Smyrna home among Tennessee’s endangered historic sites

Nancy DeGennaro, Daily News Journal, November 1, 2015

SMYRNA — The Johns-King House, one of Rutherford County’s oldest residences, has been named by the Tennessee Preservation Trust as one of the state’s most threatened historic sites.

“The ‘Ten in Tenn’ are the 10 most endangered historic properties in Tennessee. Our listing them raises public awareness and helps local groups in their efforts to raise funding to preserve them for future generations,” said Dr. Charles Womack, TPT board chair.

Since 2001, the list has been released annually to raise public awareness of Tennessee’s endangered historic resources and give credibility to restoration efforts across the state. Of the 110 previously listed properties, close to half have been saved or are in the process of being protected/rehabilitated and many have received grants for restoration.

“Ten in Tenn provides an opportunity for education and action. We want to inform the public about endangered historic structures that have significance for a specific place or the entire state/nation. Once the public knows why this building or that is important, we want them to embrace that history and urge them to join us in preserving these treasures for future generations,” said Dr. Michael Birdwell, TPT Board Vice Chair.

Criteria for listing parallels nationwide standards set by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Eligible properties include historically and architecturally significant sites in need of immediate action to stop or reverse serious threats.

“I’m the one who nominated it to the list,” said Pat Cummins, president of the Native History Association and state director of the Tennessee Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association.

Cummins said the Johns-King house is notable because of numerous historical ties to the earliest days of Rutherford County. The Johns-King House is also one of less than 10 structures left standing in the county that bore witness to the Trail of Tears, which was the government’s forced migration of Native Americans.

Built in 1807 by Revolutionary War Col. Robert Weakley, the home is located at 845 Old Jefferson Pike in the northern end of Rutherford County in Jefferson, which was once the county seat.

Weakley joined the Revolutionary Army at the age of 16 when Tennessee was still part of North Carolina and ventured to what is now Middle Tennessee in 1785. He established a plantation in what is now East Nashville and became a prominent politician and member of Tennessee’s First General Assembly, Cummins explained.

The businessman was also a speculator and surveyor, “which is where he made most of his money,” Cummins said.

Weakley was cofounder of Jefferson, which was established as a port town on the Stones River and became the economic hub of the county for around 10 years, Cummins said. But by 1811, the county’s population shifted south to what is now Murfreesboro, he said.

Geographically, the middle and southern areas of the county were “much more accessible” to the growing population, which eventually outnumbered the northern population.

“People began to complain to the state legislature that they wanted to move the county seat farther south,” Cummins said.

A tract of land around the Murfree Spring was donated and the city of Murfreesboro “took shape,” he said.

Still, more history was to be made at the Johns-King House. The Weakley family was still living in the home around 1838, when the Trail of Tears migration began. The home was located on what was an alternate route of the Trail of Tears, which bypassed Murfreesboro to avoid the toll roads, Cummins said.

“It was used by 4,000 Cherokees to pass through Rutherford County onto Nashville,” Cummins said. “These people would have passed by this house.”

Not long after the Trail of Tears, the family sold the home in 1840 to Thomas Johns. A little more than 20 years later, the Civil War literally arrived on the home’s doorstep.

“In 1862, Confederate Gen. Joseph Wheeler launched a raid against the Union wagon train on Old Jefferson (Pike) and following a skirmish, the house was used as a Confederate hospital,” Cummins said.

Wheeler was able to slow the progression of the Union Army with his efforts, although just a few weeks later the historic Battle of Stones River would take place Dec. 31, 1862, through Jan. 2, 1863.

The house then sold again in 1863 to Benjamin King and his wife, Mary, whose home in the La Vergne settlement was burned by the Union Army.

“Given those various levels of history, it makes the house a unique historical treasure for Rutherford County and for Smyrna, in general,” said Cummins, who noted that the home predates the historic Sam Davis Home in Smyrna by three years. Sam Davis was the Confederate scout who refused to divulge the name of a source and was hanged by the Union Army.

Today the home is in great disrepair, Cummins said. The restoration project is a monumental undertaking and is going to take a lot of resources to restore it.

In recent years, Cummins has worked closely with Sen. Bill Ketron who has “really taken this on as his personal project.”

Hopes are for grants or private donors to join the preservation efforts as well, Cummins said.

“We’re very glad to see the house selected as one of the Ten in Tenn and we hope to raise public awareness on a statewide level. We need other nonprofits organizations and private individuals to get involved in the efforts to save this house,” Cummins said.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Johns-King House, Cummins will present a lecture at 1 p.m. Nov. 8 at Sam Davis Home, 1399 Sam Davis Road in Smyrna. Admission is free. A Facebook page, the Friends of the Johns-King Home, was established to garner support about the historic structure.

Contact Nancy De Gennaro at 615-278-5148 or [email protected], or follow her on Twitter @DNJMama

If you go

What: Lecture by Pat Cummins on the Johns-King House

When: 1 p.m. Nov. 8

Where: Sam Davis Home, 1399 Sam Davis Road, Smyrna

Cost: Free, open to the public

More on the list

In addition to the Johns-King House, other sites on the Ten in Tenn include:

•Franklin Masonic Hall, 115 Second Ave. S., Franklin

•Bonnie Kate Theater, 114 S. Sycamore St., Elizabethton

•Hillsboro Village, 21st Ave. S., Nashville

•Antoinette Hall, 105 N. First St., Pulaski

•Niota Depot, 201 E. Main St., Niota

•St. Mark’s Presbyterian, Corner of Hassan and Kyle streets, Rogersville

•Marine Hospital, 360 Metal Museum Drive, Memphis

•Blair’s Ferry Storehouse, 800 Main St., Loudon

•Great Falls Mill, Great Fall Road, Rock Island State Park