2017 Aug 22, Day Trip to Davey Crockett Park Lawrenceburg, Tennessee

Started the morning with a free Cheese, Egg, and Chicken Bagel (breakfast) from Chick-fil-a.
We stopped at Lowes where we checked out their Halloween displays and bought some bird feed.

We stopped to get our pool water checked at CE Pools and to pick up some more chemicals.
We stopped at Helping Hands for our weekly B-12 shots.
We ate lunch at Long John Silver's in Lawrenceburg then we rode to Davey Crocket Park.

We rode through the campgrounds, across the covered bridge, along with the river banks, and checked out the cabins.

Covered Bridge

Creek and Swimming Hole

We stopped to take pictures of the markers along the way.

They Passed This Way

Long time we travel on way to new land… Women's cry…Children Cry and men cry…but they say nothing and just put their heads down and keep on going toward the west. Many days pas sand people die very much.

Recollection of a survivor of the Trail of Tears

Federal Indian Removal Policy

After the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States government forced thousands of American Indians to leave their ancestral lands in the Southeast for new homes in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). 

They traveled by existing roads and by river. Many groups left in the fall, hoping to avoid the disease and heat of summer travel, and instead faced treacherous winter weather. Thousands died during the ordeal — remember today as the Trail of Tears.

Despite the hardships of the journey, the people of the five tribes of the Southeast established new lives in the West. They stand now as successful sovereign nations, proudly preserving cultural traditions while adapting to the changes of the 21st century.

In the 1830s, the federal government forcibly removed approximately 15,000 Cherokee, 21, 000 Muskogee (Creek), 9,000 Choctaw, 6,000 Chickasaw, and 4,000 Seminole from their ancestral homes in the southeastern United States.

Federal Indian removal policy aroused fierce and bitter debate. Supporters of the policy claimed it was a benevolent action to save the tribes east of the Mississippi River from being overwhelmed and lost in the onslaught of an expanding American population. 

Opponents described its inhumanity and the tragic consequences it would have for American Indians. One thing was certain: removal freed millions of acres of desired Indian lands for use by white settlers. 

Nearly 1,000 Cherokee died during the journey westward and up to 4,000 died as a result of the forced removal process. Remember those who traveled the Trail of Tears by walking in their footsteps.

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail 

The National Park Service works with partners to administer the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. By helping to preserve historic sites and trail segments, and developing areas for public use, the story of the forced removal of the Cherokee people and the American Indian tribes are remembered and told. 

You can visit sites along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail 

Learn more at www.nps.gov/trte

David Crockett State Park 

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail National Park Service

National Park Foundation MTSU Center for Historic Preservation

Retracing the Trail of Tears 

Thank you for visiting David Crockett State Park and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. We hope you enjoy your outdoor experience. Please be respectful of other park visitors as well as the wildlife that you might encounter along the trail. 

The Bell Route

On October 11, 1838, 660 Cherokee led by John Adair Bell left Fort Cass (present-day Charleston, Tennessee) to begin an arduous 700-mile journey. Weak and miserable from being in removal camps, the people in the Bell detachment that passed through here banded together, staying close to a family member for the long trek.

Walk-in Their Footsteps

You are invited to walk along the same path the Cherokee traveled on the Trail of Tears in 1838. It was a cold and wet November as they trudged by, not even halfway to their destination in Indian Territory.

The Cherokee that passed through here left their home in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee with 56 wagons and 318 horses. 

The journey had already been a trying one, as they were faced with terrible road conditions that slowed their progress. Imagine how the numbers of people and wagons would have mired an already muddy road.

The Bell detachment that traveled through here lost 23 of its members along the route due to exhaustion and illness before the group of weary travelers arrived in Evansville, Arkansas, on January 7, 1839.

A Safe Visit 

The Trail of Tears interpretive retracement trail is just over 2,5 miles long one way. As you hike the trail, you will see signs indicating when you are on the original historic route.

For a safe and enjoyable visit, please:

.Pay attention to trail signs

.Stay on the trail

.Share you're hiking plans with friends or family

.Wear appropriate shoes and clothes for hiking

.Be aware of ticks, poison ivy, and snakes

.Carry a bottle of water and snacks

.Help keep the trail litter free and leave no trace

Please help preserve the traces of the past for future generations.

