Robert Reed Church

Robert Reed Church (June 18, 1839 – August 29, 1912) was an African-American entrepreneur, businessman and landowner in Memphis, Tennessee who began his rise during the American Civil War. He was the first African-American "millionaire" in the South. His total wealth probably reached $700,000, not a round million. Church built a reputation for great wealth and influence in the business community. He founded Solvent Savings Bank, the first black-owned bank in the city, which extended credit to blacks so they could buy homes and develop businesses. As a philanthropist, Church used his wealth to develop a park, playground, auditorium and other facilities for the black community, who were excluded by state-enacted racial segregation from most such amenities in the city.


Charles B. Church, His Father

The son of a mixed-race mother and white father, Church began working as a steward when his father, a steamboat owner, took him along on his route between Memphis and New Orleans. Robert Church bought his first property in Memphis in 1862. He was well established by 1878-79, the years of devastating yellow fever epidemics which resulted in dramatic depopulation in the city. With property devalued, Church bought numerous businesses as well as undeveloped land, with the long-term view of their appreciation as the city recovered. He built his great wealth on this real estate. He purchased the first $1000 municipal bond to help the city recover from bankruptcy after it was reduced to a Taxing District.

Early Life:

 

His home at the corner of Lance and Lauderdale in Memphis, TN.

Robert Reed Church was born a slave in 1839 in Holly Springs, Mississippi, as the son of Emmeline, a mixed-race woman from Virginia. His mother was a slave and his father was Captain Charles B. Church, a white steamship owner from Virginia who operated along the Mississippi River.
 According to family accounts, Emmeline was the daughter of an enslaved "Malay" Malagasy princess and of a white planter from Lynchburg.
Robert's mother Emmeline died in 1851, when he was 12. His father Captain Church began taking Robert along on his river journeys to and from New Orleans. The youth worked as the steward of the steamship's mess hall, picking up business acumen and contacts, including future Louisiana political leader James Lewis and saving money earned. In 1862 Robert Church bought a bar in Memphis, which he eventually traded for a saloon and billiard room. (He must have been free by then to buy property, and his father may have vouched for him.) In 1860, the black population of the city was 3,000, but it rapidly increased as fugitive slaves fled from rural plantations to Union lines in the occupied city. Church had many customers for his businesses and became influential in the developing black community, which reached 20,000 by 1865.
The next year, postwar tensions in the city erupted in the Memphis Riots of 1866, when a white ethnic Irish mob attacked South Memphis, killing 45 blacks and injuring many more, and destroying houses, churches and businesses. The dramatic demographic changes had resulted in competition among ethnic Irish, who dominated the city's police and fire departments; decommissioned black Union soldiers who had been stationed nearby, and other African Americans. Church was shot and wounded in his saloon during the riot. A total of two whites died.

Real Estate Empire:

By 1878-79 Church had acquired considerable wealth. Familiar with the high death tolls from the 1873 yellow fever epidemic, he moved his family to safety outside the city during the even worse epidemic of 1878, as well as the following year. As the city was depopulated by the flight of 25,000 people during the 1878 Yellow Fever epidemic and death toll of more than 5,000, the land was devalued. Church saw a great opportunity in Memphis real estate and had the resources to buy up property holdings throughout the city. He acquired commercial buildings, some residential housing, and bars in the red-light district, as well as undeveloped land. It is estimated that in later years he was able to collect approximately $6,000 a month in rent from his properties.
Multiple sources refer to Church as the first black millionaire, although it is now generally accepted that his wealth reached about $700,000.  Popular myth holds that Church bought the first $1,000 bond that aided restoration of the city's credit after the epidemic, but city records do not support that.
With his immense wealth, Church funded the development of high-quality facilities for black Memphians, who were excluded by the state law of racial segregation from many white institutions at the time. He developed a public park, a playground, a concert hall, and an auditorium. Church used the properties for related philanthropy: he helped sponsor graduation ceremonies, political rallies, and shows in the parks for the city's African Americans. He also hosted and funded a free annual Thanksgiving meal for the black poor. In 1906, Church, Josiah T. Settle, M. L. Clay, and T. H. Hayes established the Solvent Savings Bank, Memphis's first black bank, and Church served as founding president. He ensured that blacks could gain access to loans for businesses and homes, to advance their lives.


