Monday, 11 November 2019
A salute today to all veterans, and in memory of the veterans in my own family, I thank you for serving our country in our armed forces.
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| today's route |
Eastman Chemical Co.
My route today took me on a ring road past Kingsport which, though I've been staying here for the last 4 nights, I've seen almost nothing of. The main thing I saw today - couldn't miss seeing it - was Eastman Chemical Company.
This site was founded in 1920 by George Eastman himself (as in Eastman Kodak) and now covers an enormous area - I was stunned to see it. The main plant itself is 900 acres; with 550 buildings, the entire facility sits on 4,000 acres. It claims to be one of North America's largest chemical manufacturing sites, and I have no trouble believing it.
What was odd to me was seeing it plunked down in far eastern Tennessee. Kingsport has about 54,000 residents, and the plant employs 7,000 people, so clearly it's a major employer in the region.
I looked online for photos that looked like what I saw but couldn't find any that weren't under copyright protection. Imagine the largest oil refinery you've ever seen, and then imagine it about 5 times that size and you'll have an idea of what I saw. Huge.
Continuing on the road
I was driving west and southwest all morning along the scenic route rather than the interstate. It was US Hwy. 11W and I found it much more comfortable to drive than the interstate, mostly because of the different speed limits. I'm happy going 55 mph on good 2- or 4-lane roads; I never go as fast as the 70 mph limit on interstates so have to worry more about staying out of the way of other traffic. And I see more on these side roads.
As I was coming into "Historic Surgoinsville" (named for founder Maj. James Surguine, a French Huguenot, though I don't know why the spelling changed), I looked down below from the high hill I was on and saw a beautiful winding river. Turned out to be the Holston River, which I'd never heard of but it runs from Virginia down to Knoxville. There it joins with my old friend the French Broad River to become the Tennessee River, which eventually empties into the Ohio River.
Historic Rogersville
Not much farther along I came to "Historic Rogersville" (Tennessee really goes in for -ville town names, and really plays up the "historic" part). I don't know what made Surgoinsville historic but I do know about Rogersville, and I'd say "historic" is an accurate descriptor.
It was founded in 1775 (historic enough?) by Davy Crockett's grandparents and by Thomas Amis. Amis was born in North Carolina and served during the Revolutionary War as the procurer of supplies for the troops - shoes, clothing, ammunition, food.
He supported the cause with fervor, including mortgaging his property to buy the supplies. But it was when he helped hide the Swamp Fox (Francis Marion) from British Troops that
Amis really got in trouble. He and his family barely managed to skip town ahead of the British coming to confiscate his goods. They moved to western North Carolina (what's now Tennessee), where he built a mill, blacksmith shop and other enterprises. His home became a stopping point for many luminaries traveling in the region, including Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone and Rev. Thomas Asbury (Methodism founder).
On his property is a spring known today as the Ebbing and Flowing Springs. The springs are still owned by the family though are open to the public; they're billed as one of only 2 springs in the world with a water flow that rises and falls as regularly as the ocean tides. I was unsuccessful in finding out where the other springs is, and I found a site online that claims there are actually 23 of these springs in the US, though again without saying where the others are. Anyway, there's one here. For a tiny bit more information, check this link. en.wikipedia.org/Ebbing-and-Flowing-Spring
Rogersville also gets to claim the title "historic" because it has Tennessee's oldest inn and oldest courthouse and oldest post office and, beginning 1791, Tennessee's first newspaper. More basis for the claim than many places have.
More on the road
All morning I had mountain foothills on my left. These foothills, by the way, are no mere mounds. They're mountains in their own right, to me anyway, but to geologists they're the supporting cast to the stars: the Appalachian Mountain Range.
Still a long way from a big city, I passed a plant for Daniel Paul Chairs. I'd never heard this name but out of curiosity looked it up. I recognize several of these styles as being in hotels and conference rooms everywhere. If they originated here, I'm very impressed. Here's the link in case you're curious too. http://www.danielpaulchairs.com/catalog
Cherokee Lake is the huge body of blue water you can see in the route map above. I drove past several places where inlets from the lake passed under the road, and it was easy to see that the lake level was way way down. Feet down. At one I saw a raft of boat walkways that was resting on dry land.