Legend

Main Road through Park

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail - Retracement Trail

Shoals Creek Trail/Waterfall Trail

Connector Trails

Bike Trail

Fitness Trail 

Cabin Trail

Wayside Exhibit 

We stopped at the wild-bird sanctuary where we saw the Red-tail hawk, Red-shoulder Hawk, Two barn Owls, The Great Horned Owl, and the Barred Owl.

The museum was closed it is only open on weekends.

Red-Tailed Hawk

Red-Tailed Hawks are probably the most common hawk in North America. If you’ve got sharp eyes you’ll see several individuals on almost any long car ride, anywhere. Red-tailed Hawks are often seen soaring above open fields, gracefully turning circles on their broad, rounded wings.

Other times you’ll see them atop telephone poles, eyes fixed on the ground to catch the movements of a vole or rabbit, or simply waiting out the cold weather before climbing a thermal updraft into the sky.

The Red-tailed Hawk has a thrilling, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors seem to think.

Whenever a hawk or eagle appears onscreen, no matter what species, the shrill cry in movies is almost always a Red-tailed Hawk. 

Male 

Length 18-22 in

Wingspan 45-52 in

Weight 1 lb. 9oz-2 lb. 14 oz

Female 

Length 20-26 in

Wingspan 45-52 in

Weight 1 lb. 14 oz - 3 lb. 4 oz

David Crocket State Park Tennessee 

Red Shoulder Hawk

Barn Owls

Great Horned Owl

Crockett Museum & Bird Aviaries 

Red Tail Hawk

Welcome to David Crocket State Park 

Lawrenceburg, Tennessee

In the summer of 1817, just before his 31st birthday, David Crockett entered Lawrence County with his second wife Elizabeth (his first wife, Polly, died in 1815), her two children from her first husband (James Patton, who died in the Creek Indian War in late 1813), David’s three young children from his first marriage, plus an infant boy he and Elizabeth had together. Before David and his family would leave Lawrence County five years later, two more Crockett girls would enter the backcountry world of Tennessee. Although it was a time of great danger and uncertainty this growing frontier clan quickly and decisively made an immediate impact on Lawrence County. Just the same, the events taking place in Lawrence Count would change David Crockett and his family forever.

The man whose personality and unique humor would capture the imagination of an entire nation conditioned his winning ways not by hunting wild game or fighting Indians, but through his tenure of public service, and that started here in Lawrenceburg. When David Crockett first arrived in this area, he could barely read or write with any consistency and he was not a successful farmer. He was also fortunate just to be alive. Although he had survived the brutal Indian Wars, and the loss of his wife, he had also recently suffered two severe bouts of malaria. One was so severe that his own friends reported him dead for nearly two weeks.

But despite his setbacks, what made David Crockett entirely different from most men of his time was a fierce determination that matched his impressive physical stature along with a sense of humor that worked in tandem with a real desire to help those less fortunate.

Politics finds Crockett

When the Crockett family traveled the eighty miles from Bean Creek to “The head of Shoals Creek” near Lawrenceburg in 1817, a winning environment awaited them. 

“We remained here…without any law at all; and so many bad characters began to flock in upon us, that we found it necessary to set up a sort of temporary government of our own.”

In four and a half short years, Crockett became a renaissance man of sorts for Lawrence County. Not only did he provide for his growing family, but he was also appointed or elected to a series of political positions including Justice of the Peace, town commissioner, colonel/commandant of the 57th Regiment of Militia, and member of the Tennessee state legislature. While constantly engaged with local and state politics, he and his wife also created, built, and operated a small industrial complex consisting of a gristmill, gunpowder, factory, and a distillery until a flash flood destroyed it. Unable to financially recover from this natural disaster, David and his family reluctantly moved to Gibson County (near Rutherford) in 1822 to start their news anew.

“I became so well pleased with the country about there, that I resolved to settle in it. And so moved and settled me down at the head of Shoals Creek.”

We left Davey Crockett Park and rode down the Natchez Trace to the Welcome Center in Collinwood.

We were kindly greeted by the hostess ate two sugar cookies and drank some fresh water. I took several pictures inside and picked up several brochures

Welcome Center Collinwood

Welcome Center Collinwood

The quilt hanging at the Welcome Center Collinwood

The quilt hanging at the Welcome Center Collinwood

We returned to  Natchez Trace and followed it down to Chislom Highway.

