Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 14
HISTORIC ROGERSVILLE TN FACEBOOK
'TENNESSEE'S BEST-KEPT SECRET'
Rogersville on the Rise
Once a part of the Wilderness Road, Rogersville,
Tennessee, has put its long history to beautiful use.
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JOAN VANNORSDALL
R
ogersville's Main Street is an impressive
place, and it's easy to get lost in the architectural/historic
majesty of the place.
Walk it, and you'll see centuries-old, Federal-style
buildings on every corner, a number of them
holding " oldest (or second-oldest) in Tennessee " records.
The Courthouse. The Post Office. The Masonic
Lodge. The Hale Springs Inn.
Settled in 1775, Rogersville is the second-oldest
town in the state. Joseph Rogers bought a 281-acre
tract of land with an abundantly flowing spring from
the Crockett (yes, as in Davy Crockett) family, after
original settlers David and Elizabeth Crockett (Davy's
grandparents) were massacred. The Crocketts are memorialized
in beautiful Crockett Spring Park and Arboretum,
and they're buried in nearby Rogers Cemetery.
Melissa Nelson is the director of the Rogersville
Heritage Association, housed (along with the Tennessee
Newspaper and Printing Museum) in the restored
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The stately Hale Springs Inn is 200 years old.
The Main Street Cruise-in On The Square happens the second Friday of the
month, May through October.
Coffee at the Kyle is known for great coffee, made-from-scratch food, and
genuine hospitality.
14 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
1890 Southern Railway Depot. " We push history in
Rogersville-and we work to restore and preserve-
because we learn from history, " she says. " We acknowledge
the problems of the past. Here in Rogersville,
Black history is our history. "
The Price Public Community Center and Swift Museum
is proof positive of this. Originally a two-room
cabin, Price Public School educated Black children
for nearly a century. Today the school is a community
center and museum. And the Swift Memorial College/
Institute opened in Rogersville in 1883, its enrollment
swelling in 1901 when nearby Maryville College was
forced by the State of Tennessee to expel its Black students.
Black
students were again allowed in Maryville in the
wake of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Raising money through strategic grant writing and substantial
donations, The Rogersville Heritage Association
owns Crockett Spring Park, Rogers Tavern and the stately
200-year-old Hale Springs Inn, where Presidents Andrew
Jackson, James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson all stayed.
Main Street storefronts are nearly all full, and restaurants
abound-everything from the longstanding
Oh Henry's homecooking ( " Breakfast served all day " )
to The Hollywood Hillbilly (yes, the owner moved to
Rogersville from Hollywood, California).Traffic flows
Swift Memorial College closed in 1955 after
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 3
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 4
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 5
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - Cover4
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