Murfreesboro Bicentennial lecture focuses on Dixie Highway

The Murfreesboro Post, June 19, 2012

In celebration of Murfreesboro’s Bicentennial “Rivers, Roads, Rails, and Trails Month,” the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County invites the public to attend a free lecture at 4:30 p.m. Friday, June 22.

Leslie N. Sharp, author of Tennessee’s Dixie Highway: From Springfield to Chattanooga, will speak on the Dixie Highway route specifically through Rutherford County and how it impacted the local area. Sharp, who is currently assistant dean at Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture, became enamored with the Dixie Highway while studying historic preservation at MTSU.

Her pictorial history book, published by Arcadia in 2011, showcases more than 200 vintage photographs telling the story of the people, places, politics, and organizations behind the construction of the highway through Tennessee.

Signed copies of her book will be available for $20 cash. An original Dixie Highway Map of Rutherford County along with a private collection of gas station images taken in the 1980s will also be on display in the Heritage Center Exhibit Gallery the afternoon of the lecture.

Located just off the historic square at 225 W. College St., The Heritage Center is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday (excluding major holidays) and features guided walking tours of the town square on the hour. Group tours are available Monday through Saturday by advance reservations. Admission is free.

For more information, please call 615-217-8013.

The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County is a joint venture between the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Main Street: Murfreesboro/Rutherford County, the City of Murfreesboro, and the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU. Additional support comes from the Rutherford County government and State Farm Insurance.

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