There are two types of historical markers found in McMinnville and Warren County, Tennessee.  They ‘mark the spot’ of events in our history or commemorate the lives of former citizens.  We feel it is fitting to present these markers and monuments.
          The first type covered here are those placed by the Tennessee Historical Commission.  There are fifteen such markers in our county.  We wish here to extend our appreciation to Jimmy Haley of the Warren County Historical Commission for obtaining a list providing the exact number and placement.   Those placed by the state of Tennessee Historical Commission have a distinct numeric-alphabetic designation at the top of the marker and include the three star circular symbol found on the flag of the State of Tennessee.  They also include a Tennessee Historical Commission designation at the bottom of the marker.

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Three of these markers were not located at their designated sites.  One of the three was located at the home of a community minded indiviudal, Allen Dyer Grissom, who had rescued it from a ditch not too far from its original site.  A picture of it is included here.  The commission has been notified of the absence of the other two markers.  The recovered sign is in the process of being refurbished and returned to a site.
          The second type of markers depicted here have been placed by private individuals, groups or organizations.  One such marker is found elsewhere on this site.  It is the Confederate Memorial Monument.  It was erected, dedicated and paid for by Colonel John H. Savage in honor of his soldiers who lost their lives, under his command, in battle for the Confederate States of America.

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2E 1 Cannon-Warren County Line *  WARREN COUNTY  * Established 1807; named in honor of General Joseph Warren of Massachusetts; Revolutionary War Patriot; killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775.  [It is located on US 70S at the Cannon and Warren county line.]

 
 

2E 7 Early Industries This is one of the two missing markers. Between 1808 and 1840, several water-powered factories were located along Charles Creek, about 3 ½ miles northwest.  Among them were the Faulkner Woolen Mills, Tennessee Woolen Mills, Bridleman’s Cotton Mill, and Moore’s Paper Mill. [It is located on US 70S 1 mile south of Collins River.]

 
 
 

2E  36 Forrest's Bivouac, July 11, 1862 Crossing Tennessee River on July 9, Forrest’s brigade marched here in two columns, where he received reinforcements of four companies.  His force bivouacked in this vicinity; the following morning it marched toward Murfreesboro, where the Federal garrison was attacked, its commander Gen. T.T. Crittenden captured with about 1200 prisoners, plus a quantity of stores and munitions. [This marker is located on Highway 139 (also now called the Old Sparta Road), which was formerly US70S) at Mud Creek.]

 
 
 

2E  37 Kentucky-Alabama Road First opened in 1806, it ran through Monticello, Ky., to Huntsville, Ala., then in Indian Territory.  Entering Tennessee near Celina, it passed through Cookeville to Viola and Winchester.  It follows the road south through Shellsford in this section. [It is located on US 70S East in Warren County near the intersection of US70S and #30 highways.]

 
 

2E  38 Rodgers' Tavern This tavern on the Kentucky-Alabama Road was established by John D. Rodgers, veteran of the War of 1812 and Jackson's Florida Campaign.  He also operated Rodgers' Ferry 0.4 miles north east opposite the island which gave this town its name. [It is located on Highway 139 (Also now called the Old Sparta Road, which was formerly US70S) in front of the Rock Island post office.]

 
 

2E  39 Joseph Terry An early settler in then White County, his home stood a few feet west.  Its first county court met here, Oct. 13, 1806.  Members were Robt. Armstrong, Thos. Bounds, John Bryan, John Durgan, H.J.A. Hill, Thos. Matthews, David McDaniel and Benj. Weaver.  Terry later built a log courthouse for which he was paid $25. [It was located on Highway 139 (Also, now called the Old Sparta Road, which was formerly US70S) in front of the Rock Island post office.  It is now in the hands of Dyer Grissom who rescued it from a ditch near where it once stood.   Mr. Grissom and Mr. Haley are working in tandem with the Tennessee Historical Commission to get it replaced.  14 Sept. 2002.]

 
 
 

2E 49 Camp Smartt  This staging and training area was established in the summer of 1861 by Benjamin J. Hill, who organized and commanded here the 35th TN Infantry, CSA, until his promotion to Brigadier General.  Discontinued for a time, the camp was reactivated in 1862 by Col. Marcus J. Wright, who was promoted to Brigadier General while here.  The camp was then used mainly as a center for Confederate conscripts, but the 9th Texas and 20th Alabama Infantry Regiments were here briefly. [It is located on Liberty Lane off of Hwy 55 south of McMinnville at the Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church.]

 
 
 
 
 

2E 53 Forrest’s Murfreesboro Raid, July 11, 1862 This is the second of the two missing markers. Arriving from Chattanooga, Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s brigade, consisting of the 8th Texas Cavalry, 2nd Georgia Cavalry, Woodard’s Kentucky Cavalry Battalion, and a headquarters unit commanded by Captain William Forrest, was joined by the 1st Georgia Cavalry Battalion (Morrison), part of Spiller’s Cavalry Battalion (Baxter Smith), and two independent cavalry companies (Taylor & Waltham).  The brigade, now about 1,400 strong, bivouacked beyond the town, along Mud Creek [It is located on US 70S on the east approach to McMinnville.]

