Remembering Rutherford: ‘Shotguns’ housed Westvue working class families
Greg Tucker, Murfreesboro Post, May 17, 2016 According to Southern vernacular, if you can fire a shotgun through an open front door and the pellets pass through one or more interior doorways and out the back door, hitting nothing, it’s a “shotgun house.” The most common domestic construction in the…
Longtime RCHS Member Tom Brown passed away
Thomas Bearden Brown, 90, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, passed away on May 14th, 2016. Visitation will be held at 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17th at Woodfin Memorial Chapel. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18th at First Baptist Church. Dr. Noel Schoonmaker,…
‘Hand of God’ guides man to amazing discovery
Michelle Willard, The Daily News Journal, May, 29, 2018 The sticky sweet smell of honeysuckle filled the air as Daryl Webb ducked his 6-foot-tall frame under scrub brush, braving snakes and ticks to show his sister the final resting place of one of Murfreesboro’s founding fathers. “You’d never know this…
St. Paul School (Black), 1889-1912
ST. PAUL SCHOOL BLACK 1889-1912 was in Old Jefferson in District 6. It was about one-fourth mile east of the square toward the river and on the left side of the road. On January 30, 1889, John M. Reese and wife Mary H. signed a deed for one square acre…
Memories fill heart, mind of 100-year-old WW II vet
Connie Esh and John Butwell, the Murfreesboro Post, May 10, 2016 Not everybody still remembers Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, the top Allied general in Europe during World War II and later, a two-term President of the United States in the 1950s. But Charles Edward Neal remembers getting chewed out by him, praised by…
Local History with Truman Jones and Friends
May 10, 2016, WGNS Radio Today Truman visits with Rutherford County Historian Greg Tucker. Bart Walker and the staff of Rutherford County’s WGNS Radio (1450AM, 101.9FM) have been supporters of our local history for a long, long time. Please click the WGNS icon and enjoy former Rutherford County Truman Jones…
Quilts covered a lot of ground in county’s history
Susan Harber, The Daily News Journal, May 8, 2016 I have always been fascinated by quilting as an artistic expression in Rutherford County. Both my grandmother Emily Johns and great-grandmother Helen Johns of Smyrna hand-quilted all of their lives. The historical value of these treasures is highly valued as a…
Peru School, 1894-1912
PERU SCHOOL 1894-1912 was on Maddox Lane, between Sharp Springs Road and Weakley Road, and north of the Smyrna Air Base. In a deed dated August 21, 1894, A. V. Maddox and wife Mary Jane sold to School Directors Thomas Miller, Robert Mason, and R. H. White one acre of…
Mrs. Ward’s School, 1878-1897
MRS. WARD’S SCHOOL 1878-c 1897 was a subscription school north of the Old Nashville Turnpike and west of the Florence Road on an unnamed country road no longer in existence. On October 2, 1878, Richard W. Wade and wife Narcissa Neal Wade sold to Samuel Weakley, W. L. Davis, and…
McClure’s School, c1880-1891
McCLURE’S SCHOOL f1. 1880’s-before 1891 was on the northeast side of the Old Nashville Turnpike and west of the Florence Road. It was just west of Sky Harbor which was built on Crosthwait land. The large one-room frame building was both a school and a Presbyterian Church. Eliza Crosthwait was…
Encourage the Rutherford County Commission to preserve the Johns-King Home of Smyrna, TN
Please visit and consider signed the on line petition to help save and restore the 209-year-old Johns-King House at 845 Old Jefferson Pike in Smyrna, Tennessee by clicking here. “We are requesting the Rutherford County Commission allocate $150,000 to purchase this 209 year old historic landmark home at 845 Old Jefferson Pike in…
Lone Oak School, 1878-1919
LONE OAK SCHOOL 1878-1919 was located at the intersection of Baker Road and the Old Nashville Turnpike. It was early known as ETTA’S CHAPEL SCHOOL and then as School 2 in District no. 6. The site is shown on the Beers Map of 1878 as Chapel and S.H. In a…
Jefferson Seminary of Learning, 1811-1815
JEFFERSON SEMINARY OF LEARNING 1811-1815 was located in the courthouse of the Jefferson Community in old District 6. The courthouse had been abandoned when the county seat was moved to Lytle property in what is now Murfreesboro. The legislature made John Coffee, Peter Legrand, Shelton Crosthwaite, George Simpson, and Walter…
Local History with Truman Jones and Friends
May 3, 2016, WGNS Radio Today Truman visits with Rutherford County Historian Greg Tucker. Bart Walker and the staff of Rutherford County’s WGNS Radio (1450AM, 101.9FM) have been supporters of our local history for a long, long time. Please click the WGNS icon and enjoy former Rutherford County Truman Jones…
Battlefield chief hanging up his ranger hat
Nancy De Gennaro, Daily News Journal, May 2, 2016 After nearly four decades with the National Park Service, Stones River National Battlefield’s Chief of Operations Gib Backlund hung up his ranger hat to retire. His official first day of retirement is Monday. He recently sat down with The Daily News Journal to…
Murfreesboro Storytellers (May 2016) – Rutherford County Archives
Murfreesboro City Television, May 2, 2016 Host John Hood visits with Rutherford County Archivist John Lodl.
Local History with Truman Jones and Friends
April 26, 2016, WGNS Radio Today Truman visits with Rutherford County Historian Greg Tucker. Bart Walker and the staff of Rutherford County’s WGNS Radio (1450AM, 101.9FM) have been supporters of our local history for a long, long time. Please click the WGNS icon and enjoy former Rutherford County Truman Jones…
‘Girls of Atomic City’ share their experiences during WWII
Nancy De Gennrro, Daily News Journal, April 24, 2016 MURFREESBORO — They had no idea where they were going or what they’d be doing. But they went anyway because they were told the well paying jobs would help the “war effort” — and those were buzzwords during World War II.…
History swirled around Whitehall Plantation, Boxwood
Susan Harber, Daily News Journal, April 24, 2016 Once heralded as majestic beacons of our county, two time-honored homes include the former Whitehall Plantation and Boxwood still standing today. These homes represent a back story of historical timeline and are special to our heritage. Whitehall was built around 1840 by…
Remembering Rutherford: British sports car resurrected for local mortician
It was a memorable affair and dalliance of his youth, rekindled 57 years later. While serving in the military in Germany in the mid-1950s, young John “Bubba” Woodfin, III became infatuated with a bright blue British import. “It was a 1956 MGA at a new car dealership in Frankfurt,” explains…