President’s Grandpa Spoke his Peace
Greg Tucker, Rutherford County Historian, Froe Chips, January/February, 2021 James K. Polk had some close ties to Rutherford County. He attended school in Murfreesboro in 1814, and in 1824 married Sara Childress, daughter of a prominent Murfreesboro family. Shortly before his marriage, Polk was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly.…
William Holland—Hero of the American Civil War
Carol Berning, RCHS Frow Chips, January/February, 2021 Just outside the Hazen Brigade Cemetery wall at Stones River National Battlefield stand two military grave stones. They mark the resting place of William Holland (1834-1909) and William Harlan (1895-1979). William Holland began his life as a slave. I have created a brief…
Cross Lanes School (Christiana) 1868-1908
CROSS LANES SCHOOL, sometimes called CROSS ROADS and KATY’S ACADEMY f 1. 1868-1908, was located about four miles southeast of Christiana on the south side of Wayside Road at its intersection with Woodfin and Sledge Roads. Judge Tillman Davis Johnson wrote in his “Memoirs”: “During that same period I went…
Big Springs School, 1918-1941
BIG SPRING SCHOOL 1918-1941 was built on the site of the former school. In 1918 there was a dire need for a new school. Will Newman was the teacher and his father owned the sawmill nearby. After the people of the community had brought their logs to be sawed, the…
Big Spring School, 1874-1918
BIG SPRING SCHOOL 1874-1918 was two miles east of the Manchester Highway on the south side of Big Spring Road. It was a lower school, just west of the Big Creek and across from the intersection of the present Cobb Road. On March 2, 1874, Wesley Lowe deeded to School…
Big Spring School, 1881-1899
BIG SPRING SCHOOL 1881-1898 or 1899 was an upper school about one mile east of Big Spring on the south side of Big Spring Road and west of the Baptist church. On August 22, 1881, W. D. Mankin signed a deed for a school to School Commissioners W. B. Mankin,…
Beech Grove Male and Female Academy, aka Beech Grove College, 1869-c1892
BEECH GROVE MALE AND FEMALE ACADEMY, frequently called BEECH GROVE COLLEGE chartered Dec. 9, 1869-c 1892, was located on College Hill on the north side of Garrison Road about one-half mile east of Beech Grove and the Manchester Highway. The land, overlooking the Garrison Fork, was given by Alfred Jacobs.…
LaVergne – An Early History and Name Origin
From Shirlie Runnels Chaney via www.lavergnetn.gov Early History Buchanan land: That is what the first settlement was called that later became La Vergne. It was originally located in what was later to become Davidson County and Rutherford County, but in the beginning of the city, it was just a part…
1948 Kittrell High School Basketball Team
January 14, 2021 RCHS Board Member Bill Wilson My father played basketball for Kittrell High School as shown in this 1948 photo. Metal detector enthusiast Wayne Reed is behind the ball and my father – Floyd Wilson – is to the right of him. Coach Jack Jarrett is top left.…
Snowy Day on North Maple Street
January 11, 2021 by Local Historian Bill Jakes FROM BILL JAKES: “On a snowy day, much like today (ed. January 11, 2021), photographer Lee Lively took a stroll around town and snapped a few pictures. This photo was taken on North Maple Street, near the present day Rutherford County health…
Raiders Claw Cats 50-44 in First-Ever NCAA Tournament Win!
March 11, 1982, Vanderbilt’s memorial Gynasium Story by Don Harris, Photo by Jack Ross NASHVILLE — “Maybe we were looked at as a sacrificial lamb,” Blue Raider head coach Stan “Ramrod” Simpson said of Middle Tennessee. “That lamb turned into a raging bull tonight.” The raging bull—Middle Tennessee State University’s…
Jakes College, 1890-1904
JAKES COLLEGE 1890-1904 was south of the Woodbury Road on the east side of Weeks Road about 1/2 mile south of its intersection with Coleman Road. The school was named for Jake Zumbro who gave the land for the school. The schoolhouse was a frame building with a high, steep…
History in the making at Stones River National Battlefield
January 3, 2021, Brett Garner, RCHS Volunteer Most all of us are at least aware of the park which is Stones River National Battlefield. What you may not have yet heard about is the 48-acre recent expansion of the park. This feat was made possible with grants from the American…
Davis Food Market, LaVergne, Tennessee
Davis Food Market, once located at 5428 Nashville Hwy., LaVergne, Tennessee, was owned by Hoover Davis and daughter Jean Hensley.
General Thomas Benton Smith
December 28, Susan Harber, The Daily News Journal General Thomas Benton Smith was born in 1838 in a hamlet Mechanicsville (a few miles from DeWitt Jobe’s home). He experienced a fun, exciting, and uncomplicated childhood with cousins DeWitt Jobe and Dee Smith. Fate would tragically reveal a coming horizon, as…
Possum Trot School, 1878-1896
POSSUM TROT SCHOOL 1878-1896 was located on a dirt road about 1.5 miles south of the old dirt Franklin Road and west of the present Coleman Hill Road. The site is marked on the Beers Map of 1878. The school was a one-room log building about twenty by twenty-four feet.…
Rucker Seminary (Rucker), 1890-1926
RUCKER SEMINARY 1890-c 1926 was located about seven miles south of Murfreesboro on Rucker Road which runs east off the Murfreesboro-Shelbyville Highway. The school was on the north side of the road just east of the railroad and the intersection of the present Rucker-Christiana Road. In a deed dated July…
48 Acres Saved at Stones River National Battlefield
December 18, 2020 The American Battlefield Trust Thanks to federal and state agencies, a generous corporate entity, and the enduring dedication of our members, 48-acres of battlefield at Stones River is now protected forever!
De Jarnett School (Barfield), 1883-1893
DE JARNETT SCHOOL 1883 – c 1893 was on the east side of the West Fork of Stones River and on the north side of the road that runs from Barfield to the Shelbyville Highway. The name De Jarnett on the 1878 Beers Map shows the location of the farm.…
Barfield Baptist Heralds 122 Years of Active Ministry
On November 15, 2020, Barfield Baptist Church realized a dream come true, as they celebrated a new expansive building at 550 Veterans Parkway in their new sanctuary. Today we will reflect on the earliest history of this special congregation. The hub of Barfield in primitive days included a general store,…