Beale Street First Baptist Church

Personal Life:

Not much is known about Church's personal life. He rarely, if ever, wrote personal correspondence, and never made a public speech, despite his wide popularity and influence in Memphis.
Church married three times. His first wife, Louisa Ayers, was of mixed-race, born into slavery. They both supported education for their two children, a daughter and son. Their daughter Mary Church Terrell was one of the first black American women to earn a college degree. She became a teacher, then a principal, as well as a civil rights activist. In 1909 she was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and in 1896 the first black woman to be appointed to the school board of a major city (Washington, DC).  Church and Louisa divorced.
Secondly he married Anna Wright. They also had a son and daughter. Their son Robert Reed Church, Jr. became a businessman, taking over his father's enterprises. He became politically influential, establishing the Lincoln League in 1916 to work to register black voters, in part by paying their poll taxes. Within a short time, he signed up 10,000 new black voters in Memphis, and worked with E.H. Crump and his machine politics. Church served as an adviser to Republican presidents in the 1920s but declined any political appointments.  Church eventually married a third time, after Anna died.
The senior Church generally chose to stay outside the politics of his era, which enabled him to maintain influence among both white and black Memphians. He was chosen as a delegate for William McKinley to the 1900 Republican Convention.

Death:

Church died August 2, 1912, after a brief illness. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery on the south side of downtown Memphis.



Source: wikipedia.com

Glenview Historic District Is A Neighborhood In Memphis, TN

Glenview Historic District is a neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 1999.The neighborhood is between South Memphis and Midtown and bounded by the Illinois Central Railroad on the west, Lamar Ave on the east, Southern Ave on the north and South Parkway on the south.

Glenview was one of several suburban residential subdivisions in Memphis that were created during a building boom in the early 20th century. Architecture is representative of suburban development of that period, including bungalows, cottages, Foursquare, Colonial, Dutch Colonial Tudor and Spanish Revival styles.

Glenview has many well-kept houses and is majority African American. It is also home to Eternal Peace Missionary Baptist Church, The Willet Apartments and Glenview Community Center. Home sizes range from about 1,000 square feet (93 m²) to 3,000 square feet (280 m²).

Source: wikipedia.com

The Anderson Coward House, Memphis, TN

 

The Anderson-Coward House, also known as Justine's Restaurant, is a historic mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

History

The mansion was built circa 1852 for Nathaniel Anderson, a planter. It was designed in the Italianate architectural style. It was purchased by H.M. Grosvenor, until it was acquired by William C. Coward as debt settlement. It was passed on to his son, William Holliday Coward. After his death in the early 1900's, it was inherited by his daughter Ida and her husband, Robert O. Johnston, a lawyer and banker.

The mansion was repurposed as a restaurant in 1958.

Source: wikipedia.com

First Baptist Church, Lauderdale, Memphis, TN

The First Colored Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, also known as First Baptist Church—Lauderdale, was built in 1939 in a vernacular Colonial Revival style, with design attributed to Rev. Thomas O. Fuller.

Front of the church

 

It is a rectangular brick building with brick laid in common bond. It has a limestone fence separating its parking area from the street, which is a c.1890 fence from the former Second Empire-styled Sanford house on the property.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. It was deemed significant for its association with Thomas Oscar Fuller (1867-).

Source: wikipedia.com

Annesdale Neighborhood In Memphis, TN

This home is located off of Peabody Avenue in Memphis in the Annesdale Neighborhood in Memphis TN.


This is another home that is located on Peabody Avenue in the same neighborhood. It is called a foursquare style home.


You will also find in this neighborhood the oldest Cemetery in Memphis. This is where many of the Confederate Soldiers are buried as well as the Yellow Fever Victims.


This is the Church Tomb, located in Elmood Cemetery. Robert Church was one of the first Black Millionaires in Memphis.

D,Canale And Company

D. Canale & Company was founded in 1866 by Italian-American immigrant Domenico Canale. Domenico began working for his uncle, Abraham Vaccaro, who ran A. Vaccero & Co., a wholesale liquor and wine business. Within 5 years he had saved enough to start his own distributing business. Domenico died in 1919 and the company passed down to his eldest son, John D, and then to John D. Jr. Liquor and Beer sales ended during Prohibition, but once the law was repealed, the company continued with Old Dominick whiskey for a time, but eventually shifted its interest to the distribution of beer and produce only. Through the next several years, D. Canale & Co. became the largest produce distributor in the South.



Domenico 'Dominic' Canale (born in 1843), also known as D. Canale, was an Italian-American immigrant who founded the D. Canale & Co. distributorship in Memphis, Tennessee that became the largest distributor of produce throughout the Southern United States and the primary beer distributor for the Mid-South region.

Italian Heritage:

Domenico was from San Pietro di Rovereto, a community within the municipality of Zoagli along the Italian Riviera, approximately 40 km southeast of Genoa. The son of Giovanni Canale and A. Vaccaro, Domenico sailed to America in February 1859 at sixteen years old. He landed in New Orleans after a 65-day voyage, and boarded the steamboat John Simon up the Mississippi River and settled in Memphis, Tennessee.

