Dyer County Bicentennial

Rachel Townsend Managing Editor

many amazing memories I have of this community. Memories that make it my community.

Dyer County is a place I am proud to call my home, proud to have been raised in, and proud to raise my family in. It is my past, my present, and my future.

Happy 200th birthday Dyer County! Thank you for a lifetime of growth, experiences, memories, and

Table of ConTenTs

Down by the River

A Brief History of Samaria Bend

DHS and the History of College Hill

The History of the Dyer County Fair

Dyer County Clocks

The History of Bruce High School

Menglewood & the Mengle Box Co.

Remembering the Sesquicentennial

Newbern’s Historic Depot Station

The Origin of Time & Temp Audichron

Dyersburg Airport Home to Last Stop

Before Pasty Cline’s Death

The History of Dyer County Courthouse

Groundbreaking for The Commons

Sorghum Valley

Tennessee Historical Commission

Approves 3 Markers for Dyer County

Bruce High School Placed on Historical Registry

Dyer County Courthouse Prepares for Renovations

May 10, 2005 Marks Historical Dyer County Flood

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE

Cecily Simpson Advertising Manager

Lilly Wardour Advertising Executive

Parker Townsend Writer

CITY OF DYERSBURG

City Alder men

Willie Cole • James Baltimore

Dennis Moody • Ricky Hammond

Joey Har rison

Vanedda Webb - Alder man at Large

Rick Crawford - Alder man at Large

Edward Bur ks - Alder man at Large

Mayor John Holden

“I love Dyer County! Dyer County is home to me and it’s where my grandparents moved to many years ago. I love the freedom Dyer County has to offer. It is rich in history and tradition. We are a community of vibrant, unique people. We strive to do more and to move forward for the betterment of our community. Our economy and environment has so much to offer!

“Growing up in Dyer County I remember parking meters, old wood creaky floors in the stores downtown, and chandeliers hanging in the intersections at Christmas time. Times have changed and things phase out, get old, and outdated! It’s hard to move forward without leaving the past behind sometimes. It’s great to see where the county is now while celebrating where it has come from. Happy birthday DC, 200 years looks good on you!”

“I remember as a 13 year old kid in 1973 when Dyer County celebrated our Sesquicentennial, I didn’t fully understand the importance of that celebration. Now, 50 years later celebrating our Bicentennial it is clearly evident to me that we have much to be proud of and celebrate. We live, work and play in a growing vibrant county that has so much to offer our citizens from outstanding school systems including Dyersburg State, job opportunities, recreational facilities, healthcare, places of worship, civic organizations, just to name a few. I am proud of the cities and communities that make up Dyer County but most of all I am thankful for the residents of these areas and their willingness to support one another at all times. Happy Birthday Dyer County, and I wish you many more!”

“I love Dyer County for several reasons. One, because it is my home! It’s where I was born and raised, and where I continue to live now. Second, it’s where I am raising my family, and it has so many great schools to offer. Third, Dyer County is a great all-around community. Everyone helps one another out and, nowadays, that means a lot in the world we live in.”

Dyer County Mayor David Quick

Newbern Mayor Pam Mabry

Dyersburg Mayor John Holden

Trimble Mayor Ben Sturdivant

Tigrett, Bonicord, & Fowlkes

Greg Vestal Larry Shawver

Future City, Bruce & S. Dyersburg

Terry McCreight Tonya C. Fuller-McKellar

Newbern

John Uitendaal (Chairman)

Brandon Dodds

Courthouse

Debbie Bradshaw-Hart (Budget Chairman)

Debra Roberson

Trimble, Tatumville & Roellen

Bradley Gray Steve Moore

East Dyersburg

Hunter Jackson James T. Cobb

Millsfield & Bogota

Robert Kirby Doug Singletary

Community Center & Hurricane Hill

Mark Korn Pam Newell

Finley & Lenox

Jimmy Hester Steve Sartin

North Dyersburg

Dob Johnson Kim Peckenpugh

Christian Care Clinic, LLC

625 W Main St, Newber n TN 38059

Mon-Thur : 8am-5pm Friday: 8am-12pm P 731.627.0700

Tammy Holcomb APRN, FNP

Liberty Cash Market, on the corner of West Main and Biffle Road, Security State Bank was built in May of 1980 and became the main location of operations. Security Bank still stands in this exact location. Photograph year unknown.

Construction of the Cordell Hull Hotel circa the 1940’s. Decades later, in April of 1988, the hotel would become home to Security Bank’s main operations.

After changing names in Februar y of 1988, Security Bank moved main operations from Newbern to Cordell Hull Hotel to better ser ve the financial needs of Dyer County Today, Security Bank continues to ser ve their community at this location and many more.

Down by the river

By: Janie Stafford

Sometimes, rivers play a big part in your life, especially for those anyone who has grown up on a farm surrounded by the Forked Deer, which joins the Obion down in Lauderdale County and feeds into the Mighty Mississippi around Key Corner. The farm proper is surrounded by the North and South Forks of the Forked Deer, making it easy to flood in the bottoms. Most of the Calcutt Farm and all the others are on higher ground but the water does tend to get up in late spring. The flooding was a much bigger problem before the channeling of the river by the Corps of Engineers in the early seventies. Most of the residents were forced to stay with friends and family during the long days before the water receded.

This huge tract, which is approximately 3000-acres, is owned by several people, as most farms tend to be. Most of the acreage is owned by the Calcutt Family and their heirs. As the story goes, John Wynne purchased the property in the 1840s. His daughter, Mary Wynne, married Dr. Floyd Ferguson and Forrest was one of their nine offspring.

Forrest Ferguson was a businessperson in St. Louis during WWI and supposedly made a fortune with contracts for military clothing and gear. He then put his money to use creating the Ferguson Farm, which was famous for livestock breeding, especially chickens. The birds were shipped by Ferguson Farm all over the country, as were the peonies. The barn with its huge silos was built in the 1920s for just that purpose. It still stands to this day. The land was initially developed by Dr. Floyd Ferguson around 1860. Forrest acquired the upland portion from his brothers Wynne and Charles. The three sisters owned the block across Samaria Bend Road.

After Forrest’s death, his wife, Virginia Ferguson, became an invalid and moved into the big family home where she was cared for by members of the Catholic church. At her instruction, she left her properties inherited from Forrest to the Catholic Diocese with the agreement that if the property was ever to be disposed of by the church it would be necessary for them to negotiate with Harry Calcutt to sell the property.

When that happened, Harry acquired the original acreage of the Ferguson farm. He and his children visited from Michigan often and stayed at what they refer to as “the shack.” It is the house that the priest lived in when the church owned the property and was moved to a beautiful location overlooking much of the farm, located behind the ancient dairy barn and towering silos. At one time, the City of Dyersburg tried to take about 75-acres by eminent domain to enlarge the golf course. Calcutt flew to Dyersburg from Traverse City and spoke at the board meeting of mayor and council members to object because of his love for the farm and the family tradition that came with it. Eventually, the city backed away from their plans. Billy Stafford became the farm manager in 1956, when he moved into a log cabin that was constructed from cedar logs cut on that land and was built by Simon and Lawrence Bizzle for Mary Wynne Ferguson. He loved the land and knew every inch of it. When Stafford became unable to do the job, his elder son, Bubba, was chosen to be the manager. For much of the time that Stafford was manager, and after, the entirety of the cropland was worked by Neely Pritchett and his son, Joey. Since Mr. Neely passed, Joey has it all on his own. His farm equipment and crew are a constant presence on the farm.

Reece Thompson and his wife, Willa, bought their place on Highway 51 South in the fifties. Their children, Pete and Anne, still own the land and farm about forty acres, including parcels on Samaria Bend Road that are surrounded by the Dyersburg Municipal Golf Course and our local airport.

Farther down the road, is a farm owned by Jere Pierce of Newbern. Across from that is a plot owned by Gerald Brandon’s family. They moved there in 1985 while he was working for ATT to the land that his great grandfather John Brandon had purchased from the Carter family in 1917. He and his wife lived in a small outbuilding made from scrap until their fine home was completed in 1991. Included in his property, is the Carter family cemetery, which he still cares for with much respect for the history there. Gerald’s father was an employee of the Ferguson Farm.

There are so many things, which make the Samaria Bend community a beautiful place to live. Good neighbors top the

list. It is a formidable experience to live and grow on a farm like this and watch the seasons roll by in what is essentially a nature reserve. The cattle are long gone but they are remembered well. Stafford and Calcutt co-owned the herd, and it was eventually sold to Dr. Pierce White to live on his farm on Sorrell’s Chapel Road; that is one part of childhood that is sorely missed by those still living on the farm. There’s nothing like hearing cows moo for relaxation. Country life is not for everybody, but it fits like a glove for those living on or near the Bend.

A brief history of sAmAriA benD

By: Rachel Townsend

Tucked away only slightly out of reach from the city is the small community of Samaria Bend, and within its domain lies beautiful Calcutt Farms, an oasis encompassing rich land, good people, and even better memories.

In 1955, Harold Reaves, a real estate agent and then owner of a 555 service located at, 205 N. Main Ave, had already been managing Ferguson Farm for years when he passed the responsibility down to his son, Billy Stafford, who had just graduated from the University of Tennessee-Martin, and was at that time working for the USDA.

In ’56, Stafford accepted the position and along with his wife and his daughter, Janie, who was one year old at the time, moved to the Ferguson Farm cabin, located on Samaria Bend Rd.

Built in 1938, the cabin reflects the history of Samaria Bend; from within the confine of its red wood walls lie the setting for many of Janie’s childhood memories. Stafford assumed the responsibility until deciding to retire from the USDA. He was 55-years old.

“I was one year old when we moved into the cabin,” recalled Janie, who currently resides less than a mile away from her childhood home, shares the Samaria Bend history with as many people as she can, hoping to keep the history and legacy of the land alive.

“Harry Jr. Calcutt owned the farm back then and he was big buddies with Ray and Barrett Ashley, they used to have cocktail parties under the magnolia tree,” said Janie. “I’m pretty sure the cabin was used as a vacationing home or hunting lodge prior to my parents moving in.

“My current home was built in 1918 and if you go to the end of my street, there is another home built around the same time as mine. It was called the ‘Big House’.”

Throughout his year’s overseeing the farm operation, Stafford and Harry bought a herd of cattle and a lifetime dowry at the cabin as part of his employment. It wasn’t until 2015, after the passing of Janie’s father, that the cabin began to grow quiet. Janie’s brother, Bubba, now oversees the farming operation like his father and his father before him.

Named after its original owner and St. Louis, MO native Forrest Ferguson, the farm encompasses 1300 acres of land, with 1100 acres currently being leased out to a local farmer Joey Pritchett. Stafford says construction on the family farm was funded through a fortune Ferguson had acquired by selling raincoats during WWI.