🚗 2016 June 28, Tuesday, Day Trip to Scottsboro, Stevenson, Menton, Fort Payne , Section Alabama

Today we took hwy 72 east through Scottsboro stopping at Taco Bell for lunch, which was not a good idea. Made both of us have stomach problems later that day. I ordered the Nachos Supreme and Tea. Hubby ordered the $5 meal deal.

We rode on to Stevenson, Alabama to see the Stevenson Train depot, & hotel but the museum was closed.

Stevenson Depot and Hotel 

Reverse:

After the war, the depot and hotel continued as the center of life in Stevenson. Trains stopped here at mealtimes and passengers ate in the hotel dining rooms. Other passengers spent the night here; the hotel is so close to the tracks that it was said the trains "opened the hotel windows and pulled the covers off the beds." Generations recalled final passenger

departures and arrivals here, often sad and poignant especially during war times.

A group of citizens saved the depot from destruction during the Bicentennial in 1976 when the last railroad office closed. The depot was renovated for use as a community museum, which opened in June 1982. 

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places 5/13/1974

Stevenson Depot and Hotel 

A one-story depot building was constructed here in 1853 when the railroad was first laid through Stevenson. That building burned after the Civil War and was replaced by the present brick depot and hotel in 1872.

During the Civil War, Stevenson was a hub of activity. Union and Confederate troops skirmished here and the town changed hands more than once, though Stevenson mostly lay under Union control. Troops occupied the town and a large refugee camp sprang up between the depot and Ft. Harker, a quarter-mile east.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, horses, wagons, prisoners of war, refugees, wounded men, and others passed through Stevenson during the late summer and fall of 1863, before, during, and after the Battles of Chattanooga and Chickamauga. Harper's Weekly, an influential newspaper of the time, noting the juncture of East-West and North-South rail lines here, called Stevenson "One of the seven most important cities in the South."

Stevenson Hotel 

Stevenson Train Depot 

The sign outside said open Monday -Friday 8-3:30PM but it was closed.

Stevenson Depot Museum Hours Mon-Fir 8-3:30PM

I took a few pictures and we stopped at the Co-op that was next to the depot, for some more seeds and stuff to run off the groundhogs and rabbits.

Co-Op

We rode through Stevenson Park where we saw an old cabin, steam engine, birding trails, ballpark, and a mural about the Tornado of April 27, 2011, that hit the surrounding areas.

100-year-old Cabin 

Steam engine

We took hwy 117 to Desota Park stopping in Menton. We stopped at

Desota Falls, where we walked down the steps that lead to the large boulder near the falls but were very disappointed because the fall was almost dried up. Water was falling but not much. The damned area was full of people swimming and two men trying to push a log over the dam.

Several people came to see the falls and a few walked further down the walkway but we stopped at the top.

Desota Falls

Swimming at Desota Falls

We rode to Fort Payne stopping at a Mayfield Ice Creamier for one scoop of Rocky Road and One scoop of Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream which we shared. 

Mayfield Ice Creamery 

We saw the Junkasorus along the way then we rode through Fort Payne not stopping. 

Junkasorus

We took hwy 35 back to Scottsboro stopping at a park overlooking the Tennessee River which was a beautiful site. The park was next to several large homes.

Train Depot in Fort Payne 

Weathington Park is Dedicated to the perpetual Public use of the citizens of the Town of Section by Scott & Patty Weathington and gratefully received on behalf of its citizens by Bob Matthews, Mayor of 2012

Weathington Park overlook 

We crossed the bridge at Section where we could see the Bellefonte Plant.

From Scottsboro, we traveled to Kroger's in Huntsville to fill up with gas. They usually have the best gas prices for mid-grade gas.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Athens for dinner.

Hubby ordered a bowl of soup and hamburger which he could not finish. I ordered a child's vegetable plate of pinto beans, turnip greens, chow, chow, and cornbread. I ate the crust off of one of the cornbreads, finished the beans, and left about half the greens.

Hamburger

Pinto Beans, Turnip Greens

We were home by 7PM.

My stomach hurt all night not sure if it was the Nachos Supreme or the beans or both.

🚗 2015 ~ Wednesday, August 5, Day Trip to Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park McCalla Alabama

We started the day by stopping at I-Hop in Athens to eat breakfast. I ordered a banana, and pecan waffle with whipped cream, Hubby ordered the short stack hotcakes, two eggs, two slices of ham, and two sausage links. 

We traveled south on I-65 to Birmingham and in Birmingham, we took I-59 west to Bessemer.