"Self-Made Man":

D. Canale Storefront on Main Street in Memphis, TN.

Soon after arriving to Memphis in May 1859, Domenico began working for his uncle, who ran a thriving wholesale liquor business. In 1866, Domenico saved up enough money to start up his own produce distribution business, "D. Canale & Co.," which grew considerably throughout the Southern United States as he imported fruits from around the world. The company also packaged and distributed a fine bourbon whiskey called “Old Dominick,” and a number of beers including Pabst Blue Ribbon and Champagne Velvet. It was a natural extension for a produce house to distribute beer, since beer at that time was not pasteurized, and produce houses had refrigeration.

Liquor and beer sales ended during Prohibition, but once the law was repealed, the company shifted its interest to the distribution of beer and produce only. Through the next several years, D. Canale & Co. became the largest produce distributor in the South.

The Southern Historical Association's 1905 book, Notable Men of Tennessee, which profiled prominent Tennesseans at the turn of the 20th Century, observed that "Mr. Canale is what is rightly termed a self-made man, and has won his position in the social and commercial life of Memphis by his industry, his native ability and the exercise of correct business principles." In 1869, D. Canale married Catherine Solari (1850–1923), the sister of Mary Solari, the famous Italian-American painter and first woman admitted to the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. Catherine and Domenico had eight children (5 sons and 3 daughters): John D., Andrew, Anthony, James, Annie (Welsh), Ester (Hoffman), Catherine, and George.^[1] Notable Men of Tennessee also remarked that "[Domenico] is prouder of having rightly reared eight children than he is of his splendid success in business."

D. Canale & Co. in the Modern Era:

D. Canale & Co. Modern Storefront

Following Domenico's death in 1919, the D. Canale & Co. passed down to Domenico's eldest son, John D., and then to John D. Canale Jr. In 1956, D. Canale & Co. sold the produce division, and the company entered the institutional food business. In 1965, a restaurant material business was added, and another food broker was acquired, making D. Canale a force in the institutional food business with distribution in a five-state area.

In 1982, the food and beer business was spun off from the parent company and D. Canale Food Services and D. Canale Beverages were formed. John D. Canale III became president of Food Services and Chris W. Canale became Chairman of D. Canale Beverages. In 1999, D. Canale Food Services was sold to Sara Lee.

D. Canale Beverages, with a payroll of over 200 employees, sold over 5 million cases of Anheuser-Busch products annually and had a gross revenue of $80 million in 2009. Over many decades, it was the primary beer distributor for the Mid-South.

In September 2010, D. Canale & Co. sold its beer distributing business to the Hand Family Beverage Company of Clarksville, TN. D. Canale, a staple of the Mid-South economy for 144 years as one of the oldest businesses in Memphis, is now known as Hand Family Beverage dba Budweiser of Memphis.

Birth:	Jan. 17, 1843
Death:	Jan. 13, 1919
From death certificate: Male, White, Married, Age 76 Occupation - Merchant Birthplace - Italy Father - John Canale, born Italy Mother's Maiden - Antonette Vaccaro, born Italy Informant - James Canale Burial - Calvary Additional information provided by Rebecca Burnham Kallaher: Head of the wholesale fruit firm of D. Canale & Co. of Memphis, TN. Born at San Pietro de Rovereto, Italy. He arrived in this country in Feb. 1859 at the port of New Orleans and then took steamer to Memphis where he was welcomed by his uncles the Vaccaros. For ten years he worked for wages, saved his money, and in 1869 started in the fruit business. He imported fruits from all parts of the world and did an immense business throughout the all the southern states. He was married in 1869 to Miss Catherine Solari a young lady of Italian parentage from the same district in Italy. He belonged to Business Mens Club, the Merchant's Exchange, the Industrial League and was a member of the Catholic Church. Mr. and Mrs. Canale raised a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters. Family links:  Spouse:   Kate Solari Canale (1850 - 1923)*  Children:   John D. Canale (____ - 1934)*   George A. Canale (____ - 1930)*   Anthony J Canale (1879 - 1937)*   Anne Mary Canale Welsh (1888 - 1964)* *Calculated relationship
Burial: Calvary Cemetery  Memphis Shelby County Tennessee, USA
Created by: Carole McCaig Record added: Mar 29, 2009  Find A Grave Memorial# 35311061

