Nancy De Gennaro, Daily News Journal, June 29, 2015
KITTRELL COMMUNITY — Probably the most famous person to reside in the Kittrell Community is the late Grand Ole Opry star Uncle Dave Macon. During the second
The old Uncle Dave Macon home in Kittrell is located at 9540 Woodbury Pike. Ty York and his mother, Betty, purchased the place and hope to one day open it to the public during the annual festival.
(Photo: John A. Gillis/DNJ)
weekend of each July, Uncle Dave Macon Days Old-Time Music Festival honors the memory of this musical pioneer and legendary banjo player.
Lifelong resident Nancy Jones McNabb has fond memories of the colorful Uncle Dave, who visited her family’s home every Christmas morning.
“We would be trying to get off to go to my grandmother’s … and Uncle Dave would come down to our house,” said McNabb, whose home was located about a mile away from Macon’s homeplace on Woodbury Pike.
Macon “liked to have his drink,” joked the 92-year-old McNabb. So Macon would ask McNabb’s family to “fix him a toddy” using the whiskey they saved for holiday boiled custard. “My father didn’t drink,” assured McNabb.
She also remembers the famed musician picking his banjo on the front porch of Earl McCrary’s store, which was located across the street from Macon’s home, which still stands today.
This historical marker points out the cemetery where the Dixie Dew Drop, Uncle Dave Macon, is buried. (Photo: Nancy De Gennaro/DNJ)
A native of Warren County, Macon moved to Kittrell in the late 1800s after marrying Matilda Richardson. They raised seven boys in the home, located just a few miles outside Murfreesboro city limits in the Kittrell Community. Macon moved there and started a wagon freight service between Woodbury and Murfreesboro, but it later folded after automobiles took over as the mode of transportation for goods. So he took to the stage full time.
Macon’s old home is now owned by Ty York and his mom, Betty York.
“We were just looking for a farm to buy. We didn’t even know whose it was,” said Ty York, a native of Smyrna who purchased the home in 2010.
But York soon found out it was the former homeplace of Dave Macon when fans started pulling into his driveway during the annual Uncle Dave Macon Days festival.
When the first visitors told York who used to own the house, he said he didn’t believe them.
But the multiple visitors prompted York to look into the history of Macon and the house.
“We’ve tried to find out all we can. We’re always researching,” York said. “We’ve been trying to get pictures of what the inside of the house looked like.”
York said the family who purchased the home after Macon’s death did some renovations.
Haynes Chapel United Methodist Church, 5093 Woodbury Pike, is where Uncle Dave Macon’s funeral was held in 1952. (Photo: Nancy De Gennaro/DNJ)
“The kitchen now was his wife’s bedroom,” York said. “A good part of the back of the house was built in the 1970s.”
York said he believes the main rooms in the front of the house included Uncle Dave’s room and a living room, which was once the log cabin part of the home that was built in 1843. The log section isn’t visible, as it has been covered in sheet rock. The renovations also included adding drop ceilings.
“We’d like to change it back to what it looked like. … We’ve been talking about doing that for several years,” York said. “We want to strip it back to where it was originally. We just wanted it to be an old, rustic farmhouse.”
Money is a major inhibitor, however, York said.
“Everything is so old in the house. We’re trying to make it to where we can actually live in it,” York said. “It’s going to take a lot of years and a lot of money to change it. Eventually, I’d like to start with the Macon room. That’s probably the easiest room to put back to the original.”
The Macon room was where Uncle Dave spent most of his time. York has been collecting 1920s-era records he made, among other Uncle Dave memorabilia, to decorate the room. Bill Knowlton, “Bluegrass Ramble Barn Dance” host and Uncle Dave Macon Days announcer, really introduced York to Uncle Dave’s music.
Members of Dave Macon’s family are buried in Rutherford County. (Photo: Nancy De Gennaro/DNJ)
“He gave us a whole set of Uncle Dave Macon music, and it just thrilled us to death. We’d never listened to that music before until we found out about (Uncle Dave). The old country music is pretty addictive,” York said. “When you listen to the music and know you’re sitting in the same room where he played it … you feel like Uncle Dave is right there with you.”
His hopes are to be able to open the home during the festival weekend once it’s fixed up, York said.
“We’ve met some pretty cool musicians that came by and talked to us. If I ever did have something, (musicians) could come sit in the yard and play for fun. Not for money or anything, but because it’s interesting,” York said.
Having the house open to the public may be closer to reality than expected. The late Middle Tennessee State University music historian Charles Wolfe was able to get the Grand Ole Opry star’s homeplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to Uncle Dave Macon Days Executive Director Ben Wilson.
Even though the house isn’t yet open to visitors, the public can still pay homage to the Grand Ole Opry’s first superstar at the Uncle Dave Macon Days Old-Time Music Festival July 10-12 at Cannonsburgh Pioneer Village. For more details, visituncledavemacondays.com.
“He would be so thrilled that they have this festival in his honor. He liked that kind of recognition,” McNabb said.
Contact Nancy De Gennaro at 615-278-5148 or [email protected], or follow her on Twitter @DNJMama.
If you go
What: Uncle Dave Macon Days Old-Time Music Festival
When: July 10-12
Where: Cannonsburgh Pioneer Village, 312 S. Front St., Murfreesboro
Cost: $10 per day for adults and $5 for age 55 and older on July 10-11; $5 per person on July 12; free for ages 12 and younger; free parking at City Hall on Vine Street with paid parking on Front Street and Hickerson Drive
Tickets: Available at uncledavemacondays.com or at the gate