“Daddy just couldn’t handle the operation of the farm any longer. He was having to many health problems,” explained

Janie. “Now Bubba oversees it all including 2 tracts in the Big Boy Junction area of Finley. Bubba and the Pritchett family work closely together on the farming operation.

“Harry had 4 heirs, two of which have sold their claim. Harvey is one of the remaining heirs and a retired accountant. The Calcutt’s owned the Bank of Traverse City.”

According Harvey, the farm dates back to the Civil War era, sometime during the 1840s. Harvey says the farm was then owned by John T. Wynne Sr. who had established the farm alongside his wife and two children, a son, John T. Wynne Jr., who later died in the Battle of Chikamauga [1863], and a daughter, Mary Morgan Wynne, who later married Dr. Henry [a.k.a. Harry] Floyd Ferguson in 1856.

Together the couple parented 13 children, 9 of which are still alive today. Harvey says Forest Ferguson, one of the couple’s children, went on in life becoming a businessman in St. Louis, later relocating back to the farm with his wife. He and his wife resided at the end of the lane, near Janie’s current residence.

Henry and Mary’s youngest child, Mary Wynne Ferguson [1886), would later be grandmother to Harvey. She was nicknamed Cano for reasons unknown to Harvey, and married Harry Calcutt Sr. (son of Newton and Celia Calcutt of Dyersburg).

Harvey recalled that Newton had lumber camps around Reelfoot Lake in the early 1900’s to make barrel staves- if memory serves him correctly.

Harvey says his grandfather drowned in 1917 while skating across Reelfoot Lake, but his body wasn’t recovered for several weeks. His grandmother was pregnant at the time with his father, Harry Calcutt, who wasn’t born until June 5, 1918. Harvey’s grandmother later remarried a man from Manistee, Michigan.

Janie says that it was sometime in the 1920s when Forrest constructed the barn and silos with farming operations centered around the big barn.

“They bred and shipped chickens all over,” said Stafford. “There was a peony farm and one lady who used to live in my house when she was four-years old, told me she remembered chutes where they were pushed up and down to the basement for packing. There was also a pond with swans, and an asparagus packing shed right across from my house. I assume all this took place during the Great Depression.

“There is a shack located right behind the barn. It was originally a priest’s house because Ms. Ferguson left a tract to the church before she died. Well, Harry, he had controlling interest in the farm, and bought that piece of land back. His dream was to build a country club on the bluff that would stand across from the golf course and now Harvey is dedicated to preserving the history here.”

In 1946, Samaria Bend welcomed the Johnson family, who came to own a large farm opposite of the Calcutt Farms. Overseeing the property was Johnson elder Son Johnson and his family. His daughter-in-law, Mozella - wife of Earl Johnson- was later titled by Janie’s mother as the ‘Mayor of Samaria Bend’, a title she continues to claim this very day. According to Janie, Son had actually helped Ferguson to construct the silos back in the 20s.

“My mother even got a certificate made for Ms. Mozella announcing her mayorship,” laughed Janie, who went on to recall a board meeting where city officials were attempting to shrink the size of the Calcutt Farms by condemning a large area of land.

“Right before David Alexander built The Farms in the mid-late 90s, the current board of aldermen hatched a plan to condemn the 75 acres that I live on to enlarge the municipal golf course,” recalled Janie, shaking her head.

“We let daddy know and Harry flew here in a private jet from Traverse City just to show up at the alderman’s meeting and tell them ‘[expletive] no’! I’m telling you…you couldn’t make up stories like the real ones that happened here.”

Dyersburg high school AnD the history of college hill

By: Rachel Townsend

For nearly 200 years, College St. in Dyersburg has been a place of learning for county students, and depending on what year you were in high school or middle school, you may or may not have had the opportunity to become well acquainted with College Hill and its extensive history in Dyer County.

Dyersburg High School’s College Hill campus has housed generations of local residents. Although started from humble beginnings during the mid-early 1800s, by the turn of the 20th century DHS had already morphed into the leading high school in the Dyer County area.

It all started in 1833, when a local man named Beverly Watson began teaching classes from a newly built log cabin schoolhouse built on the top of College Hill. The school was the first built in Dyersburg, and its site would serve as the grounds for many more school buildings in the years to come.

In later years, the log cabin would be replaced by a brick schoolhouse, which was improved upon and enlarged over a period of roughly 20 years.

The end result would be Dyersburg High School [DHS], then known as the Dyersburg Male and Female College.

Built in 1886, the college faced south toward East Court St. and was the first of four total installments made to the campus over the course of 53 years.

At a cost of $10,000, the two-story brick high school held roughly 145-175 students, with four instructors. For 48 years, the school was overseen by principal and former DHS student C.M. Walker. Under his guidance and leadership, DHS was cultivated into an A-grade school.

Professor H.S. Kennedy was superintendent over the school and assisted by Ida Duncan, Florence Skeffington and Rosa Dubose.

While numerous other high schools existed within the county during the late 1800s, all offering students a 2-year degree, the introduction of the new high school offered students with a chance to earn a 4-year degree. This presented an opportunity that drew students from Tatumville, Newbern, RoEllen, Nauvoo and other surrounding communities.

In June of 1889, DHS noted its first four graduates. Three of those first graduating students were women.

In 1895, Walker introduced athletics to the school. Contests were confined to only local opponents for the first two years before being held out-of-town. The year 1903 marked the first of 23 total years the college would serve as the location for the first West Tennessee Track and Field Meet.

In 1908, DHS was enlarged with an addition made to its southern side. Five years later, in 1913, DHS and Dyer County High School were identified as one body, and elementary grades were moved to the north of the school.

It would be 14 more years before the campus would welcome a new gymnasium. Facing the northwest side of McGaughey St., the gym was built on the base of College Hill, and was considered to be state-of-the-art, featuring a large basketball court, brand new polished hardwood floors, and a wading pool.

As the town continued to grow, so did the school.

In 1929, DHS boasted a student body totaling over 300 and a faculty of approximately 15 teachers.

While it is not clear what year the third installment of DHS was built, records indicate it was erected shortly after the construction of the gym.

Later known as Central Grammar, the building was the first to face College St.

Located directly down the hill from DHS, on a stretch of flat grass facing East Court St. was Burke Stadium. The stadium was built in memory of a Robert P. Burke, a student who it is said passed away while training to become an aviator. A plaque honoring the memory of Burke remains on the stadium today. The plaque is located on the top of the stadium steps on McGaughey St. and faces the field.

Prior to becoming a stadium, the area was used for military drills and grazing cattle. Today, Burke Stadium still exists and is used as a soccer field by the Dyer County YMCA.

Following the Great Depression in 1939, Dyersburg would receive the fourth and final installment of the College Hill high school campus, an art deco building constructed through funding from President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration.

The final building was constructed on land formerly used as the school’s football field in the days before Burke Stadium existed. Dyer County Historical Society President Danny Walden said the original field in its entirety was only 90-yards. To score a touchdown, Walden says players had to back up a few yards and then score again.

The fourth installment was connected to the gym by a long flight of stairs, which still exist today.

The year 1971 brought with it the construction of DHS’s current site on Hwy. 51 Bypass. With the opening of the new school all but one of the College Hill buildings were demolished. The remaining facility was converted to a middle school and renamed Dyersburg Junior High until sometime in the 90s, at which time it was changed again to Dyersburg Middle School.

DMS housed students in grades 6-8 until the construction of the new Dyersburg Middle School on Frank Maynard Dr.

In 2004, the Professional Development Center opened in the fourth installment of the old DHS campus, with Dyersburg City School dissolving their ownership over nearly all of the property in 2015 aside from the west wing, which was later renovated and reopened as the College Street Campus.

* All names, dates, and locations listed in this article were cited from the archives of the Dyer County Historical Society and Images of Dyersburg, a publication authored by Bonnie Daws Kourvelas.

The History of the Dyer County Fair

“AS TOLD BY EDDIE ANDERSON”

By: Rachel Townsend

The Dyer County Fair has roots in Dyer County that stretch back to the mid-1800s. Dyer County Fair Director Eddie Anderson’s ties to the fair are some of the oldest around. For 55 years, he and his wife, Ann, have been among many key figures responsible for the success and growth of the organization and its mark in the community.

“I started as the director of the fair in 1968. That has been 55 years ago now,” recalled Anderson. “Ann, when we first married, worked at Bradshaw and Company Insurance. She was a secretary. Her boss, Sammy Bradshaw’s dad, wanted Ann and I to be on the Fair Board. I was put on as a director in ‘68. I had always, as a child, remembered the Dyer County Fair coming to town. I remember seeing the big searchlights in the sky. We lived out on Sorrell’s Chapel then. I would look back toward Dyersburg and see those search lights and think, “Man, the fair is in town!”

Anderson said, in the 1900s, the fair was located at the old Greyhound Station.

“During the war, the fair ceased to be. That was in the ‘40s. Everyone was too busy…it ceased until 1946, after the war was over; it started back as a street fair,” Anderson continued. “It was held at the old Burks stadium, by the Methodist Church. In 1946-47, they moved it out by the cemetery to the fairgrounds. This was a new charter. The original fair took place sometime in the 1850s. This new charter was made in 1946 with Charles Moore, A.D. walker, and Vernon Hinson; he was the fair manager back then. The fair went on from 1947-1990, when we moved to the new fairgrounds. Hinson died and then the executive board was formed.

Anderson said the executive committee ruled the fair until 1989 before auctioning everything off.

“We auctioned off anything we could find to auction off, so we would have a little money to move to the current fairgrounds,” said Anderson. “Pollyanna McClure, and myself built a model on a piece of mat board and carved out what’s there now—the new fairgrounds. We had mustered up $80K from the auction. In 1990, we took that $80K and that model that Pollyanna and I made out of that mat board, we took glue guns and we built buildings, and we built roads. We went to hobby Lobby and brought trees and mini cars and put it in just like a fair would be. We would move [the model] around to different places to show people what the fair would look like.

Anderson says the Dyer County Fair we enjoy today is the product of community camaraderie.

“We had diesel donations from Roberts Gibson and from everybody. They all helped us build out there. We had the seed money and we used a little here and a little there. We opened up on Labor Day in 1990. There was wet paint on the walls and on the trim work where the girls had painted that day. We were still finishing up on opening day in Sept. of 1990,” Anderson recalled.

According to Anderson, the Vernon Hinson Memorial Fund helped furnish materials for the fair office. With the help of Fair Board members and community donations, the realization of the Dyer County Fair soon emerged.

“We used the Armory that first year. It was sort of cramped but it worked. We had our commercial exhibits in a big white tent. The next year, some directors went to Stalins Lipford and Katie Winchester and told them they wanted them to have an amphitheater and they agreed to build it; that was the second year. Now, we have added to it since then, but the bank has

always been there when we needed them.”