  
Source: Wikipedia / Shelby County Archives / Find A Grave

World War II And Korean Memorial

During the late 1950’s, early 1960’s, private citizens of Memphis raised money for a Memorial for those that fought in World War II and the Korean War. After considering many different designs they picked a modern stainless steel fountain to be erected in front of the Front Street Post office [now the University of Memphis Law School]. Besides mixed feelings from the public, the fountain also had other problems. During the cold months a solid sheet of ice would form on the sidewalks from the spray. Soap suds were dumped into it and the bubbles would cover the street and street lights. The homeless would bathe and wash clothes in the fountain and children would jump into the fountain and play in it like it was a kiddy pool. An iron fence was placed around the fountain to stop these actions, but to no avail. The city ordered the fountain removed and taken to the Goldsmith Botanic Gardens where the memorial could be enjoyed. Like a lot of things in Memphis, the fountain was taken down but it either never made it to the gardens or was taken down shortly after. Its current whereabouts are still in question. Today we have Veterans’ Plaza at Overton Park to honor those from Shelby County that fought and died for their country.

Source: Shelby County Archives

Red Boiling Springs, TN

City Hall

Red Boiling Springs is a city in Macon County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,023 at the 2000 census.

History:

Founding:

The area was originally known as Salt Lick Creek due to a salt lick that was located nearby, approximately four miles northwest of current day Red Boiling Springs. The salt lick attracted animals, and, in turn, attracted Native Americans as well as other peoples. Among the people who came to hunt the animal trails was Daniel Boone, who reportedly carved his name and the year, 1775, into a beech tree in a nearby community.

The area was first surveyed and land grants were first awarded in the mid-1780's. The first post office was established in 1829 and was named the Salt Lick Creek post office. In 1847, the post office was renamed "Red Boiling Springs." Sometime in the 1830's, a farmer named Jesse Jones noticed red-colored sulphur water bubbling up from springs on his farm. In 1844, a businessman named Samuel Hare, realizing the springs' commercial potential, purchased a 20-acre (8.1 ha) plot of the Jones farm surrounding the springs, and constructed an inn. The inn's remote location and the region's poor roads likely doomed the venture, however, and the inn was gone by the 1870's.

Tourist attraction:

In 1873, a stagecoach line was established between Red Boiling Springs and Gallatin, where there was a railroad stop. This likely led to renewed commercial interest in the springs, and by 1876, a general store owner named James Bennett had purchased the springs tract and had built a hotel. Bennett's hotel consisted of a row of log cabins flanking a central frame dining hall. In the late 1870s, Nashville newspapers first started mentioning Bennett's hotel and its guests' activities, as it was vogue during the Gilded Age for newspapers to report on daily happenings at upper class and upper-middle class resorts.

The Thomas House, formerly the Cloyd Hotel

 

The 1880's saw a boom in the development of mineral springs resorts as "summer getaways," due in part to the publicity received by places such as Saratoga Springs in New York. During this decade, New York businessman James F. O. Shaugnesy purchased the Red Boiling Springs tract and began development of the area as a resort. In 1889, the town first made the Nashville newspapers' front pages when former Tennessee Governor John C. Brown died of a hemorrhage at one of the hotels. The papers emphasized that due to the isolation of the town and a lack of a telephone or telegraph, there was no way to get help.

During the following decade, a railroad line was extended to Hartsville, and the railroad established a stagecoach line to Red Boiling Springs. With the continued rise in the number of visitors, two local general store owners— Zack and Clay Cloyd— opened the Cloyd Hotel during this period.

In 1905, several investors formed the Red Boiling Springs Water and Realty Company, and the following year purchased the original springs tract from Shaughnesy. By 1916, the company had replaced Shaughnesy's hotel with a lavish 64-room structure named "The Palace." During this same period, road improvements allowed the stagecoach lines to be replaced with automobile taxis, reducing the travel time from the railroad to just three hours. In 1918 there were four hotels in town— the Palace, the Cloyd, the Donoho, and the Central Hotel; a decade later that number doubled and soon after, over a dozen hotels and at least that many boarding houses had been erected to take advantage of tourism. The hotels all followed a similar design plan— two stories with elegant verandas spanning the facade, and interiors containing large dining halls and 50 to 60 rooms (some later doubled or tripled their roomspace with annexes).

While most mineral water resorts fell out of favor as medical science began to question the healing properties of mineral springs, Red Boiling Springs persisted, reaching its peak in the 1920's and 1930's. The resort was visited by many famous personages in the first half of the 20th century. The hotel registers included the names of judges, lawyers, heads of business and industry, famous musicians and singers, and politicians, among them Jo Byrns, Al Gore, Sr., Nathan Bachman, and most notably President Woodrow Wilson.