 
 
 
 
 

[This marker is located on the northeast corner of  the Warren County courthouse grounds.]

2E  54 Morgan's Headquarters To a house which stood nearby, belonging to Dr. W.C. Armstrong, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan brought his bride, the former Martha Ready, of Murfreesboro, when establishing his cavalry command in this area.  The house served as his headquarters until shortly preceding his departure on his ill-fated Ohio Raid in the summer of 1863.

 
 
 
 
 

2E 59 Higgenbotham’s Cave Located in Cardwell Mountain, two miles north, the cave was discovered circa 1810 by Aaron Hig-genbotham, early surveyor and turnpike builder.  For over a century the cave has been renowned for its vastness and rare formations.  Higgenbotham built a road nearby, over which Cherokees descended the mountain while on the Trail of Tears in 1838.  During the Civil War saltpeter was mined in the cave for the manufacture of Confederate gunpowder.

[It is located on Hwy 8, 200 feet east of Collins River Bridge.]

 
 
 
 
 

2E 60 Warren County’s Nursery Industry This region probably has the largest number of native woody plant species on earth.  In 1887 J.H.H. Boyd began collecting seeds and plants from forests to sell around the world.  With sons, Fernando and Jim, he located near McMinnville in 1904.  Warren County’s soil and climate proved ideal for plant nurseries.  It became one of the world’s greatest producers of nursery stock. [It is located on US 70S at the park entrance near the airport.]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2E  64 Lucy Virginia Smith French Poet and author, born 1825 in Accomac County, VA, moved to Memphis circa 1845, where she taught school and published poetry under the pseudonym “L’Inconnue.”  Editor of several Southern literary magazines; married John French in 1853; moved to his Warren County residence, “Forest Home.”  Published several volumes of prose and poetry including, Wind Whispers, 1856; Legends of the South, 1887, and Darlingtonia, 1879.  Died 1881, buried Riverside Cemetery.

[This marker is located on West Main Street on property where Mrs. French's home was.  The home is currently owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Steve Smith, 28 Sept. 2001.]

 
 

2E  65
Skirmish at Guest Hollow, August 29, 1862

At 1 P.M. General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Cavalry attack the Federal Stockade next to the railroad.  In a short, but fierce struggle General Forrest suffered 180 casualties.  Twelve confederates were buried in the field of battle.  Confederate forces withdrew and destroyed railroad bridges between Guest Hollow and McMinnville.
[This marker is located on Highway #55 West about a mile past the City Limit sign south of Morrison.]
 
 

Additional information found in Warren County, Tennessee Cemetery Book 2,  Annotated,  (Mountain Press, Signal Mountain, TN  1994), p. 108.  Used with permission.

Guest Hollow Confederate Burial

The following men of Major Baxter Sith's 8th Tenn. Cavalry under General Nathan Bedford Forrest's command were killed and buried at Guest Hollow near Morrison Station, 29 Aug. 1862.  After the skirmish the Federal troops buried these soldiers in a mass grave on the field of battle.  After the Federal forces withdrew to Nashville, a family by the name of Morrison who had lived nearby and heard the battle, recovered the Confederates from the mass grave.  They were reburied in individual caskets made by Mr. Morrison himself from walnut lumber.

Pvt. John Bell  Co. C, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. F.M. Crockett Co. A, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. James Curran Co. A, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. J.H. Ellison Co. A, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. Sam Farrow Co. A, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. James Green Co. C, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. Jack McDowell Co. K, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. W.J. Neil  Co. A, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. Joe Newsom Co. K, 8th TN Cavalry
Pvt. G.B. Kennedy Co. C, 8th TX Cavalry
Sgt. J.T. Pettus  8th TX Cavalry
Pvt. James Petty Co. F, 8th TX Cavalry

The last three were from Colonel Warton's 8th TX Cavalry, Terry's Texas Rangers.
The following officers of the 8th TX Calvary were recorded in the Official Records as having been mortally wounded in this attack:
Capt. William Y. Houston Died 29 Aug 1862
Lt. William W. Butler  Died 30 Aug 1862
It is not known if they were buried here or elsewhere.
 
 
 

[It is located near 420 E. Main Street, McMinnville, Tennessee just pass the railroad overpass bridge.]

2E 68 Anthia Brady Hughes, 1868-1949 and Willie Hughes, 1895-1986 Anthia Brady worked on riverboats on the Tennessee River in the late 1800s.  After her marriage, Anthia Brady Hughes opened Hughes Studio in McMinnville in 1898.  In 1918, her daughter, Willie, entered McMinnville’s Southern School of Photography.  Willie joined her mother in the studio and continued her work until 1978.  Using cameras as large as 8” X 10”, they did glass negatives, hand tinting and left more than 35,000 photos of life in McMinnville.