Reminded me of when Lake Travis was so dry a few years ago. Momma and I drove out and saw many of these boat mooring walkways high and dry. Cherokee Lake was like that. I've been hearing for quite a while that this whole area has been experiencing a drought for much of the year. Many (including state rangers) have said the fall colors this year were lackluster because of it. So I guess that's what's wrong with Cherokee Lake.
As I got nearer to Knoxville, I saw an ad on the roof of a barn for Lookout Mountain: "See 7 states from Rock City atop Lookout Mountain," it proclaimed. Lookout Mountain is down by Chattanooga; it's about 2,400' high and is on the border with Georgia and Alabama, but I'd think you'd need pretty good eyes to see 7 states. I haven't decided yet whether to check it out - there's an incline railway to the top.
Along the route today I was seeing more signs for it being the First State Road and found I'd made a mistake the other day: the road runs from Memphis to Kingsport, not Asheville as I'd said earlier.
Coming into the outskirts of Knoxville I saw a billboard for "Authentic American Vodka." Curious, I read the fine print and discovered it was advertising Deep Eddy vodka - as in Austin, TX, Deep Eddy. I keep being amazed at the reach of Texas vodkas. Wasn't it in New Jersey that I saw a billboard for Tito's vodka?
Along the road into Knoxville and then when turning north to leave it I've been driving with these foothill mountains on either side. I understand that western TN is significantly flatter, being in the Mississippi River valley, so I'll enjoy these mountains while I have them. Really pretty, especially on a sunny fall day like today.
As I drove north I started seeing more fall colors than I'd been seeing in the east. Milder climate?
Then I drove into "Historic Clinton." Here's the local link to its claim to "historic" fame. https://www.historicclinton-tn.com/history-of-clinton Certainly parts of its downtown still have an older flavor.
I grabbed this photo while I was waiting at a red light. Isn't that Art Deco style? Both the theater and the drug store are still functioning. The courthouse is out of sight on the left.
Clinton 12 and Green McAdoo Cultural Center
I was there because of the Clinton 12 - twelve African Americans who were the first to desegregate a school in the South after Brown v. Board of Education. The focus for preserving this history is called the Green McAdoo Cultural Center. I'd understood from their website - and again from the signs on their doors when I got there - that they'd be open on Mondays. Apparently they've changed their hours, and they were closed. I was very disappointed.
Now that I've found this website that I'll attach the link for here - https://backroadplanet.com/clinton-12-story - I'm even more disappointed. This link gives a really good summary of what the fuss was about and what I missed seeing in the cultural center.
I took my own photos of the statue and other outside views that that website shows, but his photos are better so I won't use mine, except this one . . .
. . . and these that show what's carved along the wall.
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| start of quotation: "...but we are positively and definitely against the disintegr..." |
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| part #2: "...ation of our community and our body politic that we cherish ..." |
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| part #3: "... we cherish above all things, realizing that where anarchy ..." |
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| part #4: "... prevails, none of us have anything of any ..." |
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| end of quote: "... value and none of us have any freedoms any more." |
The side and rear panels cite a sermon called "No Color Line at the Cross" by Baptist Rev. Paul Turner in January 1957. See the website link above for more information about that.
I checked the website again (and it definitely said the center's open on Monday) and I'd checked the times posted on the center's doors when I walked the dogs a couple of times around the center (ditto). So I called their number and their recording is where I learned they're not open until Tuesdays. I left a message telling them if they really weren't going to open until Tuesdays, they should change the information on their doors and on their website to save others the deep disappointment I was feeling.
My problem was that I knew snow and freezing temperatures were forecast for tomorrow (Tuesday) and my plan was to hunker down in the campground, not go traipsing around town (built on some steep hills) to come back to the center. So between their hour change and the weather forecast, I didn't have much chance to see the museum. I know these things happen, but I really was (and am) disappointed.
It sounds like these young people as well as most of the town of Clinton acted bravely in a time of great upheaval.
A bit more driving
From there I went a little way down the highway to the tiny town of Norris, pop. 1,500. This odd little place was built in 1933 by the TVA as a model planned community to house its workers. It's still very attractive because of lots of very large trees. Oddly, it reminded me of a New England town as much as anything.
Norris may be a model community, but when I went down the road labeled as being for the recycling center, I found a dumpster labeled for cardboard only. And a sign saying they no longer accept glass. And nothing else. Not even a bin for aluminum cans. So not my idea of a good model community, however attractive it looks.
And from there to the campground not far away. A level site at last!
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