THE END OF THE LINE

Riding the Devils Triangle, a fantastic technical ride in Petros, TN, Pete rounded a corner and saw it. Shutting his bike down and dropping his sunglasses to take in this castle-like structure with an unmistakable almost ominous allure, he instinctively knew what this could become.

Making a call to a friend, he asked “what do you think about a prison....I think we should stay out of one”, was his business partners’ reply. A brief conversation between two motorcycle enthusiasts, one being a marketing media entrepreneur, and the other a gritty yet amiable businessman, led to the renaissance of Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.

Brushy, as it’s called for short, in Morgan County, TN opened in 1896. The original wooden prison was built in a steep mountainous ravine and used the sheer rock cliffs as its security wall. The prison was rebuilt in 1920, of locally obtained stone, and today looks like what a maximum-security prison should look like-rougher and harder than the worst inmates it once housed. A literal fortress of penitence. Although the terrain and formidable walls and chain link fence topped with concertina wire discouraged escape, its most famous prisoner, James Earl Ray, along with six others, managed to scale a fence and flee into the countryside only to give up after 50 hours into their newfound freedom.

In 2009, the prison ceased operations ending its 113-year history as such. After few years of legislative legalese, countless meetings with state and local leaders and concerned citizens, the transformation from a maximum-security prison to a tourist destination got underway. In August of 2018, the prison opened its doors to the public. Today, hundreds of thousands of visitors pass through the main gates of this Alcatraz of the east.

Passing by the looming guard tower, at the main entrance of the prison off of County Rd. 116, in Petros, TN, the full grandeur of the facility comes into view. The main cell block, capable of housing up to 1,200 inmates’ is dead ahead inviting you to “the end of the line”. Other facilities-guard quarters, infirmary, the power plant (now a functioning moonshine distillery, a separate event center (on-site catering available) capable of hosting large groups for meetings, reunions, etc. and an extensive museum filled with inmate ledgers, personal effects, uniforms, chains, shackles, makeshift weapons and countless pictures of the prison and its inhabitants all make up the visiting grounds.

The welcome center is the first stop for incoming visitors. The center houses The Wardens Table, a 120-seat restaurant serving some of the finest prison grub ever. Adjacent to the restaurant is a massive four thousand square feet gift shop. Here you’ll also find moonshine tastings and sales, merch sales and prison tour tickets. There are two types of tours-the cellblock tour, often led by a former inmate or a prison guard, and the paranormal tour. The paranormal tours consist of three or six-hour night tour, both of which are led by professional Ghost Hunters that take participants deep into the prison beyond the boundaries of the general cellblock tour. These tours employ the latest equipment to detect radical temperature fluctuations, faint ghostly murmurs, unsolicited movement and at times actual apparitions. As you can imagine, these tours are in high demand and require advance registration

Future expansion is just as bold as the original vison. Primitive and RV camping, walking trails, festival grounds, rent-a-room hostel and much, much more.

If you’re looking for some great riding, high end concerts and a one-of-a-kind destination getaway, Brushy in Petros, TN is it!

More info at: tourbrushy.com