Local History

Chitwood was a community developed by one family of people. They cared very little about boundaries, city lines, county lines or state lines; they cared for people and their community. This community has been in four states and possibly five counties, maybe more. It was rumored to have been settled by four brothers, well that’s…

The Helenwood Explosion on April 5, 1935 The coal mines at Helenwood had long since closed down along with their Commissary but in the top story above the Comabove Commissary was the missary Masonic 11811, the meeting place of Helenwood Lodge 570 F & AM. Along side this building was a large warehouse that had…

August, 1982

The Creepy Stories Behind Tennessee’s Marriage Laws By Bill Carey There are 39 hardback books that comprise Tennessee Code Annotated – page after page of laws that were written, debated, passed by both chambers of the legislature and signed into law by whomever the governor was at the time. There’s a story behind every law.…

Though specifically permitted from the beginning, there was no early rush in Jonesboro to erect brick or stone buildings. On the contrary, it was a long time before there were any at all. When Francois Andre Michaux, French botanist, passed through in 1802, he wrote in his journal: “Jonesborough, the last town in Tennessee, is…

PART THREE The era of railroad building was opening all over the country. Lines were being pushed southward from the north, and eastward from the southern states, until 1850a single gap of a hundred and fifty miles existed across East Tennessee, and no real communication could exist until this gap be bridged. To satisfy the…

The 4th of July, also known as Independence Day, is a significant holiday in the United States that commemorates the country’s declaration of independence from British rule. In the 18th century, the American colonies were under British colonial rule. Growing dissatisfaction with British policies, such as taxation without representation, led to increasing tensions between the…