Clean-up day at Fortress Rosecrans (Old Fort Park), April 1, 2017
No foolin’ – join the Stones River National battlefield staff, volunteers and the Friends of the Stones River National Battlefield, Saturday, April 1 from 8:30 till 12:30 Murfreesboro’s Old Fort Park and help clean the area around Fortress Rosecrans. If you have an hour, we’ll take an hour! Stones River…
Office space study for the Square splits commission
Scott Broden, The Daily News Journal, March 17, 2017 A divided Rutherford County Commission approved a $50,000 planning study Thursday to evaluate existing government offices in the downtown Square area of Murfreesboro. Commissioner Charlie Baum was among those in the minority of a 12-7 vote that authorizes the county to…
La Vergne celebrates 45th anniversary
Michelle Willard, The Daily News Journal, March, 13, 2017 La Vergne is a town that died twice only to be resurrected in 1972 as a brand new city. “The common thread that connects La Vergne’s past to its present is that we never give up,” said Kathy Tyson, a 14-year…
Remarkable Rutherford Woman: At 106, she may be county’s oldest person
Connie Esh, The Murfreesboro Post, March 14, 2017 Mabel Robertson was awarded a key to the city by Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland for her birthday. “I’ve been told I’m the oldest person in Rutherford County,” she said – and McFarland pointed out that makes her the “wisest” person in Murfreesboro…
McPeak (aka Fall Creek) School 1890s-1916
McPEAK SCHOOL (1890’s-1916), also called FALL CREEK SCHOOL, was on Fall Creek in old District 5 and new District 1. It was one-fourth mile west of Mona Road on a gravel road which intersected Mona Road just north ofCharlton Ford. The land was owned by Ruth McPeak. The name McPeak…
Tennessee State Capitol Columns at MTSU
Many thanks to local Historian Sandra Campbell for sharing her photos of the old State Capitol columns adorning the campus of Middle Tennessee State University. These columns were present at the Tennessee State Capitol for almost ninety years till wear and tear required their replacement along with some of the outside…
City requests new proposals for historic First Methodist building
Sam Stockard, Murfreesboro Post, March 1, 2017 The Murfreesboro City Council is going back to the market for proposals on redeveloping the Synergy Bank property it purchased in 2016 for $1.55 million at East Vine and North Maple streets. An initial request for proposals in January brought in only one…
Historians search for pieces of Black history
Michelle Willard, the Daily News Journal, February 28, 2017 MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Local historians are searching for long lost pieces of African-American history in Rutherford County. Rutherford County Archivist John Lodl is on the hunt for copies of The Murfreesboro News, the town’s newspaper for the African-American community. The paper…
Burnett’s School 1851-c1915
BURNETTS SCHOOL 1851-c 1915 was on Burnett Road which ran south off the Couchville Pike. The schoolhouse was built on land of Lewis Burnett. The name L. Burnett is shown on the 1878 Beers Map. The one-room log building was heated by a fireplace. Teachers included Vera Burnett, Zona Burnett,…
Central Academy (aka Brick Academy), 1855-1878
CENTRAL ACADEMY, also called BRICK ACADEMY before 1855-1878 was on one acre of land deeded by Levi Wade on March 31, 1855. The site of the schoolhouse was in old District 7 on a stage coach road. It would be in the present District 6 on Burleson Road, southwest of…
Buchanan High School, 1925-1977
BUCHANAN HIGH SCHOOL 1925-1977 was nine miles southeast of Murfreesboro on the west side of the Manchester Highway. The building was constructed on land which had been part of the estate of Governor John Price Buchanan and was named in his honor. John P. Buchanan and wife signed the deed…
Red Cross to honor John Hood for legacy of community service
Nancy De Gennaro, The Daily News Journal, February 24, 2017 Former state Rep. John Hood will be honored as being an unsung hero at the fifth annual Heroes Breakfast sponsored by the Heart of Tennessee Chapter of the Red Cross at 7:30 a.m. March 8. Hood, a Murfreesboro native, has served…
Remembering Rutherford: Rutherford poker team had winning system, for a while
Greg Tucker, The Murfreesboro Post, February 22, 2017 A full house was an entrepreneurial enterprise requiring special skill, knowledge and eventually an ingenious device. The first slot machine, a gambling device, was invented in 1895 by Charles Fey, an auto mechanic. In 1901 Fey modified the design of the mechanical…
Battlefield tour spotlights Cemetery Community
Nancy De Genarro, The Daily News Journal, February 19, 2017 It’s hard to imagine that homes, barns, vineyards and churches once stood on the stark landscape of native grasses and woods at Stones River National Battlefield. The Cemetery Community settled shortly after the end of the Civil War and was…
Scales Funeral Home: African-American owned businesses still going strong after 101 years
Larry Flowers, WRKN.com, Nashville Channel 2, February 18, 2017 Scales and Sons Funeral Home, was one of the first African-American owned businesses in Rutherford County. To really understand the total impact the Scales family has made on the Rutherford County community, we have to go way back. The year was…
Stones River National Battlefield celebrates Black History Month
Larry Flowers, WRKN.com, Nashville Channel 2, February 18, 2017 A group took a bus and walking tour of the battlefield. The property was once occupied by African-American families, many of whom owned land and settled before and after the Civil War. Several of them were forced to sell their property…
Celebration of the community of Cemetery at the Stones River National Battlefield
Saturday, February 18, 2017, Frank Caperton, President of the Rutherford County Historical Society Saturday, February 18, 2017 was an incredible celebration of the community once known as ‘Cemetery’. The African American Heritage Society of Rutherford County, the Friends of the Stones River National Battlefield, MTSU and the Stones River National…
Harber’s History: Rutherford coverlets preserved in time
Susan, Harber, The Daily News Journal, February 19, 2017 Editor’s note: This is the first story in a two-part series. Coverlets in Rutherford County of the 19th century were an artistic expression of high expertise. These exquisite gems are preserved over time from both Peru and Egyptian deserts in the…
An Amazing Story Of Survival – Fritz and Hans Dieter (Pete) Jentzsch
An Amazing Story Of Survival – Fritz And Hans Dieter (Pete) Jentzsch, by Greg Segroves I have had the pleasure of knowing Pete and Janice Jentzsch since the late 1970’s. Over the years, by bits and pieces, I have come to realize that Pete and his dad Fritz share an…
A Celebration of the Community of Cemetery
How many of realize there was a thriving community located on present day Stones River National Battlefield? How many of us realize this community, known as ‘Cemetery’ was created by freed slaves after the Civil War? Yes, a Freedmen’s community known as Cemetery emerged on the landscape where the Battle…