We stopped in Bessemer to fill up with gas and spent $31.20 for 13.629 gallons at Raceway 6816 1823 9th Avenue Bessemer, Al.  

It was twelve miles to Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park where we toured the Iron & Steel Museum of Alabama. The cost to enter the museum for seniors was $2.00. The cost to enter the park was $6.00 for seniors. 

An Alabama Forge Build 1/2 scale

Confederate Salt Peter Pot

On the inside of a Blast Furnace

Cannon

Gaar Scott Portable Steam Engine 1869-1870

In the museum, we saw a machine shop that included a cannon lathe, Putman planer, Gaar Scott Portable Steam Engine 1869-1870, 1835 Dotter Steam Engine, Bloomer exhibit, and Civil War artifacts.

Behind the museum, we saw an 1880-1890 cast iron water pipe next to the May Plantation Cotton Gin House which dates back to 1858 full of artifacts.

cast iron water pipe

May Plantation Cotton Gin House which dates back to 1858 full of artifacts.

We walked 1/4 miles along up a hill on a path down a gravel hill in the 104 degrees to see the Roupes Valley Ironworks-Tannehill  Furnaces - William L. Sanders, Prop. 1862.

Although the walk was short, the heat made the walk seem like miles, we were dripping wet on our return walk.

It was worth the walk but I would advise others to wait for cooler weather.

We saw the furnaces, a blower house, the wheel that turned the water, a creek with ducks, a cabin, and a Civil War marker.

Civil War Site 1861-1865

Civil War Site 1861-1865

As the border states began to fall, Alabama iron became critical to the survival of the Confederacy. During the last two years of the war, Alabama’s furnaces were producing 70% of the entire southern iron supply.
That output invited federal invasion in the largest cavalry operation of the war. Known as Wilson’s Raid, a federal force of over 14,000 laid waste to Tannehill and a dozen other Alabama furnaces including the Selma Arsenal as the war came to an end.
The Tannehill Ironworks was attacked by three companies of the 8th Iowa Cavalry under the command of Capt. William A. Sutherland on March 31, 1865. Before leaving, they torched all the adjacent factory buildings, slave cabins, a large gristmill and tannery, and a storehouse of food and supplies. In the fire, Tannehill’s workforce of over 500 slaves and white mechanics was scattered and displaced. A mile downstream on Roupes Creek, the Williams & Owen Forge escaped detection.
Sutherland re-joined Brig. Gen. John T. Croxton’s main force of 15,000 cavalrymen proceeded to burn the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. En route on April 1, Croxton’s cavalry engaged CS troops commanded by Brig. Gen. William H. (Red) Jackson in the battle of Trion (now called Vance). 

While iron production ended at Tannehill in 1865, its main financier, John Alexander, continued to operate the cupola furnace producing products from iron scrap before the site was sold to the Thomas Iron Interests of Pennsylvania, a parent company of Republic Steel Corp., in 1868. 

I went back inside the museum where I purchased four postcards:

Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama Tannehill Historical State Park 

The Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama documents the development of the iron and steel industry in Alabama from the 1800s. 

The interpretive center exhibits rare foundry equipment, Civil War artifacts, steam engines, and tools.

Tannehill Iron Works Historical State Park 

John Scott Young Country Store 1905 

Relocated from near Brent in Bibb County, Alabama. This country store now serves as a souvenir shop and camper's store in McCalla, Alabama Southwest of Birmingham 

Tannehill Iron Works Historical State Park 

Tannehill Church 

1905 once the home of the Kimbrell Methodist church in McCalla was moved to the park in 1972 for preservation. Today non-denominational church services for campers and wedding services are conducted. McCalla, Alabama Southwest of Birmingham 

Tannehill Iron Works Historical State Park 

Tannehill Iron Works furnaces are one of the best-preserved 19th-century ironworks in America. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this is the birthplace of Birmingham's Iron and Steel District. The furnaces were a major producer for the Confederacy and are a Civil War Discovery Trail Site. McCalla, Alabama Southwest of Birmingham 

Old Country Church 1905 

Cane Creek Cemetery

My husband drove us around the park, he stayed inside the van, stopping for me to take pictures of the many historic sites. 

Old Country Church 1905 & Cemetery 

This is the Old Kimbrell Methodist Church relocated from the Kimbrell community in Jefferson County. After lying idle for 15 years it was donated to the state by J. C.  Hassell in 1972. The restoration was made possible through many individual donations including funds, materials, and services.