Today, the amphitheater can seat roughly 2000 attendees.

“Grady Gentry was the road commissioner then. He helped us with a road grader so we could park there; it was really hard,” Anderson said. “It was so rewarding to open the fair up that year. Dr. Pepper built the pavilion that same year. The prison sent loads of prisoners up here to do the construction of it. It didn’t cost us anything. The first year, we did not have the Family Living Center or the Commercial Building; those were donated by the community.”

In its second year at the fairgrounds, the Fair Board was able to construct the livestock building using $50K from the State of Tennessee that was secured with the help of former Rep. Harold Hogue.

“It was a lot of money back then,” explained Anderson. “We moved the People’s Arena from the old fairgrounds, that was an old metal building with bleachers in it. We went out there and cut those, and moved them into the livestock building. Johnny Campbell welded those bleachers back together. We had to put a little bit of money with that $50K to build the livestock facility.”

The 4-H barn was born from the labors of Willie Reasons and Jim Keithley, who were members of the West TN Wildlife Agency.

“They agreed to build a barn if they could be allowed to use it for meetings. We thought it was great.” Anderson said. “They tore down old barns across the community and built the 4-H barn out of those materials. We would use the side shed for our poultry show. That’s why it’s called WTWRA 4-H Barn. The Fair Board took the building following the passing of Reasons and Keithley. For a long time, Paul Stringham would do a television show at the fair and used to come setup all his equipment. Dr. Karen Bowyer allowed us to use the college’s [DSCC] channel to broadcast our event. It was wonderful. Homecoming ’86 events were set to celebrate the sesquicentennial events. We would allow them to come out and they would have a big party and charge admission. They got enough money to help us build the Family Living Center. I think they raised $50K.”

“Larry Gibson was in charge of renting the commercial spaces,” Anderson noted. “He said he could raise the money every year to the make the payment on the voting to build the commercial building. It wasn’t a big expense but it was a nice building. We rented it all year long. He sold enough commercial booths to pay the note. We paid the building off in about 10 years. All this was done with the help of the city and county, but not through monetary support; it was given through services. Jeff Jones has been a blessing to us with the County Highway Dept. About the 3-4 year, Jeff decided to blacktop James Rice Rd. It was on county property. In 1996, Ford Construction came in and helped us pave the Midway. We came up one load short of asphalt to making it around the midway, and they helped. The community came together and it was unbelievable the camaraderie that happened during this construction.”

The Crop Building holds special meaning to Anderson and to many of the other Fair Board members.

“The crop building was raised in memory of Sam Reed, my Ag teacher in high school,” smiled Anderson. “He was still alive during the ceremony. He was the teacher for a lot of people on the Fair Board. He did a lot. He did what he could.” Recalling one many personal connections he has to the fair, Anderson took a moment to talk about the petting barn and how his mother built it in memory of his father.

“My daddy passed away and he always sat by the tree where that petting barn is,” smiled Anderson. “My mother built that petting barn in memory of him. There is a plaque on that post. There are plaques all over the fairgrounds.”

One of the newest installments at the fairgrounds is Sorghum Valley. Modeled after a town in the 1800s, Sorghum is transformed into a Christmas Village each December, welcoming over 3,000 visitors across the 3-day event.

“Sorghum Valley started out as 2-acres across the creek that we really couldn’t use but it was part of our 50-year lease with the county,” said Anderson. “The lease was for a dollar. We took old log buildings and the first thing Jeff Jones did was build that bridge across the creek, We looked at moving the old covered bridge in Trimble but it was going to cost too much so Jeff laid a foundation and we built a bridge with volunteers.”

Each building was donated by various organizations including Forcum Lannom Contractors, First Citizen, Dyersburg Funeral Home, and Security Bank.

“That long strip board walk was built by the fair,” Anderson explained. “So was the water tower. We built a one-room school and the bell in the bell tower came from Finley School. A lot of the desks in the schoolhouse came from a DC school auction. Why we bought them, I do not know. God told us to buy them because one day we would use them. We had those desks for 10 years in the barn when that schoolhouse was built. They have names carved on them. Larry Mack Bowels was one of the board members and his name was one of those desks.”

Today, Anderson says the Fair Board has 140 members and 7 executive directors.

For some folks, the Dyer County Fair may just be an event that comes and goes every year. For others, it’s a legacy. A symbol reflecting our community’s traditions, agriculture, and heritage—the possibilities that can be achieved when everyone comes together to support a vision.

milton mAgee

Dyer County Historical Society

On June 14, 1936 Dr. Paul Baird of the Baird-Brewer Hospital delivered Milton and Eveline Pugh Magee a son that was to become one of Dyer County’s leading citizens—Milton Magee, Jr. In an interview with Danny Walden of the Dyer County Historical Society in 2013, Milton recalled some of the changes in our local community he has experienced over the years.

The first house he recalls living in was a red brick duplex on Sampson Avenue whose other tenants were the B.R. Jernigans, another prominent family in the city. Later, the Magees would move to Speedway Avenue.

Milton attended Alice Thurmond

Elementary School on Pate Avenue for grades 1-6, then transferred to Central Grammar for his seventh and eighth grades. Entering Dyersburg High School in 1950, he graduated in 1954. Schools in those days were quite different from today. Firstly, there was no air conditioning. Any cool air entering the classroom came through an open window. This was a great plus in the autumn when you could sit in class in Dyersburg High on College Street and smell the Dyersburg Cottonseed and Oil Mill processing the seeds on Cedar Street.

Some of Milton’s high school teachers his freshman year were Miss Gwendolyn Cox for Algebra, English under Miss Chastine Kirby, and Mr. J.C. Sawyers for General Science until mid-term that year. At mid-term, Mr. Sawyers was named Principal and Milton was transferred to Miss Emmalene Yates’ (wife of Billy Yates) science class. During his sophomore year, he had biology under Coach James Dick. The greatest experience of his high school career was Algebra II, Geometry, and Trigonometry under Miss

Milton played basketball in high school under coach James Dick. The basketball court was located in the old gym across from the First United Methodist Church. The gym was built in 1927 and torn down in 1993 but the steps that led down to the gym from the school are still in place today.

Jewell Poor. Miss Myrtle Dabbs was his sophomore English teacher.

The Dyersburg High School basketball squad went to their first ever state tournament in the spring of 1954 during Milton’s senior year. They played in Memorial Gymnasium which was Vanderbilt University’s new gym. They played Scott’s Hill. And to quote Milton “They beat us like a drum.” The 1954 team consisted of Phillip King, Sonny Tucker, Tommy Cross, Bubba Leonard, Edgar Baker, and Milton. (Pictures of this team are scarce. The Dyer County Historical Society would love to have some pictures of them. If you have some please contact Danny Walden.)

When asked about Phil King Milton stated, “He was a great guy. He was always good at everything he ever did. He was a good pool player and could play ping pong, football, and basketball. Bubba Leonard was this type guy also.”

Milton played American Legion baseball for Peerless Laundry. They played on the ball field north of Jennie Bell School where the huge warehouse along Lewis Street was erected later by Dyersburg Fabrics. The Men’s Church League later played softball on this same field. Milton played for the First Baptist Church Team in this league. He later played for Dyersburg Cotton Products with Albert Fowlkes, and Otha B. Mallard. Since several of their teammates were in the National Guard, they had to play short-handed for two weeks while the Guard members were at summer camp.

Milton went to the University of Tennessee and majored in agriculture. He was in the ROTC and went into the Army in the Armored Division where he stayed 2 years. He went to Fort Knox to General Patton Armor School, became a platoon leader and then a company commander. After he left the service, he spent 6 years in the National Guard. Milton’s father and Uncle Asa served in World War II and both told him that he had an obligation to serve in the military.

When he left the army Milton moved into his parents’ home in Lattawoods and worked on the farm. His wife, the late Beverly Fizzell Magee, was a English teacher who came to Dyersburg at mid-term. Milton met her and they married in 1962. They were married 51 years in February of 2013. They lived on Tatum Road until 1978. Milton’s mother died in 1974 and his dad continued to live in Lattawoods for about one and a half to two years. He asked Milton, Jr. to swap houses with him because the Lattawoods home was too big for him. Two children were born to the family in this house: Milton in 1968 and Mary Beth in 1970.

At a very young age, Milton was being introduced by his family to the adult world of work. His parents ensured he would realize the value of hard work by having him toil in the family truck patch located behind their house. A life saver for him from the strawberry and sweet potato patch was when he secured an after-school job with The Dyersburg State Gazette. His paper route during his fourth and fifth grades in school was one-half of the downtown area, while his good friend Stony Maxwell had the other half.

Because all downtown businesses closed at 5 p.m. each weekday, their route supervisor, a Mrs. Sanders, would brook no tardiness on their part in picking up papers for delivery on their route. Milton would make his first delivery to Bradshaw’s Garage (where the First Citizens Bank computer complex is now located). He would then go through the alley by the bank to deliver to J.C. Penny, Family Shoe Store, Piggly Wiggly and Dyersburg Hardware. His last delivery on that street was to Shorty McNeilly’s Bus Line housed in what was then an area across from the Greyhound Bus Line.

Prices were astonishing in the 1950s. With the Gazette being only $ .15 per week, he had to collect from his route customers, pay the Gazette $ .10 and keep $ .05 from each subscriber for his wage.

After the fifth grade, Milton became big enough to start helping his father on the farm. When Milton, Sr. mustered out of service after World War II he bought a farm at Chic. Along with his father, grandfather, and his uncle Asa, the family acquired farms at Chic, Bogota, Cocklebur and Cat Corner on which they grew cotton, corn and cattle. After his father died in 1981 Milton, Jr. sold off the cattle and grew only cotton, corn and soybeans. A later entry into vegetable crop farming led to contracts with Bush Brothers and the later Pictsweet for the vegetables. His second ten-year contract with Pictsweet ended in 2013.

Cotton was raised on all his farms. Cotton gins in each community were prominent from the 1930s to the 1970s. Asa ginned his cotton at the Bogota gin and Milton, Sr. at the Dyersburg gin because he had bought an interest in it. Mr. John Gauldin operated the Dyersburg gin, Mr. Robinson the Ridgely gin, Jack Pate ran the one in the curve in Newbern. There was a gin also in Trimble run by Mr. Guy Gregory. The Dyersburg gin was at the end of Finley street. The old gin building still stands. This was just one of 65 gins in West Tennessee that supplied cotton to Dyersburg Cotton Products. There are no gins operating in Dyer County today. Cotton picked in Dyer County today usually goes to Yorkville, Crockett Mills, Murray City or Halls where gins are still in operation. Milton stated cotton was not pushed as hard in Dyer County as in the surrounding counties, therefore, surrounding counties retained some gins and Dyer County lost all of hers. Cotton interests in surrounding counties loaned farmers operating capital and let them have chemicals on credit.