Although the Great Depression destroyed many Americans' disposable incomes and hence budget for travel, Red Boiling Springs still had large numbers of visitors. The Summer of 1936 brought over 14,000 people to the little hamlet of approximately 800.

The mineral springs and daily life in the resort period:

Mineral springs pump

 

Almost uniquely, five different types of mineral waters are found at Red Boiling Springs. These springs are "mineralized" by their contact with exposed black shale, from which iron sulfate is dissolved into the waters.

Some were named for the color they would turn a silver coin; two, dubbed "Red" and "Black", were from springs which were capped off and then piped throughout the town to a series of wells with manually operated pumps on both public and private property. Along with iron and sulphur, Red and Black waters both contained relatively high amounts of calcium and magnesium. The flavor of the "Red" water was only somewhat sulfurous and seemed to be at least slightly agreeable to many; the "Black" was very-strongly flavored, off-putting to the novice, and an acquired taste (at best) for most. "White" was used only to cure dyspepsia. "Freestone" water contained none of the trace minerals that brought the crowds to the springs but it was by far the most palatable. The most mineralized water, known as "Double and Twist," was named for the effect it had on the person drinking it. "Double and Twist" was advertised as the "only water of its kind in the United States."

Armour Hotel, formerly the Counts Hotel

 

"Taking the waters" at Red Boiling Springs generally consisted of more than merely ingesting them; steam and tub baths featuring the waters and their alleged therapeutic properties were often featured. The bathhouses followed the hydrotherapy regimen developed by John Harvey Kellogg at his Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan, which was very popular at the time. The various waters contained several minerals but sulfur was predominant, giving the waters the scent (and some would say, the flavor) of rotten eggs. There were medical doctors on hand to prescribe which treatments would work for a particular ailment. The mineral waters, either from ingesting them or bathing in them, were touted as cures for diseases such as dyspepsia, hydropsy, diabetes, rheumatism, neuralgia, kidney stones, gonorrhea, and various eye and skin diseases.

An advertising brochure claimed "sickness among the year 'round residents is practically an unknown thing."

As the resort grew, it became the stopping point for minstrel shows, circuses and other entertainments to a far greater degree than typical for towns of its small size. The town boasted a number of "diversions": bowling alleys, tennis courts, shuffle board, croquet, a ballroom, swimming pools, a small golf course, theatre, and an amusement park. The hotels also provided picnics and barbecues. Dancing was the most popular nighttime activity, and many of the hotels had their own orchestras for nightly ballroom dances. String bands also frequented the town, playing mostly at the many taverns scattered around the town's periphery.

Decline:

Red Boiling Springs park

 

Several factors contributed to the town's decline as a major resort. One was a general loss of confidence and interest in the purportedly curative powers of mineral waters by Americans as the 20th century progressed. A new highway system made it easier for people to travel, but it also meant they could travel to other places as well, such as the state parks that were opening. Those who had promoted tourism and the mineral resorts had retired or died and the next generation was not as interested. Some of the hotels had been left in the hands of managers that did not reinvest the profits in the upkeep of the buildings. A number of the hotels burned and were not rebuilt. The townspeople were hesitant to support tourism. The area's general remoteness began to work against it; this was greatly aggravated by World War II and the resultant gasoline rationing. Tourism focus shifted within Tennessee to more highly developed areas such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

By the time the postwar period had arrived, most of the hotels had closed and the area was a shell of its former self. There was a slight rebirth during the 1950's. The town was incorporated on April 27, 1953. A booster club was formed, two of the hotels were restored and new attractions were added. A drive-in billed as the only one of its kind in Middle Tennessee outside of Nashville joined the local theatre. By the early '60's only five hotels remained, then, by the end of the decade, it was back down to three.

1969 Flood:

At 3:30 AM on the morning of June 23, 1969, it started raining. A newspaper reported that by 6:00 AM, the water had risen "about 5 feet above maximum flood level". In six hours the entire Salt Lick Valley was under water. An unofficial report stated that 10 inches of rain fell in 6 hours. Overall, 15 businesses and 35 houses were either heavily damaged or destroyed, and a Trailways bus had been swept approximately 500 feet into a steel-concrete bridge. Whole houses and many cars floated through town. Two young girls were killed in the flood. One was not found until four days later after being swept 4 miles downstream.

State and Federal grant money aided businesses, built watershed dams and help the townsfolk rebuild. By the late 1970's the town began to revisit its history in earnest with an eye to marketing it a tourist destination again, if only on a small scale. Two covered bridges were built, and park lands were developed. Later, a library was built on the site of a former hotel.

Present day:

At the beginning of the 21st century, a large water bottling plant was built on the outskirts of town by Nestlé, where water is bottled from Bennet Hill Springs, a source of Freestone water. Ironically, the plant removes all the natural minerals from the water by reverse osmosis and later adds a specific mixture of minerals to give it a consistent taste.