 
 
 
 
 

2E  69 W.S. "DAD" LIVELY, 1855 – 1944 In 1875, W.S. “Dad” Lively, a McMinnville native, began his photographic career.  His studio was located on the 2nd floor in the Lively Building on Main Street.  In 1904, on this spot, Lively opened the Southern School of Photography which closed in 1928.  It was one of the first of its kind in the U.S.  His fame for the construction of a large camera producing 30” x 60” glass negatives led to his photographs being placed in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

[This marker is on Donnell Street where College Street intersects in McMinnville, Warren County, TN.]

 
 
 
 
 

2E  74 Carl T. Rowan 1925 – 2000 Born on August 11, 1925, Carl T. Rowan spent his formative years in McMinnville. During World War II, at the age of 19, he won one of the first fifteen Navy commissions granted to African Americans. During President John F. Kennedy's Administration, Rowan served as Deputy Secretary of State, Ambassador to Finland and Representative to the United Nations. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him as Director of the United States Information Agency in 1964. A newsman, author, diplomat, noted political columnist, and commentator, Carl T. Rowan died on September 23, 2000 in Washington, D.C.

[This marker is on E. Colville Street by the Towers in McMinnville, Warren County, TN.]

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[This marker is located in the park in  front of the Warren County Courthouse  in McMinnville, TN.]

CHARLES FAULKNER BRYAN, 1911 - 1955 A native of Warren County, Charles Faulkner Bryan was a pioneer in the study of American folk music.  Through his talented efforts this distinctively American form of musical expression gained worldwide fame and appreciation.  He worked closely with the people of the Southern mountains and coves in the study of this music, but his work earned a permanent place of honor and distinction in the highest ranks of academic and scholarly achievement.  Presented in his memory by a grateful community.  Erected by the Monday Evening Music Club, October 1977.

This great country music star was born 300 yards east of Hickory Creek on the Lawson Mill Road, 6.6 miles southwest of here.  David Harrison Macon was the son of John and Martha Ann Ramsey Macon.  His grandfather, Harrison M. Macon, settled in Warren County circa 1820 and descends from a prominent North Carolina family.  This monument is constructed of brick from the John Macon house, built in 1855, where Dave was born.  One of the home's entrance steps serves as a base of this marker.  Moving to Nashville in 1884, Dave Macon eventually settled in the Kittrell community of Rutherford County.

UNCLE DAVE MACON [This commemorative is located on the east side of the Warren County courthouse grounds.]

[This marker is located on Francis Ferry Road  in Warren County where Salem and Locke Bend  roads intersect on Francis Ferry Road.]

RIVERSIDE SCHOOL,  1891 – 1957 Riverside School was first located on Collins River, one mile east of this site on Locke's Bend Road.  In 1891 one acre of land was purchased for four dollars.  The school kept its original name and moved here.  Riverside school closed in 1957 and was later converted to this residence.  Erected by Riverside School Alumini.

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL STONE On the topside, it reads: Dedicated to the Prisoners of War and those Missing In Action whose supreme sacrifice helped keep America free. LUTHER A. SOLOMON JOE H. GREEN J.E FERRELL OLIVER E. BESS JOHN H. BIDDLE PRICE O. FULTS ROBERT M. RUSSELL B. MAGNESS JORDAN LOUIE HILLIS SUTTON GRIBBLE HERMAN STARKEY

[This memorial stone sits in the park in front of the Warren County  Courthouse in McMinnville, TN.]

PEPPER COMMEMORATIVE STONE ELISHA PEPPER II – Pioneer 1777 – 1869 FIRST WHITE SETTLER TO WARREN COUNTY, TENNESSEE 1800 Son of Elisha Pepper I A Revolutionary Soldier killed in the Battle of King’s Mountain, S.C. Erected by Descendants Bicentennial Year 1976 [This stone sits beside the flagpole on  the right of the front entrance to the  Warren County, Tennessee courthouse.]

OLD KENTUCKY ROAD THE OLD KENTUCKY ROAD IMMIGRANT ROUTE THROUGH MIDDLE TENNESSEE Lieut. James Shepperd Chapter D.A.R. [This marker is located in the curve on Highway #139 at the corner of the old Thomas Hash property.]

BLUE  STAR MEMORIAL  HIGHWAY A tribute to the Armed Forces  that have defended the United States of America Sponsored by McMinnville Garden Club and Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. in cooperation with Friends of David R. (Bobby) Ray Hospital Man 2nd Class [Located on Main Street in the park in McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee.]

FARMERS  MEMORIAL (North face)       WE HONOR THE FARMER We honor you, the farmer Every human being depends on you The world is built upon your toil And your products When you prosper, men are happy When you fail,  all men suffer You live with nature Brains, brawn and toil supplies            man's primary needs You are both a capitalist and laborer You pioneer and you gamble Without you mankind would be extinct Farmer, we honor you. (South face) ERECTED By Warren Co. Farm Bureau Women 1986 Farmer, we honor you. [Located on Main Street in the park in McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee.]

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