RonnieAdventures: RonnieAdventure #0519 - Nashville to Memphis Part II, Tennessee

When we stopped to take a picture of the Houston County Courthouse in Erin (population 1,280), we notices a camera crew and a number of people in a parking lot across the street. Always curious about something out of the ordinary, we walked across the street to find out what was going on. It turned out that they were filming scenes for a psychological-thriller movie about two sisters in a small town. We asked what the name of the movie was, but they could not tell us because the movie did not yet have an official name. They did tell us, however, that the movie had an "extensive" cast and was scheduled to be released sometime in 2023.

The director asked if we would like to be in one of the crowd scenes and before I could say "Yes," Kolohe said "No thanks. I'm a teacher. I'm in a psychological-thriller five days a week." Drat! There went my chance to become a famous Hollywood movie star. Who knows, maybe I would have been discovered as the next Brad Pitt.

Picture by Kolohe

As we were leaving town, we noticed some limekilns just off of Main Street. A sign stated that the kilns were built around 1880 and were "constructed of chiseled stone, by skilled stone masons, with the use of mortar, and the fire chambers were lined with brick. Limestone was loaded at the top, fired by wood to a high temperature then pulverized to a fine powder. This product was 99.9% pure and shipped to several cities in the United States for the purpose of water purification." More kilns were located just a few miles down the road.

Picture by Kolohe

There was a nice veterans memorial located at the Stewart Count Courthouse in Dover (population 1,546), along with quilt blocks on various buildings.

Picture by Kolohe

The first major Civil War victory for the Union Army was the capture of Fort Donaldson by Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant on February 16, 1862. This was a great loss for the Confederacy because it gave the Union Army control over the Cumberland River and the opportunity to capture Nashville, Tennessee's capital and industrial center. Fort Donaldson and Nashville remained under Union control until the end of the Civil War.

As we passed through Paris (population 10,316), we had to stop and take pictures of the Eiffel Tower replica.

The Henry County Courthouse in Paris has a tower that is 113-feet tall and features a clock with four dials (one facing each direction). The clock strikes a bell on the hour and on the half-hour. There are also a number of veterans memorials located around the courthouse.

Picture by Kolohe

On December 10, 2021, an EF-3 tornado struck the downtown area of Dresden (2,937), extensively damaging several businesses and homes. The City Hall, Fire Station, and Police Station were completely destroyed, while the Weakley County Courthouse suffered only minimal damage. Some residential areas were a total loss. Reportedly, many of the homes and businesses will not be rebuilt and the ones that are rebuilt will be built to a much stricter building code standard.

Picture by Kolohe

Kenton (population 1,195) is known as "Home of the White Squirrels." We must have been there at the wrong time of year, or did not know here to look, because we did not see any "White Squirrels."

Picture by Kolohe

When we were in Rutherford (population 1,067), we stopped by Davy Crockett's log cabin, which was restored from as many of the original timbers that could be salvaged. This was Davy's last home in Tennessee and his Mother, Rebecca Hawkins Crockett, is buried on the site.

It was interesting to visit the cabin because Davy is my 6th cousin, four times removed. One of his Great-Grandfathers, Richard Hawkins, was the brother of one of my Great-Grandfathers, Robert Hawkins. I'm related to a lot of people in the United States because my ancestors immigrated to America in 1635 and settled in Charlestown, which at that time was the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Charlestown is now part of Boston.

When I was growing up I had a Davy Crocket coonskin cap with a tail on the back, but I did not "kill a b'ar when I was only three." I was, however, "king of the wild frontier." Of course, my "frontier" was limited to the area around our farm. Throughout my life, I have been like Davy in that I always have to be going someplace where I have not been before. Apparently, the DRD4-7R gene runs in the family. (see National Geographic, January 2013, "Restless Genes," pages 44-57.)

The Confederate Monument for Unknown Confederate Dead is located in a Union City (population 10,325) cemetery, which was the place for burial of unknown Confederate soldiers killed in the Civil War. The monument stands 40-feet high and was one of Tennessee's first Confederate monuments.

Picture by Kolohe

As we were leaving Union City, we drove past Discover Park of America, but it was closed for the day. Tourist information indicated that visitors should allow at least a full-day to go through the park. This will have to be on my Bucket List for a return visit.

To me, the dome on the Dyer County Courthouse in Dyersburg (population 16,314) looks like Admiral Ackbar (from the Star Wars movies) peering over the building.

Driving into Ripley (population 7,753), the first thing we noted was the unusual looking water tower. There were also a number of photo opportunities around the Lauderdale County Courthouse, including a banjo player on the front lawn.

Picture by Kolohe

It was late, so we had not planned to stop in Covington (population 8,834); but the white Skyhawk aircraft in Patriot Park was a photo opportunity we could not pass up. The Tipton County Courthouse was also photogenic at night.

We had a reservation to stay at the Graceland Guest House in Memphis, so we had to keep driving until we reached our destination.