Milton stopped raising cotton in 1973 after the backwater that year broke levies and ruined several acreage of his cotton. From 1973 to about 1989 he grew no cotton. He started back raising cotton when he went to 30 inch rows equipment and 30 inch rows corn. His planter would adjust to allow him to plant 15 inch row beans. When John Deere came out with a 30 inch cotton picker he returned to growing cotton.

Milton witnessed farming change a lot during his lifetime. Equipment has advanced from two row to four row to six row equipment to the monster machines we see in the fields today. He remembers the one row cotton picker being the first mechanical picker his father introduced to this area. Today, the pickers are six 38” rows wide. A lot of farmers today use the GPS system as part of their farming operation. “When you see perfectly strait rows in a field you can bet they were planting using the GPS method,” said Milton. My first experience using the GPS was applying lime to a 150 acre field. Traditionally, farmers applied 4,000 pounds to the acre. The company applying the lime sent a GPS driven four-wheeler through all 150 acres of the field taking soil samples. When the results of the test came back they inserted the results card into a computer in their lime truck which then deposited 115 pounds on the field.

Milton was asked by his friend Sam Bradshaw to run for commissioner on the Dyer County Court in 1970. The Court had 44 commissioners from 22 districts at this time. Eventually the Court was reduced to 10 districts and 20 commissioners. There was, and still is, a commissioner from each district on the school and hospital boards. Parrish Prince was the manager of the hospital and Lewis Norman was the treasurer at the time Milton was elected.

Bill Pierce was appointed to the school board and later ran successfully for the position several times. When this interview was made Milton had been a commissioner for 43 years. Over the years Milton has worked with several County Executives and/or County Mayors: T.C. Stutts, P.W. White, Kenneth Westbrook, Don Dills, Jim McCord, and Richard Hill.

When asked if he had ever had aspirations to be mayor, he said, “No! I’m happy being a County commissioner.”

In 1985 Dr. Robert Orr placed Milton’s name in nomination at the Tennessee Baptist Convention to be a trustee of the Baptist Hospital. He was on the board at the Union City hospital and later moved to the board in Memphis. He was chairman of the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis from 1996 to 2006.

Dyer county clocks

By: Rachel Townsend

In 2011, retired engineer John Reed volunteered his services to repair the clock under the term of then Dyer County Mayor Richard Hill. Reed spent months making the four clocks operational again. Originally, the clocks operated by means of a Seth Thomas mechanism, however, Reed was able to reconfigure the operation of the clocks using a microprocessor, which effectively ensures the proper keeping of time and stores basic digital information such as leap years, daylight savings time and other details.

Reed’s efforts to restore the clocks and the courthouse’s 94-year old bell were aided in large part by various local volunteer tradesmen. In 2011, after numerous months of work, the bell and clocks were fully operational again. Reed and others also fixed a large crack, which was running horizontally through the center of one of the clocks. Reed says the 1/4-in.-thick glass facing was removed and filled in with fiberglass to prevent further damage.

While from the street the clocks appear to be white in color, a glimpse of the clocks from within the dome reveals the glass facings to carry a pink hue. Reed says this is because of the presence of manganese in the glass, which neutralizes hues of green and allows the glass to transmit white light.

John Reed

Photos/Rachel Townsend

the history of bruce high school

“the wAlls tell the story”

Dyer County Historical Society

A group of Bruce School alumni, faculty and administrators got together around 30 years ago and told their stories about growing up during segregation and the all-black Bruce School. Bob Gates, folklorist and director, interviewed the group and recorded their conversations. The Tennessee Humanities Council and Dyersburg State Community College assisted with its production. Members of the group included Dr. M.L. Morrison and his wife Julia, both teachers, Burgan A. Russell, math teacher, Eugene Brown, English/math teacher, Etta Clay, student, A.L. “Rube” Robinson, student athlete, and Arlease Talley, student. What follows is a synopsis of their recollections from all those years gone by.

Julia Morrison, and her husband Bruce Principal Dr. M.L. Morrison, were both former students and teachers at the school. According to Mrs. Morrison, Bruce High School in the eastern section of Dyersburg, TN was held in high regard as an educational institution. She said, “It was the first A grade black school in the state of Tennessee. Bruce was a school rich in tradition with a reputation for academic excellence, athletic achievements, and noted musical performances.” She explained how Bruce School was an integral part of the Dyersburg community: “The school was a symbol of respect and love. With its many activities and community involvement, Bruce School demonstrated caring, helping, and loving for Dyer County and surrounding counties. Bruce School provided sources of help, leadership, and encouragement for the churches, community agencies, family service agencies, political organizations, social functions, and for other schools.”

The story of Bruce School is a journey through the years that was born of struggle and deprivation, against the odds of prejudice and segregation. Morrison added, “There can be no understanding of the present without a right knowledge of the past.” This history of the school, gathered from the community and Bruce Alumni interviews, tapes, pictures and newspaper clippings tell the story of Bruce School, “that once was, but is no more, and shall never be again.”

Dr. M.L. Morrison was once the principal of Bruce High School. He also served as head coach, band director, teacher

and janitor during his tenure there. Interviewed for his recollections, he would say: “My daddy taught at Bruce, my mother taught at Bruce, my aunt taught at Bruce, and eventually my wife taught at Bruce, my second wife taught at Bruce, and my daughter taught at Bruce. For a while all 5 were teaching at Bruce.” When asked what the school looked like, Morrison replied: “When we first came here it was a 2 story building, and when it burnt down and was just about to fall down, tornadoes swept through and they finally had to condemn it. Then, in 1922, they built a brick, 2 story building and it lasted until 1951 or 2, then that building burnt down. So they built another one with 6 rooms on the bottom floor and a room they called a library. They had 6 rooms upstairs. Georgia Fowlkes was the first graduate, that I remember, of Bruce High School. She was one of my teachers. Mamma Georgia, we called her, taught some 25 or 30 years.” When asked why ‘Mamma’, Morrison said, “She was mother to all the kids, active in church and community work and so forth.” Morrison talked about why he chose to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a teacher himself. His mother would often send him to find out what was keeping his daddy at the office. He’d find his dad at school, staring out the window, doing nothing, he thought. But later, when he became principle, he would discover just how much thinking his dad was doing during those quiet times alone, trying to figure out how to make Bruce School the best it could be.

Former student Talley remembered the games the girls would play after school: skipping rope, playing ball, even playing marbles with the boys. She also remembered picking cotton and strawberries, saying: “Every Spring we’d go to Gates or Halls and pick strawberries. There wasn’t any cars so we’d load up on the train to get there.” She also picked enough cotton her senior year to pay for a graduation invitation, a dress to wear to the prom, and even a class ring. She was the only senior that year that purchased a class ring.

Eugene Brown remembered that the teachers and staff at Bruce set examples for the students to emulate. He said, “The teacher was the true role model for the black kid. Teachers didn’t make enough money for what they did, but their reward was to watch a child they taught turn into a worthwhile woman or man. That was their pay.” He explained that for the black community, Bruce School was where people turned if they were looking for advice, for a job, food to eat, or even to borrow money. Even social and cultural influences were linked to the school. Brown said, “At the beginning of each school year all of Dyersburg looked forward to one thing: Maurice Morrison’s Minstrel Show! You couldn’t even get in the building, and that would be the start of money the school would take to start off the activities for the new year.”

Robinson was quite an athlete, playing half-back for the Bruce High football team, he was the fastest on the team and won a scholarship to play for Tennessee State. Robinson said: “At the time there was no such thing as black history (per se). You must remember that students starting in the 1st grade could go all the way through to the 12th grade here at Bruce. Coming through all those teachers as they moved up, students were exposed to and influenced by doctors, lawyers, preachers, career military people, engineers, scientists, and that is what radiated out from this community.”

Mr. Morrison concluded the documentary saying that the legacy of Bruce School was best reflected by the graduates it produced. He said, “Practically anywhere you go you’ll find these individuals doing outstanding work. They are a greater monument than any other brick and mortar monument that you could put up.”

menglewooD & the mengle box co.

By: Rachel Townsend

Tucked away near the Obion River in Finley, a long gravel road will lead you directly to a piece of Dyer County history with influential reach that has stretched all the way to Memphis and even parts of the west coast.

A small lumber town, Menglewood was created by workers of the Mengle Box Company, a business headquartered out of Louisville, with workers traveling south to cut trees, clear the land, sell the lumber, and move on.

The Mengle Box Company dominated the lumber industry in Dyer County after purchasing 3,200 acres of timber four miles southeast of Trimble.

On multiple occasions, the Dyer County Historical Society has organized private tours of the property with the permission of both property owners.

Danny Walden, president of the Dyer County Historical Society, said after employees of the company cut all the timber in Trimble, they migrated down the Obion River to Finley, where the town of Menglewood was created.

The Tiger Tail-Menglewood rail line was constructed in 1901-1902 for roughly $157,039.

The regular train, “Old Dan”, ran daily, except on Sunday, from Dyersburg to Tiger Tai-Menglewood.

The train carried mail, newspapers, food, and other supplies to Menglewood, among other communities. One end of the caboose was fitted for passengers, hunters and fishermen, while merchandise was carried in an old box car on the other end.

Return trips transported barrels of fish from the Obion River and corn whiskey. Jugs of whiskey were hidden in the water tender in case of an inspection by local officials.

The train also served an important purpose of hauling 20-25 empty flat cars to Menglewood. On the return trip, the train would be loaded down with logs of gum, elm, maple, ash, cottonwood, and sycamore, headed to the mills in Dyersburg, Memphis and parts of Indiana.

The town of Menglewood consisted of two schools, a hotel, a logging factory, a doctor’s office, several railroad spurs, a company store, and numerous homes.

A company town, Walden said residents of Menglewood paid for their daily goods with company scrip. All purchases made right there in town, at the Menglewood store.

Once the trees around Menglewood were cleared, the loggers moved on and the town was abandoned.

Today, the remains of Menglewood are almost completely hidden from sight—scattered among two separate pieces of private property owned by Jack Pate and the family of the late Tom Yarbro.

Years after its abandonment, the town of Menglewood would come to be known through the music of Noah Lewis, a man from Lauderdale County, who would write a song entitled “The Minglewood Blues”.

The song would surpass the tiny threshold of the small river town and break into the Memphis music scene. The song was first recorded in January of 1928.

Performing the song was the band “Cannon’s Jug Stompers”. The band consisted of Lewis, Gus Cannon and Ashley Thompson.

Excerpts from The Minglewood Blues:

Don’t you never let one woman rule your mind

Said she keep you worried, troubled all the time

Don’t you think your fairer was li’l and cute like mine

She’s a mar- She’s a married woman, But she comes to see me all the time

Well I got a letter mama and you ought to hear it read If you comin’ back baby now be on your way

Walden says the difference in spelling is possibly attributed to people being unaware of the proper spelling during the early 1900s.