Salt Lick Creek

The old hand pumps that stood on public land were made inoperable because of liability issues that could occur. The hand pumps can still be seen on private property around town, and some people still believe in the curative powers of the mineral waters. As of 2010, three of the historic hotels were in operation, with The Armour Hotel still offering a full complement of steam treatment, mineral tub baths, and therapeutic massage.

Education:

Red Boiling Springs School is a K-12 public institution that is overseen by the Macon County School System. It has 671 total students and 41 teachers, making a student-teacher ratio of 1:16.

The school offers the following sports:

• Basketball
• Baseball
• Softball
• Golf
• Volleyball
• Cheerleading
• Football

Festivals and attractions:

The town is home to several annual events. The first Saturday in June brings the Folk Medicine Festival back to the city parks along the banks of the Salt Lick Creek. The goal of the festival is to pass on knowledge, skills and traditions that ensure the survival of folklife activities from old time medicine and natural healing arts to the skills of the home and farm.

The Donoho Hotel hosts the annual Red Boiling Spring Bluegrass Festival on the first Friday and Saturday in June. The event is for both professional and "shade tree pickers".

One of the biggest annual festivals in Tennessee, The Summer Solstice, attracts around 2,000 people every year for 3 days of camping out on an organic farm listening to live music, and eating fresh organic food. Marked by the 1st day of summer and longest day of the year the celebration is usually put off until the following weekend.

The Middle Tennessee Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America holds their antique car show in Red Boiling Springs each year. The event is always scheduled for the first Friday and Saturday after Labor Day and held on the lawn of The Thomas House Hotel. This event has been held for over 50 years.

How'd Dey Do Dat? Day is held the second Saturday in October. It is a rural heritage celebration held just outside of city limits on the Ritter Farm with demonstrations of "old time skills", i.e. blacksmith shop, grist mill, horse drawn equipment, quilting, candle making.

Red Boiling Springs is also home to Tennessee's only motorcycle museum, Cyclemos, which holds an annual Show and Old School Swap Meet that draws thousands of visitors and bikes.

The Thomas House Hotel is home to a series of year round Ghost Hunt Weekends where guests get to search for clues to the paranormal with celebrity ghost hunters, while staying and eating at this historic hotel.

External Links:

• Red Boiling Springs official website
• Red Boiling Springs School official website
• Middle Tennessee Antique Automobile Club of America
• National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: Early Twentieth Century Resort Buildings of Red Boiling Springs
• Tennessee Historical Society
• Red Boiling Springs History

 

Adamsville, TN

Buford Pusser home

Adamsville is a town in Hardin and McNairy counties, Tennessee. The population was 2,207 at the 2010 census. Adamsville is named after George D. Adams, who operated an inn and stagecoach stop in the 1840's. Adamsville's nickname is the "Biggest Little Town in Tennessee" and was the home of Sheriff Buford Pusser.

History:

The area in and around Adamsville was first surveyed by Davy Crockett. Just after 1818, George C. Adams and his family were the first settlers of European ancestry to locate to the area. A trading post would be opened, just north of where the Adamsville Cemetery is today. The trading post served the local Native communities and Anglo settlers. In 1838 the Bell's detachment of the Trail of Tears traveled through Adamsville. Settlers from North Carolina and Maury County, Tennessee migrated to the area and the settlement developed an agricultural economy. When the Battle of Shiloh was fought in 1862, Union Army soldiers were camped in Adamsville.

Adamsville was incorporated in 1870.  The town struggled to grow until roads were improved in the early 20th century. Agriculture remained the main economic developer until the textile industry came into the area with Myrna Mills factory opening, and then other factories following.

Economy:

Adamsville has an 85 acre industrial park and four miles east of the town proper is the Tennessee Technology Center. Masco's southern unit for their bath accessories and products is located in Adamsville. Riley Industries, a parts supplier for the automotive industry and related industrial fabricators, has its corporate headquarters in the town. Jones Exhaust Systems, engineering consultants Aqua Dynamics Group, Langley Wire Cloth Products, and Better Source Supply Company all have major locations in the town, as well. The Adamsville Partnership organization was formed by local businesses, property owners, professionals and related parties to promote the community.

Arts and Culture:

A slugburger with onion rings.

 

Adamsville's Fat Cat Grill serves "slugburgers", a delicacy found in west Tennessee, northeast Mississippi and northwest Alabama. The Fat Cat slugburger consists of a hamburger patty made of beef and soy grits which is then deep fried and served on a bun with condiments. Another local delicacy is the baked cabbage at the Saw Meal Restaurant and Steakhouse.