Cane Creek School House 1923

The successor to the first school built in Jefferson County in 1815, this building of 1923 origins served the residents of the Beltona Area until 1960. Purchased in 1963 by the Cane Creek Community Club, it was subsequently donated to Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park for restoration in 1979. It was originally located about 3 miles west of Warrior.

The Collins House 
1834 built in the late 1870s near Vernon Alabama by Edward Francis Collins. Logs were cut from timber on the family farm and hand-hewed.

The house remained in the Collins family until it was moved to this site in the spring of 1984

It was given to the Tannehill State Park by Mrs. Cullen S. Collins and her family in Vernon.

The Jefferson Stewart House 
1858 Pioneer home of Charles Jefferson Stewart Sr., and wife Nancy Rachel Mayhan 1839-1910. Relocated from Abercrombie Community Bibb County 1986 a successful farmer the Stewarts had 13 children, all born in this house. donated by Wendell Stewart of Centerville, Alabama 

Woodward Post Office 

This was built by Woodward Iron Company in 1915. Donated for restoration by the Meade Corporation in 1978.

Fowler House 

Built near West Blocton, AL in 1860 by Winston Stewart, a local contractor. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler occupied the house from 1928 until her death.

Restored as a country School to be a part of the Learning Center in 1978 

Donated by the heirs of and in memory of Isaac M, Sallie Fowler 

Peel House

Peel House

cir 1888

Built by Dick Honeycutt 

Home of Tincey Peel and son, Ermon Peel from 1920 until the death of Ermon in 1984

Donated by U.S. Steel in 1985 and moved to this site...

Belcher House 1870

William Henry Belcher was born in 1848 in Randolph County.

This home was located 8 miles west of Centerville, where he raised four children.

Mr. Belcher was the son of A. Buford Belcher, who migrated to Alabama from Virginia in 1832.

Nail House

Built by Jules Nail in the Mt Olive Community of Jefferson County 

Mr. Nail lived in the house until the 1880s except for a period of service with the Union Army during the war.

Donated by Mack Lee and Thomas Nail...

Restored 1979

Williams House 1889

James Monroe Jim Williams married Martha Evaline George, 

Mr. Williams was a farmer and a coal miner at Gray Hill in Bibb County, AL

They raised ten children, of which seven were born in this house.

Donated by Mrs. Audry Williams, Restored 1976

Tapawingo Bridge 

Tapawingo Bridge 

This iron truss bridge was used by thousands of Birmingham area residents in the early 1900s while visiting Tapawingo Springs, once a popular swimming spot and tourist location in northeast Jefferson County.

The bridge was originally located across Turkey Creek near Pinson on Blountsville Road.

Relocated to Tannehill State Park by Jefferson County in 1975, it now crosses Mill (Cooley), Creek

Pioneer Farm Buildings 1870

1. Gear House

2. Smoke House

3. Corn Crib

4. Double Pole Barn

Donated by Mr & Mrs. Carthell Kornegay. 

These buildings were located on the George Stewart Farm in Bibb County and were restored in 1975.

John Wesley Hall Grist Mill & Cotton Gin 

John Wesley Hall Grist Mill & Cotton Gin 

The John Wesley Hall Grist Mill & Cotton Gin operated on this site from 1867 to 1931, as the successor to one of Alabama's earliest grist mills located a mile west of Mud Creek.

Burned during the Civil War, Hall's Mill was moved to this location to begin a new life during Reconstruction. 

Rebuilt in 1976-1977 as part of the Tannehill Historical State Park development under a grant from the Linn Henley Charitable Trust.

Hall's Mill is an accurate copy of the old structure which did business here for 64 years

John Wesley Hall Grist Mill & Cotton Gin 

John Wesley Hall Grist Mill & Cotton Gin 

Our last stop in the park was at the John Wesley Hall Grist Mill & Cotton Gin where Hubby actually got out. 

It was an enjoyable ride to Decatur where we stopped at McCallum's for dinner they have the best catfish around.

I ordered a small plate of catfish which included two small whole catfish, slaw, onion, baked potato, and hushpuppies. My husband ordered the seafood platter which included shrimp, clams, crab-cake, two small catfish, hushpuppies, baked potato, and slaw. We ate until we could eat no more and brought a large plate of food home for my husband's lunch tomorrow at work. 

We still had time to get our pool water checked at CE Pools and get home before the rain started in for the night. Yea! Another great day trip!