November 2010

The Tipton-Haynes site represents various periods of Tennessee history, from pre-colonial times to Reconstruction. An ancient buffalo trail ran near the site of the "bold spring," and the grounds were frequented successively by the Woodland Indians, the Cherokees, and European explorers and traders.

The site's first white resident was Colonel John Tipton, a former member of the Territorial Assembly, U.S. Territory South of the River Ohio, who built a substantial log house in 1784. His career embraced the controversial State of Franklin and early Tennessee statehood. Tipton was also a member of the Tennessee legislature and a signer and a framer of the first Tennessee Constitution. In an area including this site, the Battle of Franklin was fought in 1788, the only armed skirmish between supporters of the proposed state and their opponents, who were loyal to North Carolina. John Tipton, Jr. inherited the home in 1813. He served in the Tennessee General Assembly from 1803 to 1819, and was lieutenant governor and president of the senate for the last of these sessions.

John Sevier (1745-1815), early pioneer, Indian fighter, governor of the failed State of Franklin, and first governor of Tennessee, built a plantation home, which he called Marble Springs, when he came to the state capital, Knoxville, in 1796. The site had been a way station for travelers along the road to Knoxville. He and his wife, Bonny Kate, lived at Marble Springs until his death.

The only original building, the two-story main cabin, has been restored and furnished with Sevier family items and other frontier pieces. Additions include a kitchen, a loom house, a smokehouse, a spring house, and a barn. The Walker Cabin, circa 1830, has been moved to the site and features artifacts and a video presentation. Modern facilities include a pavilion and an outdoor stage. The property was purchased by the state in 1941.

Dr. William P. Chester, a native of York County Pennsylvania and an excellent Jonesborough physician, opened the Chester Inn in 1797 on the Great Stage Road. As a physician in a small frontier town, he found it necessary to supplement his income.

The Inn is the oldest wooden frame building in the commercial district. The original structure is of the Federal style. The Victorian front porch was added in 1880 and is an example of the elaborate work of the craftsmen of the period.

Today, the Inn is owned by the Tennessee Historical Commission and is home to the International Storytelling Center.

The small, stone Rock House, originally built to collect tolls on a private road, was built between 1835 and 1839 by Barlow Fiske, who operated a stage coach inn and stables nearby. It played an important role in the early development of Tennessee's transportation system. Andrew Jackson often stopped here on trips from Nashville to Washington. Other notable visitors included James K. Polk, Sam Houston, and Frank Clement, all once governors of the Volunteer State.

Born in 1793, Sam Houston had no taste for farming. Instead, he enjoyed the Cherokee way of life and spent much time living happily with the Indians. In fact, the Cherokees adopted him and gave him the name "Co-lonneh," or "Raven." Before the War of 1812, he taught in this field school, where tuition was eight dollars per term. As a soldier, he was wounded during the war, and later he resigned from the army.

After the war, he studied the law. He was appointed Adjutant General in the Tennessee State Militia and was elected to Congress for two terms (1823-27). In 1827 he became governor. Before his term ended, his wife of four months, Eliza Allen Houston, hastily and mysteriously left him, and he resigned as governor and went to Arkansas to live with his Cherokee friends.

The first floor lobby and an upstairs hotel room have been furnished to represent the hotel's railroad heritage -- which is, of course, Dickson's heritage. This interpretation also includes the hotel dining room. The drummer's (travelling salesman) room, now used as the museum's gift shop, often served as a gathering place for drummers after meals and in the evenings. The Goad-Clement family rooms are located on the first floor and have been restored to the 1920-22 period.

Other exhibits include Dickson County history and commerce, the Civil War, the railroad, and an exhibit space for travelling exhibits and special programs.

Governor Frank Goad Clement was born in Room #5 on June 2, 1920. Clement became the longest serving modern Tennessee Governor (1953-59; 1963-67) and, at age 32, the nation's youngest. During his tenure which led to national prominence, Clement organized the state's first department of mental health, oversaw the planning and construction of Tennessee's Intertstate Highway System, provided free textbooks for students, and successfully led the state through integration of public schools.

The front porch was often the place where young Haley heard the oral accounts of family history, including stories of Kunta Kinte, the young Mandingo man captured near his West African home. These stories inspired Haley to write about his ancestry in a book called Roots. This 1976 Pulitzer Prize winning novel has been translated into over 30 languages and has had great influence in stimulating the study of genealogy. Roots was adapted for an eight-part television series, which became one of the most popular programs in television history.

On December 14, 1978, the Alex Haley House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It has attracted scholars and other visitors from around the world. Haley is buried on the grounds.

The 7,200-square-foot facility offers everything from interactive games to exhibits on college football and basketball, NASCAR video games and two 30-seat theater. Visitors should be sure to check out the strength training apparatus used by Olympic swimmers to prepare for their grueling events.

The Cheekwood gardens are seen and enjoyed by over 175,000 visitors each year. The property was once the elegant home of the Cheek family. The fifty-five acre site includes the original Cheek gardens, designed by Bryant Fleming, with pools, fountains, statuary, extensive boxwood plantings and breathtaking views of the rolling Tennessee hills. Cheekwood was opened to the public in 1960 and the many specialized gardens have developed since that time.

Visitors will discover a Japanese garden, an herb garden, two perennial gardens, a color garden, water garden, seasons garden and an award-winning wildflower garden. Each garden has a special purpose presenting a particular group of plants or garden style.

Botanic Hall, the center of the horticultural activities, has art and horticultural exhibits, flower shows, an exceptional library and the annual Holiday Fest celebration.

This 10,000-square-foot mansion, built by entrepreneur Clay Faulkner in 1896, included luxurious "modern conveniences" such as electric lights, indoor plumbing, and central heat.

The mansion is open daily for individual and group tours that bring elegance and the optimism of the 1890s to life. That retreat to the 1890s can be extended with a stay in one the overnight guest suites on its grounds.