Annual Events:

Adamsville holds a large number of annual events. Every Memorial Day weekend the four day Buford Pusser Festival is held at the Buford Pusser Memorial Park. The local preliminary for Miss Tennessee, the Miss Walking Tall Pageant is held at the Marty community center. A number of other cultural events such as the HeeHaw Show, the Adamsville Music Fest, the Miss Adamsville Music Fest Pageant, the Buford Pusser Horse Show, a fall festival and two Christmas events also take place.

Points of Interest:

The Buford Pusser Home and Museum is located in Adamsville in the former home of the county sheriff. Pusser is also buried in the Adamsville Cemetery.  Gibb's Gas & Oil Collectibles is an appointment only museum of old gas pumps, gas and oil signs, oil cans, and other service station memorabilia.

Adamsville's public library is the Irving Meek Jr. Memorial Library.   The local War Memorial Park is located off of Highway 64 and Old Stage. It commemorates veterans and those who died from Adamsville in World War I and II, the Korean War and Vietnam War.  The Old Home Motel was built in 1960 by Joe and Juanita Richardson. Buford Pusser lived at the hotel for a time, and Elvis Presley stayed the night there.

Parks and Recreation:

Established in 1998, the Adamsville Recreation & Parks Department maintains flag and American football leagues, a cheerleading team, basketball and soccer teams. The town also offers other sports for youth and adults including softball and baseball. Every year the department plans a 5K run to coincide with the annual Buford Pusser Memorial Festival. The city park, also named after Buford Pusser, sits on land that was founded as a sandlot and horse barn by Pusser and the Adamsville Jaycees in 1973. The city park formed out of a fundraiser which featured musicians George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and continued funding and grants go towards improving the park. The city park has a lighted basketball court and tennis courts, a playground, three ball fields, an open air pavilion, grills and picnic tables, and a walking track.  Shiloh Golf Course is an 18-hole golf course. The golf course is on historical land: the number two and number four greens lie along the road where General Lew Wallace marched his three brigades to the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1852.

The department also maintains a senior center which distributes Meals on Wheels and related services. The Marty community center is also maintained by the Recreation & Parks department for public use and also has live entertainment, including the monthly Adamsville Bluegrass Jamboree.

Government:

Adamsville's government consists of a City Commission: a mayor and four commissioners. Every two years elections are held on the first Saturday of October, and the mayor and commissioners serve four year staggered terms. The town also has a city administrator, who serves in a full-time paid position overseeing general day to day needs of the city business.

Education:

The town is served by two public schools: Adamsville Elementary School and Adamsville Jr/Sr High School. The elementary school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and serves pre-kindergarten to 6th graders. The high school provides education to 7-12th graders in the county. The school has been listed as one of U.S. News & World Report's best high schools in America. The school mascot is the cardinal.

Notable people:

McNairy County sheriff Buford Pusser lived in Adamsville.  The 44th Governor of Tennessee, Ray Blanton, lived in Adamsville and is buried in Shiloh National Military Park.  Miss Tennessee USA 2011 and Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2006, Ashley Durham, is from Adamsville.  Rock n' roll disc jockey Dewey Phillips was born in Adamsville and is buried in nearby Crump Cemetery.

External Links:

• Adamsville Website
• Ashley Durham returns to Adamsville
• "Buford Pusser, the Man, his Career, and Tragedies"
• Adamsville Schools
• Our City Leaders
• History of Adamsville

• Welcome to the Town of Adamsville

    

Source: Internet

Michie, TN

Michie is a town in McNairy County, Tennessee. The population was 647 at the 2000 census and 591 at the 2010 census.

Newspaper:

Michie's newspaper is the McNairy County News, which has the largest following of any weekly newspaper on facebook in the state of Tennessee. They are located at 252 Mulberry Ave. in Selmer and Independent Appeal. It was founded in 1902. It is located at 111 N. 2nd St. in Selmer.

Source: Internet

Bethel Springs, TN

Bethel Springs City Hall and Fire Department in November 2013.

Bethel Springs is a town in McNairy County, Tennessee. The population was 718 at the 2010 census.

Notable people:

• Albert Brewer, 47th governor of Alabama

Source: Internet

Milledgville, TN

Milledgeville is a town in Chester, Hardin, and McNairy counties, Tennessee. The population was 265 at the 2010 census.