In November of 1930, the song would be recorded a second time by the Noah Lewis Jug Band, with Lewis on harmonica, John Estes on guitar, Yank Rachel playing the mandolin, and a fourth player, who is still unknown.

Excerpts from the New Minglewood Blues:

I was born in the desert, I was raised in the lion’s den

And my regular occupation is stealing women from their other men

When you come to Memphis, please stop by Minglewood

The women down there, they don’t mean a man no good

The song would later be adopted and popularized by The Grateful Dead in the 1960s under the title “The All New Minglewood Blues”. The song was featured on the band’s first album, and would become the inspiration for Memphis’s Minglewood Hall.

Excerpts from the All New Minglewood Blues:

I was born in a desert, raised in a lion’s den

My number one occupation is stealing women from their men I’m a wanted man in Texas, busted jail and I’m gone for good. The sheriff couldn’t catch me, but his little girl sure wished she would Now the doctor called me crazy, some says I am some says I ain’t Yes and the preacher man call me a sinner, But his little girl call me a saint

Well, a couple shots of whiskey, Women round here start looking good

A couple more shots of whiskey, I’m going down to Minglewood

Today, both Lewis and Cannon have brass notes on Beale Street because of their influence in Memphis’ music scene.

remembering the sesquicentenniAl

By: Parker Townsend

October 27, 1973, marked the sesquicentennial of Dyer County, the 150th year since its founding in 1823. This was an occasion long anticipated by the residents of the county with events being held weeks before the actual celebration week that began on October 20. This period of celebration for the town was marked by dancing, sales, religious services, contests, parades, and many other activities performed before a

One of the earliest opening ceremonies began on September 3, with the Rocking Chair Marathon. This event lasted three days and was won by David Sentell with a time of seventy-four h

September 7, was the first official “Dress Up” day for the celebration of the sesquicentennial. Participants would put together their own outfits for the occasion and wear them in place of their standard clothing for normal functions including going to work, shopping, or even just being outdoors walking through the town. This persisted from that Friday and every consecutive Friday until the day of the celebration.

Saturday, September 24, marked the beginning of a series of kangaroo courts (illegitimate court proceedings) held for the spirit of fun against those accused of not participating in the celebratory festivities. This date also began the sesquicentennial flea market, a commemoration of the old days of residents and traders selling, buying, or otherwise exchanging wares.

hours and twenty minutes. 150

The next major event occurred on October 20, the first day of the week of celebration. After hundreds had gathered to listen to the opening address and watch the flag being raised, the festivities commenced with Mrs. Margaret (Doug) Viar being crowned the sesquicentennial queen. A parade was also held through the Dyersburg streets with the chosen floats and entries commemorating the past. Proceeding the parade, a beard judging contest was held. This, like many of the other events, was prepared for in advance by the men of Dyer County, who learned how to cultivate different styles of facial hair for this competition and to make the celebration successful. The winner of this competition, having won both classifications and claiming honors (best full beard and longest beard at 3 and a half inches), was James Curtis of Trimble. Later that evening, there were events around town including a square dance on the courthouse square, a gospel singing at the Green Village Shopping Center, and a street dance in Newbern.

Throughout the week, the following events were held: a county-wide worship service sponsored by the churches of Dyersburg on October 21 at Dyersburg State Community College; an old-fashioned bucket lunch sponsored by the Dyersburg senior citizens on October 22 at the American Legion; a showcase of new and old agricultural implements on October 23; a businessmen luncheon held at the Plaza Restaurant on October 24 with Henry Loeb, the previous mayor of Memphis; The Barbara Mandrell Show where on October 25, winners of the sesquicentennial Rook Tournament and previously mentioned beard-growing contest were presented plaques; The judging of the sesquicentennial Belles costumes, both copies and originals, occurred on October 26; lastly, the final events of the sesquicentennial were carried out on October 27 with a special program being held for the younger demographic. This special program included sack races, three-legged races, and a concert by the Dyersburg Junior High School to close out the celebration of Dyer County’s 150th year in existence.

By: Parker Townsend

(A summary of information as suggested by

Albert Hulme)

With the founding of Dyer County having been in the year 1823, it’s a momentous occasion for us to celebrate the 200th year of the county’s existence. That having been said, we should remember and celebrate the circumstances leading to its founding all those years ago.

The area that would roughly become Dyer County was discovered in the year 1783, in a land survey led by Henry Rutherford. As Tennessee had initially been a part of North Carolina, Rutherford was tasked with setting out and locating land grants promised to soldiers that served in the Revolutionary War. Rutherford’s group travelled by way of river using the Cumberland and Mississippi before reaching the Forked Deer (then known as the Okeena). These men sailed up the Forked Deer river to the point where the Chickasaw Bluffs come down east of the river’s bank. At this point, the expedition unit disembarked and surveyed the 5,000 acres of North Carolina grant land.

After the surveys done by Rutherford’s group, the land that would be Dyer County was left largely untouched until the year 1818. This year marked a treaty struck by the Chickasaw Indians, who owned west Kentucky and West Tennessee. The treaty was consummated by future president Andrew Jackson and Kentucky governor Isaac Shelby. Following the treaty being signed, the Chickasaw left their holdings in west Tennessee, and migrants from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina took the land for occupation. With the rapid emigration of peoples from other states to this territory, the region eventually became what we know as Dyer County in October of 1823.

The beginnings of what is now Newbern take place with a migration of small businesses to Main Street with the house of citizen Mr. Thomas McSpaddin situated in what is now the town square. At the time, roads were being built throughout the county meaning that migration and trade were more possible. The area was a very closely connected, small community in which everyone depended heavily on each other namely for educational, financial, and spiritual development. The status quo remained intact with the community steadily growing until the civil war began. With the advent of the civil war, the community of Newbern saw it as an opportunity for incorporation. Following a mishap with the community failing to specify the name of the town seeking incorporation, the town of Newbern was born.

The small town of Trimble, named after the Trimble Station, was originally a railroad terminus built in 1872. Eventually, the railroad was extended through Newbern to the line connecting Dyersburg to Memphis. The area wasn’t entirely uninhabited as settlers had chosen to move there at the start of the civil war. The town’s founder, Jesse Pierce, had supposedly given land out for schools and churches for people of all colors. The town having been founded on the railroad grew rather quickly with saloons, blacksmiths, and even a post office being built. Originally, there had been a lumber mill built out in this region by one Clarence Mengle of Louisville. This arrangement concluded however when the land had been cleared. The mill was moved and is now situated in what is now known as Menglewood.

newbern’s HisToriC DepoT sTaTion

By: Parker Townsend

The Newbern Depot is a historic building with a varied history pertaining to how it came to be and the role it, and the railroad served in the community. The original Newbern Depot was a small landing platform built sometime between 1880-1881. When it burnt down in 1919, the depot that replaced it was constructed from brick and still remains to this day. The track the depot connected to, the Paducah-Memphis railroad, would be the primary connection Dyer County had to the city of Memphis, since railroads were emerging during this time due to their comparatively fast speed of travel, transporting both people and cargo at record pace.

Surprisingly enough, the origin of the Paducah-Memphis railroad was actually quite unlikely. Not only were people at the time apprehensive about railroads due to their high rate of accidents at the time, but the people of the county didn’t feel they could justify the cost of building the railroad. Despite this, the Memphis-Paducah railroad got the vote in favor of building a railroad with a $50,000 bond with the only stipulation being that a depot had to be built half a mile away from the Dyersburg courthouse. Quite humorously, the railroad initially ended up stopping at the Trimble station leaving the citizens of Dyer County angered, especially when the railroad company demanded three of the four payment installments almost immediately. After a long and uneventful span of time in regard to the railroad construction, the first signs of the tracks reaching their promised destination came on November 5, 1881, with the railroad company responsible announcing that track laying corps were arriving shortly. Eventually, the full Memphis-Paducah line was finished on July 13, 1882.

One of the many anticipated boons of the railroad was the increase of economic stimulation. The railroad allowed for the easy shipping of many consumer goods including cotton, corn, wheat, and livestock. Typically, these goods would’ve been difficult to move with any of the other conventional travel methods at the time, but the railroads allowed for the expedited circulation of these goods. Not only were Dyer County goods more easily circulated by railroads, but railroads even led Dyer County to become leaders in industries like lumber with the approved branch line proposed by the A.M. Stevens Lumber Company. Trains would be used to haul lumber chopped in Menglewood to mills in Dyersburg for processing and would then

be transported and sold by railroad.

As the years went by, the popularity of railroads diminished with cars becoming more popular for being cheaper and faster methods of transportation. In order to maintain relevancy, the Nighttime Panama Limited and Daytime City of New Orleans trains were introduced in 1948. The railroads further declined in the 1950s-1960s as highways, airlines, and personal vehicles became even more prevalent. The railroads began to start closing side lines and focused on main lines starting from the 1970s onwards.

Unfortunately, the Newbern Depot had to be condemned in 1990 due to the unsafe conditions of the interior. Despite this, the Depot has been restored and converted into a museum. Regardless of how railroads have seemingly fallen out of favor nowadays, our trains are still just as vital as they’ve ever been to the economy of the Dyer County area. The history of our railroads and the economic gains they have and still do provide is something we should remember and be thankful for. Today, the Depot is recognized in the National Register of Historic Places, and serves as both a railroad museum and an Amtrak station, one of only two in the state of Tennessee.

the origin of time & temp AuDichron

By: Parker Townsend

When the question of “What’s the time?” or “What’s the temperature?” are brought up in present day, the general answer to that question would be located in our pockets. This, however, was not an option available in the early 19th century, right after the telephone was made available. A person would instead need to dial a designated line to talk to human operators that exclusively dealt in time announcements. This changed when John Franklin invented the Audichron, a machine that exclusively dealt with answering the current time and temperature to callers and eliminated the need for people to fill that position.

The audichron functioned by storing advertisements, times, and temperatures on separate drums. These would each be read off by recordings of the late Jane Barbe. The first part of the recording would be stored on a drum that contained the advertisements. These could automatically be changed every hour. The second part of the recording that played would read off the time, which was stored on two separate drums (hours and minutes). The hour drum was the thinnest of them all and stored hour values from one to twelve. The minute drum would store minutes one through fifty-nine and also stored the recorded “o’clock”. In 1958, the temperature drum was introduced, and could read off temperatures from -40 degrees to 120 degrees. The temperature would be determined by a circuit that compares the resistance from an outdoor probe to a side resistor on the machine. The playback head would then be moved to match the comparison by a servomotor. In order to keep the head from moving while the announcement was playing, a latch was added. The audichron was capable of answering twelve calls every ten second cycle, which would amount to a total of 4,320 calls every hour.

