organ, built in 1849, is one of the oldest in the United States. The Christ Church congregation has met here regularly since 1887.

Gibson County Confederate Memorial - Trenton, TN

The Confederate Monument is stop #6 of the Battle of Trenton Tour. I have a copy of the brochure and unlike most brochures, it doesn't actually give any info of the stop, but only driving directions to get to all of the sites. The Monument is on the grounds of the Gibson County Courthouse in Trenton's town square. It's in front of the front right corner of the courthouse, but older photographs show it used to be front and center.

Lone Rock Coke Ovens

The Tennessee Coal and Iron Company in 1883 built 120 coke ovens to help supply its growing iron works. The company contracted with the state, and convicts worked the ovens until 1896. The coke was sent to be used by the steel industry around South Pittsburg, TN. On August 13, 1892, Tracy City miners, who opposed the use of convict labor, burned the stockades and put the convicts on a train and sent them back to Nashville. (This had also been done a year earlier in Anderson County, TN.)

These Coke ovens are viewable near Tracy City at Grundy Lake, which is part of the South Cumberland State Park. Today it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Grundy Lakes Historic District.

The Only Abandoned Church

...as in the abandoned church in Only, TN. Not to be confused with the Only Baptist Church.

Cravens House - Lookout Mountain

The Cravens House is the oldest surviving structure on Lookout Mountain, and was the home of Robert Cravens, a pioneer Chattanooga Industrialist. The home is located on a shelf-like ledge of the eastern slope of Lookout Mountain and provides a great overlook of Chattanooga. The house was a major focal point in the Civil War "Battle Above the Clouds" on Nov. 24, 1863.

Today, the house is under the oversight of the National Park Service as part of the National Battlefield and free tours are offered on Saturday and Sunday Afternoons. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Cravens-Coleman House. See the historical marker here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=historical-markers%2...

Savannah, TN Historic District: Welch-Hansgen House

The Savannah Historic District is a group of 17 homes that form together to become an entry on the National Register of Historic Places. This home dates back to 1901.

Burger Free Zone - Chik-Fil-A Water Tower

The Fast Food chain Chik-Fil-A is very popular in and around Atlanta, where they got their start. In addition to numerous eye-catching billboards with 3d cows is this advertising water tower seen along the I-75/I-85 Corridor.

Happy Veterans Day 2013

In honor of Veterans Day, I'd like to show off several Veterans Day memorials I've found in and around the area.


Veteran's Memorial - Bristol, VA

The Veteran's War Memorial is located at Cumberland Square Park. The memorial contains five 6'2" bronze statues representing the men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. The statues are arranged on a platform in the shape of a V for Victory. The helicopter in the background is an AH-1H COBRA



Westmoreland, TN Veterans Memorial



DeKalb Co., TN Veterans Memorial - Smithville, TN



Cocke County, TN Veterans Memorial - Newport, TN



Scott County Veterans Memorial - Huntsville, TN



Marshall Co. Desert Storm Memorial - Lewisburg, TN

Flapjack's Pancake Cabin

Sevierville, TN - US441

I like the 3D nature of the sign, with the 3d butter on top of 3D pancakes in the 3d Skillet - until you look at it in the original size and the 3d butter doesn't look so appealing.