RonnieAdventures: RonnieAdventure #0676 - Hickman County, Tennessee to Brownville, Tennessee

The original store in the community of Only, Hickman County, Tennessee, is no longer in business; however the original store's owner played a role in establishing the community's name. When the store's owner was asked about the price of something, he always proceeded the price of the item with the word "Only;" e.g. "Only five cents, Only one dollar, etc." Apparently, that is how the community received its name. Only is now primarily an unincorporated bedroom community located in a beautiful rural setting.

At the next freeway exit (#143), we found Loretta Lynn's Kitchen and Gift Shop. I don't know the history behind the red-eyed buffalo, but it is a tourist attraction featured in many travel books. Many of Loretta's personal items are scattered around the restaurant

The restaurant claims to have "the best meat loaf in town," but we didn't have time to try it. We did, however, find a gift for Linda in the gift shop.

About five miles after crossing the Tennessee River, we stopped at the Patsy Cline/Chet Atkins rest stop. I like the Tennessee rest stops because they are typically located in beautiful areas and have clean rest rooms. There were pictures of Patsy Cline and Chet Atkins on the interior walls.

Casey Jones was a railroad engineer that was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi, on April 30, 1900.

Jones lived in Jackson (current population 68,205), Tennessee, and was known for his punctual schedules. On April 29, he was scheduled to make the passenger service run at 11:35 PM from Memphis to Canton, Mississippi; however, early in the morning another engineer did not show up for work, so Casey made an additional run and arrived back in Memphis before his scheduled departure. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was 75 minutes late leaving Memphis. Cassey was considered to be one of the most skilled engineers on the line and he was confident that he could make up the time because we was driving the powerful ten-wheeler Engine No 382, known as the "Cannonball." (This is where the name "Cannonball Run" came from that has been used for the coast-to-coast automotive race.)

As he was approaching Vaughan, Mississippi, at a high rate of speed, he was unaware that there was a stalled freight train sitting in his path. When he realized the freight train was stopped, he is credited with using exceptional skills to slow the engine and saving all of the passengers' lives. Casey was the only one killed in the crash. When they found his body, one hand was still on the whistle cord and his other hand was still on the brake lever. His pocket watch stopped at 3:52 AM, which was only 2 minutes off from his scheduled arrival time in Vaughan.

In later years there were many books, songs, and even a TV show and movie made about Casey Jones. I remember when we were kids we had a little record player that played yellow plastic records and one of the record we had was The Ballad of Casey Jones. When we toured the museum complex, it reminded me of the Casey Jones items that were sold when we were kids.

Picture by Ashley

Located outside of the museum is a train engine with the number "382," but it is really Engine No 99. Engine No. 99 is a 1905 Baldwin that was purchased from the railroad by the City of Jackson and is now part of the museum displays. A ghost of Casey was standing by the depot waiting on the next train the day we visited the museum.

Picture by Ashley

The house that Casey Jones was living in at the time of his death has been moved to the museum property and is now open for self-guided tours as part of the museum entrance fee. Some shake shingles from the house at the time Casey lived there are also on display.

Picture by Ashley

Just a short distance from the Case Jones complex was is a unique tree house that was made from a large tree trunk. The tree house has an arched door, window with shutters, front step with railing, and even a door bell. I was told that some fairies lived there, but I did not see them flying around.

Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock) was born in Brownsville (current population 9,788), Tennessee), and was known for her musical genres in Rock and Roll, Soul, Pop, R&B, and Rock. She became known as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll and sold over 100 million records and won 12 Grammy Awards plus three Grammy Hall of Fame inductions. In the 1980s she set a Guinness World Record for the then-largest paying audience in a concert (180,000).

The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville is an official location along Tennessee's Music Pathways because Tina Turner is the Center's main attraction. In addition to the many Turner exhibits, located within the Heritage Center are other exhibits dealing with music, agricultural, and Hatchie Scenic River.

Picture by Ashley

The Cotton Museum is part of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center and contains exhibits about growing and harvesting cotton from the past to the present. Adjacent to the Cotton Museum is the Hatchie Scenic River Museum.

Picture by Ashley

Out in the courtyard is the Flagg Grove African American one-room school that Tina Turner attended as a child. The school was restored and moved to the current site in 2014,