Dyersburg Airport Home to Last Stop Before Pasty Cline’s Death

When the plane carrying 3 country music stars and 1 manager/ pilot departed Dyersburg Regional Airport on Tuesday, March 5, 1963, none on board could have ever imagined that they would not reach their desired destination of Nashville. On board the plane were manager and pilot Randy Hughes and country singers Cowboy Copas as well as Hawkshaw Hawkins. Also on the doomed flight was a rising star named Patsy Cline.

Cline’s career had began to rise in 1957 after she impressed audiences with her crossover country and pop version of ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’. In the early 1960s, she joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. She signed with Decca Records and released 2 of her biggest singles in 1961,’I Fall To Pieces’ (reaching #1) and the Willie Nelson penned tune ‘Crazy’. She also survived a traumatic car crash that same year.

In 1962, the recorded her second and final number 1 single, ‘She’s Got You’, and began touring with Johnny Cash, performing with acts such as Cash, June Carter, and George Jones.

Lloyd “Cowboy” Copas, known as ‘the Country Gentleman of Song’, began to regain his footing in country music after a few down years. From 1946 – 1953, Copas was a popular honky tonk singer and was also tapped to become the vocalist for Pee Wee King’s Golden West Cowboys on WSM-Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry. His debut single ‘Filipino Baby’ hit number 4 in 1946, and began a string of top 20 hits until 1952. In 1960, his comeback began when he recorded and released ‘Alabam’ in 1960.

Harold Franklin Hawkins, known as Hawkshaw, had his first top 10 hit single in 1948 with ‘Pan American’. Four more top tens between 1948 and 1951 including ‘Dog House Boogie’, ‘I Love You a Thousand Ways’, ‘I’m Waiting Just for You’, and ‘Slow Poke’. In 1963, just prior to the plane crash, he released his only number 1 hit, ‘Lonesome 7-7203’.

Two days prior to the 1963 incident, on Sunday, March 3, Cline, Copas, and Hawkins were a part of 3 benefit shows in Kansas City, KS to raise money for the family of a local disc jockey. Also on the bill with the trio were Wilma Lee, Stoney Cooper, George Jones, Billy Walker, and Dottie West.

It had already been a long and busy time on the road for Cline, Copas, Hawkins, and Hughes as Saturday, March 2, Cline played 3 shows in Birmingham, AL and Copas and Hawkins performed on the Grand Ole Opry that night.

Leaving Birmingham early Sunday morning, Cline, her husband Charlie Dick, and Hughes flew to East Nashville’s Cornelia Fort Airpark to pick up Copas and Hawkins. Dick decided to stay in Nashville and go home.

At the time, it was rare for artists to use planes as their main means of travel. Travelling for music acts in those days usually resulted into taking back roads, which would have made the 500-mile trek from Nashville to Kansas City over a 12-hour drive. Hughes, being a manger [Cline’s manager at the time and Copas’ son-in-law], had purchased the single engine Piper Comanche aircraft in hopes to build on a stable of stars. The only problem was that Hughes was not an experienced pilot.

The flight from Tennessee to Kansas proceeded without incident. The group arrived in Kansas City just in time for the first of the 3 performances scheduled at 2 p.m.

According to CMT and USA Today, Cline and Hawkins were reluctant to make the trip to Kansas and eager to return home. Cline was exhausted having spent the majority of the previous year performing 3 or 4 shows a day. She longed to be with her children, who at the time were 4 and 2. Hawkins had a baby at home, and his wife, Grand Ole Opry member and Country Music Hall of Fame member Jean Shepard, was preparing for the birth of their second child.

Rain moved into the area Sunday evening and had expanded into full-blown storms by Monday morning. All private flights

out of Kansas City’s Fairfax Airport were halted.

By Tuesday, the weather wasn’t much better, but the artists’ impatience had only heightened. Hughes decided to fly back to Nashville by hopping from small airport to small airport waiting for storms to clear. Ultimately, that plan resulted in the plane landing here in Dyersburg at approximately 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, 1963.

The four were able to get a bite to eat and make phone calls to family members at the Dyersburg Airport.

In an interview with USA Today in 2013, Kathy Hughes stated, “I talked to Randy in Dyersburg. He asked me how the weather was in Nashville. I said it had been horrible all day, but I looked out the window and said, ‘It has stopped raining, and it looks like I can see the sun trying to set.’ He said, ‘Do me a favor and call Cornelia Fort [Airpark] and tell them to turn the lights on. We’re going to make it in probably an hour.’”

Kathy also called Shepard and Dick to tell them that the group would soon be arriving.

Even with stormy weather all around Dyersburg, the group refueled and took off from Dyersburg Regional Airport at approximately 6:07 p.m.

The plane never arrived in Nashville.

The aircraft was discovered around daybreak the next morning in a wooded area near Camden, TN. There were no survivors.

Fellow country artist Roger Miller arrived at the crash site where he chased away scavengers who were sifting through the debris for ‘souvenirs’. Miller had been with Dick throughout the night and drove to the scene while Dick stayed home with his and Cline’s children.

According to multiple sources, when Cline’s watch was discovered, its hands had stopped at 6:20 p.m.

Authorities were able to secure the scene by 1 p.m.

Pieces of the plane were strewn about the area with reports of a wing in a tree and the engine lodged 6 feet into the ground. Today, there is a memorial outside of Camden in the wooded area that honors all four that was on board.

Since the tragic accident, Cline has been posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and her life has been depicted on the silver screen in a film titled ‘Sweet Dreams’ in 1985, starring Jessica Lange.

At the Dyer County Historical Society, at 305 College Street, a replica of a phone from the time period of the incident, along with a memorial plaque and front facing of a phone booth can be viewed.

t he h istory of D yer c ounty c ourthouse

Earl Willoughby is “The Man” when it comes to the history of Dyer County, TN. Longtime history teacher at Dyer County High School and former columnist for the State Gazette, Willoughby is well known for his ability to “tell a good story.” A few years ago the Dyer County Historical Society produced a series of videos to document Willoughby and others telling what they either knew or could recollect concerning the history of our “neck of the woods.” Willoughby’s topic was the history of the Dyer County Courthouse and square. What follows is “his-story.”

“These may sound like isolated events but to me they play like a slideshow in my head. It may seem like a sleepy little place, but for the last 185 years this has been a pretty busy square, not so much in these last few years maybe.” The current courthouse building has been here for a 100 years, but the first court held in Dyer Co. was in the old John Warren home in 1824. It was a two room cabin with a dog trot, dirt floors, and located in what is now Crockett County. Prisoners were kept in an overturned wagon with rocks piled on top. “They didn’t have long jail sentences, but what they did was brand them, whip them and stuff like that. There was only one guy in the first 25 yrs. that actually went to prison. He was a one-legged cobbler named ‘Craven Butts’, an unfortunate name to have to go to prison with, but after he went to prison, the governor pardoned him.”

The first court room built in Dyersburg was down by the river, by the bridge (Bell Straw bridge) owned by William Dement. It was only there for about a year when they moved it up to its current location in 1827. It was 2 stories, 30x26 ft., with a whipsaw floor, located on the northwest corner of square, and Sheriff Henderson Clark and Austin Parrish were the architects and builders of it. Clark was a buddy of David Crockett. “Clark said that he shot 2 bears with one shot, and 2 deer with one shot, and 2 squirrels with one shot. Needless to say he was an even bigger liar than Davy Crockett.”

Sometime between 1834 and 1836 a one-story frame house was erected on the square separate from the courthouse. A fence was also built around the square to keep the hogs and horses out. Around the courthouse were paths lined with Dog Fennel. “Now Dog Fennel doesn’t smell that good, some folks call it stinkweed, and it was supposed to keep away insects and rodents. Church services were held in the courthouse because saloons were here a long time before they had churches.” The first church wasn’t built until the 1850’s, on Church Street of course. In 1852 a 2-story brick courthouse was raised with a copper roof that would eventually turn green. It almost survived the Civil War, but Tom Mayes, an ex-soldier from Dyersburg, swore an oath of allegiance to the North, and then turned outlaw, burnt the courthouse down, and half the town with it, in 1865. So it wasn’t the Union Army that got this courthouse. The courthouse walls remained intact, so in 1867 it was rebuilt at a cost of $8000. There is some debate whether the bricks were new or reused remnants of the burnt building, but the old fireplace was done away with, and replaced by heated coal grates and coal oil lamps. Originally they had used candles. The out-house stood on the south west corner of the square and a small shed stood where the Vietnam War memorial now stands. Inside they kept a reel-cart full of hose, in case of a fire, and the coal that they used to heat the building. In this courthouse there was a hall with 5 rooms and the main entrance was on the east side.

Construction on the present courthouse was started in 1911, and completed in 1912. The monument was put up in 1905. Originally there was to be a tower on top three times higher than the courthouse, but the design was changed to the dome top that we have now. “In the early years there was a flag that flew over the courthouse, and some people say we ought to bring that back. With the present dome, I’m not sure about the feasibility of doing it.”

There have been times when you could of stood on this court square an heard steam boat whistles on the Forked Deer River, and music coming from Mike Stephen’s house on Cedar Street. The kids in the afternoon, having just got out of high school, would play musical instruments to entertain themselves down at his landing. You could’ve looked down on Main Street and seen men wrestling bears at Robert Plantation Supply Co., where Pennington Seed is now. You could watch horses go down Market St. as they raced toward a smoking house. You might’ve sat on the north side of the square and listened to a band play in the afternoon or look north on Market St. and see Andy Johnson sitting on Tom Hill’s porch where

the Methodist Church now stands. You could also look south on Main Street and see women in kimonos with feather boas sitting on the ledges hollering at the plowboys coming up the street, advertising “various services” so to speak.

Elephants, lions, Buffalo Bill, and others, all came to the square with circuses and wild-west shows to drum up interest. Some came by rail, others by wagon, but the first circus actually arrived on a steamboat, as did many other things coming to Dyersburg. Emmet Kelly’s wife went into labor during one of these shows and was rushed to Baird-Brewer Hospital, where the famous clown Emmet Kelly Jr. was born.

Dyersburg as also been blessed by characters. Traveling on a time machine one might run into Suffield Fumbanks, who had served with Napoleon during his winter campaign in Russia. Or Dutch Charley who had fought in the Franco-Prussian War and served with the German army in India, and lived across from where Alvino’s Pizza is now located. He also panned for gold in South America.

Old man Henry Boone had been a professional game hunter who lived in a tent on Coon Creek in the 1840’s, but later moved to town and opened a liquor store where he bought pelts and sold wicker baskets. He was one of Dyersburg’s first aldermen.