Source: Internet

Voodoo Village - The Temple

"Voodoo Village" in Memphis Tennessee, somehow got stuck with that name in the sixties. The Village and it's owners, the Harris family, have suffered through countless indignities as a the residents of a grossly misunderstood urban legend. For better or worse, almost everybody who grew up in the Mid-South has a Voodoo Village story. For 50 years, the site has been the focus of harassment, vandalism, and now decay. Unlike the many exploitative clips you can find elsewhere, this film was made with the blessing of the owners. It was made with the help of Washington "Mook" Harris - the caretaker, produced by Perry Walker and directed by Eric Wilson in 2007. Mr. Walker has also published a book of photography of the artworks and the grounds. The goal of this film is to help people understand the true nature of the place - which is actually known as St. Paul's Holiness Temple. The temples and artworks were inspired by Biblical stories and Masonic iconography, not Voodoo. The Temple is the most amazing place in Memphis and a holy place if there ever was one. We hope to help the Harris family preserve the Temple before it turns back into earth, and let people know a little bit of the truth about this wonderful place.

Click Here to watch the video.

External Links:

Voodoo Village 50 Years
The Truth About Voodoo Village
Haunted American Tours 
Voodoo Village

Source: vimeo.com

Norris, TN

Norris is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 1,491 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Norris was built as a model planned community by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933 to house workers building Norris Dam on the Clinch River. It is named in honor of Nebraska Senator George W. Norris, a long-term supporter of the TVA.

Hydraulics laboratory building in the 1930's

 

TVA chairman Arthur Morgan envisioned Norris as a model of cooperative, egalitarian living. The city design was developed by TVA staff, who loosely based their design on the English garden city movement of the 1890's. Winding roads followed the contour of the terrain. Houses did not always face the street. A central common green and a belt of rural land around the town were reserved for use by residents. The houses, which were some of the first all-electric homes, were built using local wood and stone, according to twelve basic house designs that each included a porch and fireplace. Different exterior materials were used for visual variety.

Norris represents the first use of greenbelt design principles in a self-contained town in the United States. The town was the first in Tennessee to have a complete system of dial telephones. Norris Creamery was the first milk-producing plant in the world to be powered solely by electricity.

During the 1930's TVA officials excluded black families from the city, purportedly to conform to the customs and traditions of the area. However, black leaders said that poor whites and blacks had lived and worked together in the area long before the TVA came into existence. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) complained repeatedly (in 1934, 1935 and 1938) about racial discrimination by the TVA in the hiring, housing and training of blacks.

In 1948 the U.S. Congress directed that the city be sold at public auction. It was purchased for US$2.1 million by a Philadelphia investment group headed by Henry D. Epstein, which then sold individual homes to their residents. The city was officially incorporated in 1949. In 1953 the Epstein group sold its remaining Norris real estate to a corporation formed by Norris residents and known as the Norris Corporation.

Norris District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
One of the standard house designs in the planned community of Norris
Location:	Town of Norris on U.S. 441, Norris, Tennessee
Built:	1934
Architect:	Tennessee Valley Authority
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	75001727
Added to NRHP:	July 10, 1975

The town, including 340 buildings and an area of about 4,000 acres (16 km²), was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 as an historic district, designated the Norris District.
Today Norris primarily serves as a bedroom community for Knoxville and Oak Ridge. Services available within the community include one elementary school serving grades K-5, one middle school serving grades 6-8, a small grocer, and many other small businesses. The community's high school students attend Anderson County High School.

The Museum of Appalachia, founded by John Rice Irwin, is a popular attraction in Norris. Norris is a short distance from Norris Dam State Park, part of which is in the city, and Big Ridge State Park, which include popular camping areas.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.2 square miles (18.6 km²), all of it land. A large portion of this area is contained in the Norris Municipal Watershed, which has an area of more than 2,200 acres (8.9 km²) and is managed for water supply, recreation, timber production, and wildlife, including deer hunting. There are nearly 20 miles (32 km) of recreation trails on the watershed area.

Government

The government of Norris is vested in a mayor, a vice mayor and a three member city council. As of December 2012, the current mayor of Norris is Chris Mitchell. The vice mayor is Jack Black. The council members are: Bill Grieve, York Haverkamp, and Loretta Painter.

The original city hall was located in an old TVA dormitory on Ridgeway Drive until 1978, when it was destroyed by a fire. The cause was never determined. The city hall then moved to a location on Chestnut Road, but this location was destroyed in a fire in 2002. The facility on Chestnut Drive was reconstructed and continues to serve as a City Office and Community Building. The Norris Public Safety Department is located at 23 West Circle Road.

The city of Norris also helps fund a public library. The library has about 20,000 materials in its collection, which is located in the McNeeley Municipal Building.

External links

• City of Norris official website
• Betty Anne Jolly Community Library
• Norris, TN at the Open Directory Project

Source: Internet