Rutherford County Tennessee Historical Society

Preserve and Promote OUR local history!

The Rutherford County Historical Society has been preserving and promoting OUR local history since 1971. Perhaps you are researching your family, your property, perhaps just plain, old fun facts - the RCHS is an exceptional resource. The RCHS hosts 'Coffee & Conversation' each Saturday morning from 9AM-noon at the Ransom School House Museum, 717 North Academy Street, Murfreesboro (Tennessee). VERY informal, VERY fun and VERY informative. Our funding comes from membership dues, grants, a trust fund and donations. We have no paid staff - we are all volunteers thus every penny of your membership dues or donations goes to preserving and promoting our local history.

Great find caused by meeting at National Cemetery

Matt Bolch, The Daily News Journal, March 31, 1989 A coincidental meeting at the Stones River National Cemetery led to a great find about the Park. About four years ago while having a program at the cemetery, Superintended Don Magee noticed a falimy putting a pot of yellow mums on…

Gen. Palmer renowned for bravery, fidelity

Mike West, Daily News Journal, March 31, 1989 Even the most probing look at the old Palmer residence on East Main Street does little to reveal the character of the battle-scarred general who built it. Joseph benjamin Palmer, lawyer turned soldier, built the massive Victorian-styled structure following the Civil War…

Skatecenter of Murfreesboro

Daily News Journal, March 31, 1989 Mid-State Roller Rink began operation in Rutherford County on April 1, 1955. It was located on Lascassas Hwy. (now the Old Lascassas Hwy.) in a 5,000 square foot building located at the intersection of Northfield Blvd and Old Lascassas Hwy. One June 6, 1960,…

Davis was a brave man who laughed ’til the end

Sam Stockard, The Daily News Journal, March 31, 1989 “He was a brave man, and if ever a man died game, he did, for he talked and laughed with his executioners till the very last.” Ironically, the words were written by a Union soldier after he witnessed the hanging in…

Rutherford painfully aware of heritage

John McGlone, The Daily News Journal, March 31, 1989 Commentary from Dr. John McGlone, Middle Tennessee State University Southerners are acutely – sometimes painfully – aware of their heritage, and Rutherford Countians are no exception. The 30th century is often perceived as too crowded, fast-paced, stressful and less genteel, while…

Bart Walker speaks on the history of Local Radio

Monday, May 20, 2019, Rutherford County Archive Building The Rutherford County Historical Society held its monthly meeting at 7:00 o’clock Monday (5/20/2019) night and WGNS’ Bart Walker shared the history of Murfreesboro’s first radio station. Walker noted, “WGNS rang-in the New Year of 1947, a time when there were no…

Greg Tucker receives due recognition

Monday, May 20, 2019, WGNS Radio Last night’s program featured Bart Walker of WGNS Radio. WHAT A PROGRAM!!! We also witnessed a special treat at State Representative Mike Sparks and Smyrna Historian Marty Luffman presented Rutherford County Historian Greg Tucker a State proclamation thanking Greg for his dedication to OUR…

Bradley’s Creek Baptist Church 200th Anniversary

May 19, 2019, Bradley’s Creek Baptist Church Bradley’s Creek Baptist Church has been a positive spiritual force in the Lascassas/Milton communities for 200 years!

Happy 200th Anniversary: Bradley’s Creek Baptist

May 15, 2019, WGNS Radio This coming Sunday (5/19/2019) is a day that will long be remembered by the congregation at Bradley Creek Baptist Church in the Lascassas community. That flock celebrates a major milestone, a special 1:00 o’clock afternoon service is planned to celebrate their bicentennial. Their historic structure…

Saturday, May 18, 12:30PM

Saturday, May 18, 12:30PM, Ransom School House, 717 North Academy Street: RCHS Board meeting. Remember, you don’t have to be on the Board to attend.

Edmonds of Eagleville known as a master inventor

May 7, 2019, Susan Harber, The Daily News Journal Thomas Edison once said, “I never did perfect an invention I did not think of in terms of service to others … I find what the world needs and proceed to invent.” Today, those same words are strongly applicable to our…

The Hartman-Alexander-Dee-Stroop Home (aka Erin-Aeol)

March/April, 2019 Froe Chips, Barry Lamb When one drives down the bustling thoroughfare know as Memorial Boulevard, it is difficult to imagine the rustic scene that once dominated the landscape where the Hartman-Alexander-Dee-Stroop home once claimed its habitation when it was first built. That edifice, formerly located at 1433 Lebanon…

In the Shadow of the Knob

March/April, 2019 Froe Chips, Pettus Read Located on the Bicentennial Capitol Mall in Nashville, you will find a huge 200-foot granite walk-upon map detailing the state of Tennessee. As your foot steps cover the state outlined in the Tennessee carved stone, you will find yourself crossing rivers, large cities, small…

The First Five Mayors of Murfreesboro

March/April, 2019 Froe Chips, Barry Lamb 1818- Haskell, Joshua was born, according to an unverified source on April 9, 1786 in Providence, Rhode Island. He came to Davidson County, Tennessee before 1811 as he appears on a tax list there during that year. It is believed that he came to…

Rutherford was Railroad Country

March/April, 2019 Froe Chips, Greg Tucker, Rutherford County Historian The Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad (N&C) was chartered on December 11, 1845, for the sole purpose of building and operating a rail link between the two namesake cities. Right-of-way acquisition and construction began immediately using Irish immigrant and contract slave labor.…

Practical Preservation

March/April, 2019 Froe Chips, Bobby Turman, RCHS Board Member The goal of historical preservation is to…well, preserve. This can come in all forms: digital copying of pictures, battling the advance of vegetation into a cemetery, or perhaps repairing the stitching on a hoop skirt. Sometimes, preservation has a more practical,…

C. B. Arnette reclaimed the Heritage from his Family’s Log Home for the Ransom School House

March/April, 2019, Froe Chips, editor Carol White It was both a comprehensive process and a labor of love that prompted C.B. Arnette to use the logs from the Arnette family home, once located at 2403 Halls Hill Pike, for the Ransom School House construction. The home was built in the…

Murfreesboro Airport terminal demolished, $4.5 million replacement on the way

May 1, 2019, Mealand Ragland-Hudgins, The Daily News Journal Murfreesboro Airport workers said goodbye to the city’s nearly 70-year-old terminal earlier this week. Demolition of the terminal took place on Monday and cleanup at the site along Memorial Boulevard is underway, Airport Manager Chad Gerkhe said. Removing debris should take…

Monday, May 20, 7:00PM

Monday, May 20, 7:00PM, Rutherford County Archive Building, 435 Rice Street (down from the Murfreesboro Athletic Club) Bart Walker of Murfreesboro’s WGNS Radio will present the history of radio in Rutherford County. WGNS, Rutherford County’s ‘Good Neighbor Station’ came on the air 10PM, December 31, 1946, when Rutherford County had…

In Pursuit of Life and Liberty

Parri Ordoubadian, The Daily News Journal, June 25, 1978 A couple of years ago helping a refugee adjust to this country was the latest rage. The influx of Laotian refugees into this country was one of the biggest topics of conversation. But, just like any other fad, the word ‘refugee’…

Join the RCHS today!

Believe it or not, the $25-a-year family membership is our primary source of income. $25 goes a long, long ways to helping preserve our local history. A membership runs from January 1 – December 31 each year.