Pete Ford served as an officer on a sailing ship before the Civil War. He’d spent years at sea but later founded a timber industry down there at Tennemo. He loved to sit bare foot on his front porch and play his accordion. And once during a trial held in this courthouse, Pete was fined for swearing like a sailor (of course because he really was). According to those who knew him, his cursing came so naturally it was almost like an art form. When the judge fined him, Pete replied: You know judge I didn’t (expletive) mean that! So the judge fined him again.

“Great guy though. When my great-great-grandfather died, he offered to adopt my great-grandmother, and I’ve always appreciated that.”

Then McCullough, who served as a Texas Ranger, gold miner in California, Indian fighter, came back to visit Dyersburg. But he didn’t stay because he said “the women in Dyer County are so modest they won’t even walk through a potato patch because ‘even taters have eyes.’”

One Dyersburgian rode his “velocipede” bicycle (bone shaker) all the way to Seattle, before catching a boat to ride north to the goldfields in Alaska. There was a man who would ride through town on a cart pulled by goats. He lived in a cave outside of town on Hog Waller Road.

Along with the adventurers, the county had its share of pranksters. Where Marr’s Laundry now stands, there was a fire station. The firemen on duty used to electrify a chair, so when anybody who sat down in it they could flip a switch and “electrocute” them. They even wired up the fire engine so they could “light up” visitors wanting to touch the polished brass. One man came running into Dyersburg one day and said he had “trapped the devil” and he was holding it prisoner at Tiger Tail. This caused quite a commotion because a lot of people from Dyersburg ran down to see the forked-tail demon locked up, only to be disappointed when he wasn’t there. A couple of fishermen swore they saw a mermaid swimming in the Forked Deer River. It was in the national papers. But sadly the aquatic beast was only observed a couple of more times. It was finally decided that it was more’n likely the fishermen were swimming in alcohol than a half-human creature swimming in the river.

Visitors have included western stars like Sunset Carson, Cisco Kid, and Ward Bond. William Jennings (monkey trial) Bryan made a political speech at the Depot while he was running for president of the United States. Roy Acuff, Will Rogers, Bill Clinton and Harry Truman, have all been on the square. Over 100 pro and semi-pro baseball players have either played for a Dyersburg team or done their spring training in Dyersburg. And some pro teams have played down here, like the St. Louis Browns.

During baseball season, you could here the crack of the bat close to the river bridge. There were also 2 semi-pro black teams that played here named the Show Taps and the Dyersburg Specials. The Dyersburg team was called the Forked Deer. Doc Prothrow, a local dentist, managed the Phillies and the Memphis Chicks. Ed Wright played pro ball for the United States over seas until he finally settled down over here at the filling station on Main Street.

A group of men from Dyer Co. formed a military company and went to Texas during the Texas Revolution. Davy Crockett’s son was a member of that company as was Ben McCullough, but they didn’t fight any battles. Others from Dyer Co. did fight, however. Lt. Dillard from Dyer Co. went with Crockett to the Alamo and died there. The local county court clerk here, resigned his position, went to Texas, was captured and wound up a prisoner in a Mexican castle till the end of the war.

If you came to the square in the 1870’s there were several saloons on each side of the square. Hitching posts, a Town Marshall, a stage coach bringing the mail and passengers to the north side of the square. We had shootouts that were so notorious they also made headlines in the national papers.

Mary Anne Goodnite, born here, the grand daughter of Col. Robert Henry Dyer, saved a large portion of the almost extinct Bison heard while she was living in Palo Verde Canyon, TX. Dyer County may not be in the heart of Texas, but 5 Texas Rangers came from Dyer County.

Dyersburg has quite a history of being notorious. Within the walls of the various courthouses there have been knife fights between members of the county court. Murder trials, kangaroo court proceedings, judges who have left the bench to snub defendants standing trial. One judge would race across the street to place bets on horse races at the local drug store between cases. Judge Gordon was presiding over the trial of a man who was accused of disturbing the peace. It seems he was drunk and passing wind during a tent meeting. The woman preacher filed charges. The amused judge finally let the defendant go when it was decided that it was the defendant’s mule that was the culprit, tied outside behind the tent, and not him.

There has also been a darker side to our history. There have been many lynchings here, so many that one of the trees was called “the lynching tree” or “the hanging tree” or “Mike’s tree” for one of the first to be hung from it. Slave auctions were held on the steps in front of the old courthouse. A large group of masked horsemen wearing black hats rode past the square one night on their way to take 3 horse thieves out of the jail. They dragged them out, took them to the bridge, formed a firing squad and shot them. One of them got up and ran down Cedar St. but they caught up with him and shot him again. One time they were going to hold a trial here in 1932 and the Governor got so concerned he sent a machinegun company to set up around the gym, and put up barricades to keep the Dyer County people out. One of the recurrent problems for city hall was how to keep hogs from wallowing in the roads. The streets that bordered the square got so bad that a horse stumbled, got tangled in its harness, and drowned. In a mud puddle.

Before the civil war there were often cock fights downtown, and on the Sabbath women tried to control their husbands but on regular occasions they would race their horses downtown on Church St. and place bets on them. There had to be a law passed to keep people from riding there horses on the sidewalks. One of the ladies societies pushed the aldermen to pass a law preventing the riding of bicycles in town, because obviously, with all the boys riding everywhere, it was promoting gangs of hoodlums. The local shooting gallery had to be shut down when the boys shot the mayors wife in the back of the head with an air gun while she was passing by. The mayor later bought the gallery and reopened it……mmm…?

During the “Roaring Twenties” things changed around the nation. The country emerged from a world war, local men had been to Paris and London, women got the right to vote, and many of them became “flappers.” They wore those snazzy hats that looked like bathing caps, bobbed their hair, wore shorter dresses, often trimmed in fringe, rolled their stockings down and called them “jelly rolls.” In 1923 a group of young flappers held a picture show party in town and called themselves the “Foolish Virgins.” At the same time a group of young men in town formed a band called the “Jazz Hounds.”

However, the 20’s and 30’s were far from innocent. Pretty Boy Floyd’s “wheel man” lived here in Dyersburg. And Floyd shot up a local “speak easy” with machine gun fire one night. In 1934 Jack Duffy was found in his car in a local corn field and his body and car had been sprayed with machine gun fire. Duffy’s car was later displayed on this court square, and his blood stained clothes were hung in the court house basement for a number of years. I remember when they still hung down there. Back during prohibition men would go down to the drug store and take liberal doses of snake oils, skillful concoctions made by the pharmacist, partly if not mostly of alcohol. One of these was Dr. Bemer. When Willoughby was young and traveling outside of Dyersburg, whenever he said where he was from, people would look at him like they were gun shot. The town of Dyersburg still had that lingering notoriety. J. Edgar Hoover did not call Dyersburg “Little Chicago” without some reason. It was said Al Capone used to stay on Troy Ave. when he was traveling between Memphis and Chicago.

Revolutionary War veterans still lived here during the Mexican War. This was the period when young men formed a company downtown, but there were too many volunteers in the state so they had to join other units. In the Civil War many companies formed here on the square and all these units would eventually fight together at Shiloh. The mayor of Dyersburg, funded largely by the masonic lodge, raised the first company to go to war, Company K of the 4th Tennessee. Dyersburg changed hands so many times during the war that it was hard to keep track. One day the Yankees would be here, the next day the Rebels, back and forth. A large skirmish took place down here by the bridge in January, 1863. The 3rd Michigan Calvary under the command of Captain Tunis D. Quackenbush, engaged Sheriff Dawson and his bunch, and what’s interesting about it: Quackenbush was from Adrian Michigan, and that’s where the cotton mill came out of. One of the guys that came down from the cotton mill was a Quackenbush, undoubtedly related.

A cannon was fired on the courthouse square for our first National Guard Unit headed for the depot and points beyond for the Spanish American War. They never made it overseas but they did go to South Carolina, Alexander, Virginia and places like that.

During WW I Jere Cooper and the boys with the 30th Division left here for the fields of France and many never returned. Cooper’s office was over where the old Rexall building was. Then in WW II the 30th Division National Guard Unit again went over to France.

People remember driving around in their cars and sitting at drugstores when the word came over the radio that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. At the time a lot of people didn’t know where that was. Buses soon surrounded the square taking the inductees off to war. Formations of bombers flew over using Dyersburg as a target. They never dropped any bombs, but they did bomb the Lenox Bridge by accident. The Hut was usually covered up with soldiers with their points to buy good steaks while they were on leave. On more than one case were they caught by local police shacking up with some girl at the Forked Deer Hotel (where Willoughby was born). Finally the “red light” district and whiskey chute were cleaned up when the base commander at Halls threatened to put the whole town off-limits. Several bus-loads of prostitutes were forced to leave town.

During Korea and Vietnam many local men volunteered or were drafted for service overseas. Colonel Huey was taken prisoner during Vietnam and Dyersburg gave him a parade and a car when he returned. Back then all the places, west coast, east coast, were calling our veterans baby killers and such, but here in Dyer County we respected our soldiers coming back from the war, always have. Troops have circled the square in buses headed for Desert Storm and marched swinging their chem lights coming back from Saudi Arabia. More recently troops that were employed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Often before the memories faded a marker or plaque was erected on the square to commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. There are two plaques on the north wall of the courthouse, one for those that served in the Civil War, the other for those that died during the first WW. Then of course there’s the Civil War statue, Vietnam War monument, the brick walk commemorating those that died, the WW II monument, and Korean War but there are still no markers for the Spanish American War, the first Gulf War and War on Terrorism, but its easy to see why its called Veterans Square. Lt. Gardner’s medal is there in the hallway.

Over the years we’ve had a Water Festival, May Day Festival, Old Time Fiddler’s Contest, Carnival Days, Cotton Carnival, Sesquicentennial Celebration, Soybean Festival, McIver’s Bluff Festival, and Main Street Fall Festival. Unlike New Orleans where it’s Mardi Gras, or New York and its Macy’s Day Parade, we seem to have a problem finding our niche. The reason for this is maybe because Dyer County is always re-inventing itself. Maybe you could call us the Garden Spot of the World, which we were once called, or Little Chicago, or the Queen City on the Forked Deer, but we hope sooner or later, you’ll call Dyer County home.

grounDbreAking occurs for the commons Development

Creating over 100 new jobs in the Dyer County area, The Commons Development was welcomed to the community in 2019 with a groundbreaking ceremony held in July of 2019. The ceremony was attended by Dyersburg/ Dyer County Chamber of Commerce board members and staff, elected officials, community members, property owners and developers. The retail development project cost roughly $15 million. The Commons retail sales complex was built on 22 acres of land previously used for farming and located next to Dairy Queen on Hwy. 51 Bypass and stretches over to Parr Ave. The 138,000 sq. ft. development was built in comparison to The Columns in Jackson.

The retail development was presented to the Dyer County Local Government Committee and the City of Dyersburg’s Finance Committee by John Lannom and David Hayes of the Industrial Development Board [IDB] in March 2019. The $14.48 million project was approved by the IDB, following a public hearing, held on April 1, 2019. The City of Dyersburg’s Board of Mayor and Alderpersons as well as the Dyer County Legislative Body approved also the project in April.

