Erin Edgemon, The Daily News Journal, August 15, 2006
The Jenkins House, built in 1853, was once located at 1556 Gresham Lane, was razed June 10, 2006, to make way for retail development. Currently the site is a car lot. The Jenkins House was on is listed on the National Register due to its architectural significance. Former Property owners Roy Yeager and Char Fontane apparently had the 4,000-square-foot home razed to facilitate the sale of the 11.5 acres.
A public hearing to consider removing the Hiram Jenkins House from the National Register of Historic Places is slated before the Murfreesboro Historic Zoning Commission Wednesday.
The 1853 home, which was demolished June 10, is listed on the National Register for its architectural significance. Property owners Roy Yeager and Char Fontane apparently had the 4,000-square-foot home razed to facilitate the sale of the 11.5 acres located at 1556 Gresham Lane.
According to a newspaper advertisement by Sims Realtors, Auctioneers, sale on the property is pending. The property is zoned commercial.
The Murfreesboro Historic Zoning Commission meets at 3:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the first floor of Murfreesboro City Hall at 111 W. Vine St., one block off the Public Square.
Kay Morrow, a Murfreesboro resident who led the fight to save the Jenkins House, plans to speak at the meeting to express her disapproval of the city of Murfreesboro allowing the historic structure to be destroyed. She started the “Save the Jenkins House” campaign in February and collected more than 400 signatures on a petition she planned to present to the City Council.
“I just feel like I should go and at least say something,” she said. “I thought I owed it to all of those people who signed the petition.”
She plans to ask the commission if an archaeological survey could be conducted on the demolished structure, which served as a field hospital during the Battle of Stones River.
The loss of the Jenkins House spurred many local historic preservationists to take further action to preserve historic sites in the county and form the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Heritage Coalition, designed as an umbrella organization to unite all local preservation groups.