Approximately $4.45 million of the total cost was used for land and site development with $10.03 million in building costs. Approximately $2.99 million of project funding came from TIF [tax increment financing], with another $10.01 million financed from the bank, and $1.48 million invested by Buchanon.

TIF Funds were used for purposes such as feasibility study, site survey, geotechnical reports, environmental reports, civil engineering, electrical engineering, architectural engineering, topo/alta survey, TDEC stream oversight and remediation, entrances to the bypass and Parr Ave., mass grading, compaction and compaction testing, detention ponds, utilities, fire hydrants, light posts, parking and paving, curbs and gutters, storm water drainage, landscaping and building pad grading.

sorghum vAlley

jackets, dog food, canned food, eye glasses and other goods. Donations are split among local charities to help families/individuals in need during the holidays.

Modeled after an 1800s-1900s village, Sorgum Valley’s first structure was a log cabin was built twenty-nine years ago in 1994 by Wayne Hendrix. The cabin was built from logs donated by Pollyanna McClure's mother (Ms. Mount), Al Ryland (Ida Guthrie's father), and some other logs were donated by different people.

In 2005, three members of the Fair Board visited the Wilson County Fair and came back with ideas taken from there. The board decided to make it a late 1800's to early 1900's town. We decided to build all future buildings new instead of with old materials because of repair costs in the future. In 2006 the first long building was constructed at a cost of $60,000 that was paid for by the Fair Board along with donations that were made by individual businesses.

Danny Dedmon, owner of the former City Drug, donated the drugstore with its fixtures. The Watson family donated all the old fixtures and equipment for the doctor's office. The General Store was stocked with furnishings by several families. The Post Office was donated or on loan from Harold Sartin. The Barber Shop was decorated by the Tidwell and Agee families.

The Dentist Office was furnished by donations of all the fixtures and supplies from the family of Dr. Johnny Moore. The Donner family donated the knitting machine and many other things throughout the whole village and includes the horse drawn sleigh.

The City of Newbern donated the bars from the first Dyer County Jail. The Print Shop printing press was given to the Fair Board by the Green Frog owner and a concrete floor was built underneath before the room was finished because it was

Located at the Dyer County Fairgrounds, Sorghum Valley welcomes thousands of people from Dyer County and the surrounding area each year for its Christmas Village event. In lieu of admission, attendees are asked to make donations of

so heavy. The Old Sorghum Mill was donated by the family of Tom Bell. This is the mill used to make sorghum on Senior Citizen’s Day.

The Water Tank was built by the Fair Board as a replica of a n old steam engine water tank. In 2009 the next phase of the village was 1* Citizen's Bank building and furnishing their own facility. Sorghum Valley also includes the Paddy Wagon, which carried up to eight prisoners to the State Prison in Nashville was pulled by two teams of horses. This was donated by Robert Willard (former Dyer County Sheriff).

Forcum Lannom built a replica of their first stave mill where wooden barrel staves were made. The log cabin roof began to leak and the fair put a new roof on and fixed the doors so they could be closed and locked. That same year Katie and Alton Winchester donated the materials and Dyer Baptist Association built the chapel. The church has been used for a large series of weddings. Security Bank built the Pavilion. The fair built the covered bridge to give another entrance to the village. The same year, Joseph Townson built the Feed Shed and the old Outhouse was built to accommodate the log cabin.

In 2010, Dyersburg Funeral Home built the Funeral Parlor with all the furnishings. It was constructed by Buck Nash, with Murray and Taylor Moore assisting. They also built the horse drawn hearse and the manure spreader. The fair bought the materials and Forcum Lannom built the livery stable. The Fair Board decided to build an old barn.

With some monies from the Yates family, the one-room schoolhouse was built by Forcum Lannom. The bell in the tower was from Dyer County School System and it was the original bell from Finley School. The desks were donated by JW and Eddie Anderson from Finley School. Murray Hudson donated the old maps that were also from Finley School. The Back Porch Stage was built by fair directors Devon and David Gregson. The Traveling Library idea was conceived with materials donated by Mike and Carol Harris. The fair paid Maurice Garrison to construct it.

the tennessee historicAl commission

Approves 3 mArkers for Dyer county AheAD of bicentenniAl celebrAtion

Dyer County Historical Society

Efforts made by the Dyer County Bicentennial Committee to receive approval for three new historical markers were approved by the Tennessee Historical Commission. The markers are expected to be in place shortly following Dyer County’s 200 birthday celebration, local leaders and Historical Society members are excited about the progress made in adding these new markers to the county. Bicentennial Committee member and Dyer County Historical Society President Danny Walden says the markers will allow tourists to visit each site by way of GPS coordinates.

Markers included will feature information on Robert J. Moody, Col. Robert Henry Dyer, and the B17 Collision over Dyer County.

Robert Moody

Robert J. Moody (1828-1916) An important post-Civil War black educator, Moody was born to a slave named Daniel and a biracial woman named Jane Freeman. He farmed as a free man with his mother in Dyer County; they hired his enslaved father as labor. After Disciples of Christ ministers converted the family, Moody in 1855 attended a Disciples school for blacks in Nashville until the city closed it in 1856. Moody finished his education at Buxton Mission School in Canada before returning to Dyer County and purchasing his father at auction in 1858. He freed his father who moved to Canada but Moody stayed to attempt to purchase and free Sarah McDamond, who became his legally recognized wife in 1866. During the Civil War, he traveled to Union lines at Trenton, then Cairo, IL, to go to Canada, returning after the war to Michigan. From 1873 to 1880 Moody was an impactful educator and missionary in Dyer County. He moved to Illinois in 1880, working as a teamster and farmer there for the rest of his life.

Desired location: The intersection of State Hwy. 20 & Bill Murray Road. The GPS Coordinates are as follows: GPS:36.0333174 & 89.3701066.

Colonel Robert Henry Dyer

Col. Robert Henry Dyer, who began the War of 1812 fighting against the Creeks, was commander on the left flank under Gen. Jackson during the Battle of New Orleans on Jan. 8, 1815. He had been injured on the previous night when his horse fell on him during a raid on the British encampment. He also served as a commander in the 1st Seminole War and in 1815 he was elected to the TN Senate. As West Tennessee was being Organized, Colonel Dyer opened river traffic on the upper part of the Middle- Forked Deer, and built a warehouse where he started the canal that now connects the main channels of the Forked Deer and Miss. Rivers. In addition, he was the 1st Justice in the Madison Co. Court and the first Postmaster for Dyersburg. Though Dyer County was named for him and he was buried with military honors, he now lies in an unmarked grave.

Desired location: The intersection of State Hwy. 20 (Hwy. 211) & Bekaert Road. The GPS coordinates are as follows: 36.0333174 & 89.3701066.

B-17 Crash

Flying a training mission on the 24th of Jan. of 1945 two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from Dyersburg Army Airfield, located at Halls, Tenn. collided in mid-air killing 16 airmen. One plane crashed southeast of this location near the I.C.R.R. track killing all ten on-board. The second bomber flew on north-east 2 miles further where four men managed to parachute to safety, but the remaining crewmen were killed when this last bomber fell from the sky. This would be the last fatal crash flown from the base.

Desired Location: North of the intersection of State Hwy 20 (Hwy. 211) & Bekaert Road. The GPS Coordinates are as follows: 36.067902 – 89.340676.

Photos courtesy US Army and Tony D Moore

bruce high school plAceD on historicAl registry

On Friday, July 7, 2023, Bruce High School was placed on the Historical Registry. Housing generations of tradition and history, the facility currently serves as a community center and also houses the Bruce High School Museum, an endeavor spearheaded by community leader Larry Williams, a 1966 graduate of Bruce High School. The process of having the facility placed on the Historical Registry was a long one, requiring the assistance of numerous groups and individuals.

Dyer county courthouse prepAres for renovAtions

In 2022, discussion regarding the need for renovations for the Dyer County Courthouse began. In early 2023, the Budget Committee earmarked $3.5M in ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] funds for renovations under the guidance of engineering firm TLM and designer Jessi Agee. Renovations are slated to begin in 2024.

-Adding 21 seats to the Circuit Court

-Repositioning the location of the judge’s seat and court reporter

-New chambers for the judge

-Two public bathrooms (Jackson noted both bathrooms will potentially be ADA compliant.)

-Uncovering windows in Circuit Court

-Fresh paint and carpet

-Ceiling tile upgrade

-New sound system

Rendering by TLM Associates, Inc.

mAy 10, 2005 mArks historicAl Dyer county flooD

In May 2010, a historic rainfall caused the north fork of the Forked Deer River to crest at 31.21 feet; this was 9.21 feet above flood stage for the river. This flood level eclipsed the previous record that occurred in our community in 1937. Dyersburg’s Dairy Queen, Lowery’s Body Shop and Plaza Food Center were just a few of the businesses lost during the flooding. Since the flooding, the National Weather Service presented a sign in 2013 to the city commemorating the historic flood.

Dyersburg welcomes ADDition of splAsh pAD & forkeD Deer river pArk

In March 2016, the City of Dyersburg announced they had been awarded $7.4 million in National Disaster Resiliency Grants. Of the money awarded, $4.4 million was designated for Parks and Recreation with the remaining $3 million to be used in sewer infrastructure rehabilitation. The NDR grant, along with other grants the City has secured over recent years, has contributed to the Forked Deer River Park project. Groundbreaking on the project commenced in 2019, with the Splash Pad and Forked River Park. The projects were completed in 2021.

grAnD opening ceremony initiAtes first seAson of new Dyersburg soccer complex

The Dyersburg Soccer Complex began in 2013 when Dyersburg experienced the most catastrophic flood in its history in 2010. The following year, the city was impacted by its second-highest flood stage in its history. It was because of the 2011 flood that the city qualified to compete for a grant award to improve the resiliency of the hardest hit area by the flood, Southtown.

With the support of the TNECD and countless state agencies and officials, the city of Dyersburg received a $3.5-million sewer rehab grant and a $4-million wetland and recreation grant. The soccer complex is the final piece of the latter grant.

In its grand opening 2023 season, the Soccer Complex hosted 24 teams, 40 coaches and, more importantly, 230 players.

Special thanks to our community supporters:

Newbern Mayor Pam Mabry

Whitby Shaw Holden

Walker McGuire Holden

ELEBRA ARS YE ARS AND YE THY HE W GRO

AN D YE ARS OF

TING OF TH.

A lot has changed in Dyer County over the years. But one important thing will not our commitment to protecting and improving the well-being of every single person in our community We’re here to serve you and your family today, and for many generations to come. So here’s to the next 200 years of health and happiness.

Dyersburg Hospital