|
PointsHardeman
Points Of Interest in Historic Hardeman County . . .
• Hardeman County features numerous early examples of architecture, from Greek Revival, Federal, Victorian, Victorian Italianate, and a revival of gothic. There are 118 buildings on the historical register, including The Pillars, The Columns, McNeal Place, St. James Chapel, the Presbyterian Church, Magnolia Manor, Levi Joy House the Log Cabin Courthouse (The Little Courhouse Museum), Ames plantation, and the First Baptist Church in Hickory Valley (there are numerous historic churches in the area)
• Bolivar is graced with three distinct historic districts. The North Main District contains more than 20 homes ranging in dates from the 1840s to the 1940s representing many architectural styles. Court Square District includes the 1868 Courthouse, as well as one of the only three log courthouses left in the U. S.; Bills-McNeal Historic District contains several outstanding antebellum mansions.
The centerpieces of the County are its courthouses. Its first, built in 1824, is the earliest surviving courthouse in West Tennessee and now serves as the Little Courthouse Museum. The second, burned by Union forces in 1864, was replaced in 1868 by the current Italianate style courthouse.
• The Ames Plantation (see HARDEMAN HISTORIC LINKS page)
Includes the sites of several 19th Century plantations. Some of the plantation owners or "planters" were: Thomas E. Chambers, Matthew B. Dyer, Benjamin Moody, Fanny Dickens, John W. Hunt, David Jernigan, John W. Jones, Wiley B. Jones, Alexander McNeill, William Winfield, and Elisha W. Harris.
Historically significant sites found at the Ames Plantation include: the Ames Manor House constructed in 1847 by John W. Jones, the homestead of John T. Patterson, one of the earliest in Fayette County, and the homestead of Robert G. Thornton which was the location of the first court session held in Fayette County in 1824. Other important sites of local historical interest include: the location of the Mount Comfort (Morgan) Store, Andrews Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, the townsite of Pattersonville, and the earliest documented burial in Fayette County.
• The Pillars, (visit HARDEMAN HISTORIC LINKS page on this site for more information about the Pillars) Home of the John Houston Bills family for more than a century, the 200 year old historical collection at the Pillars Mansion is one of the most prized in the county. Rich with historic antique books and furnishing, the collection also houses a sizable art collection, and rare historic wardrobe collection. This home of the first area library.
History of Hardeman County . . .
• The treaty which opened West Tennessee for settlement was signed on October 19, 1818, by Isaac SHELBY and Andrew JACKSON for the president of the United States, Mr. Monroe, and the chiefs and head men for the Chickasaw Indians.
• Rapid settlement occurs in Hardeman County from North and South Carolina, Virginia, north Alabama, and, Middle Tennessee, ca. 1820.
• The first county residence came in 1819 and 1820.
• The first town in Hardeman County was established in 1823 on the banks of the Big Hatchie, the Indian name for the river. It was appropriately called Hatchie Town.
• The new county seat was Hatchie, until by Act of the Tennessee State Legislature, on October 18, 1825, it was changed to Bolivar. Bolivar was named for Gen. Simon Bolivar, the South American patriot and liberator.
• Battle of Hatchie's Bridge (also called Davis Bridge and Matamora) October 5, 1862
Estimated Casualties: 900 total (US 500; CS 400) (from Civil War Battles website . . . please see HISTORIC LINKS page) Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn's Confederate Army of West Tennessee retreated from Corinth on October 4, 1862. Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans did not send forces in pursuit until the morning of the 5th. Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord, commanding a detachment of the Army of West Tennessee, was, pursuant to orders, advancing on Corinth to assist Rosecrans. On the night of October 4-5, he camped near Pocahontas. Between 7:30 and 8:00 am the next morning, his force encountered Union Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut's 4th Brigade, Army of West Tennessee, in the Confederates's front. Ord took command of the now-combined Union forces and pushed Van Dorn's advance, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Army of the West, back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across Davis' Bridge. After accomplishing this, Ord was wounded and Hurlbut assumed command. While Price's men were hotly engaged with Ord's force, Van Dorn's scouts looked for and found another crossing of the Hatchie River. Van Dorn then led his army back to Holly Springs. Ord had forced Price to retreat, but the Confederates escaped capture or destruction. Although they should have done so, Rosecrans's army had failed to capture or destroy Van Dorn's force. The results: a Union victory.
• Pickwick Landing & The Trail of Tears
A riverboat stop dating from the 1840’s. In the 1930’s, during the depression, the site was chosen for one of the Tennessee Valley Authority's dams on the Tennessee River. In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died.
• The Ghostly Rocker of the Parran House (from Ghost Stories site)
Dave lived in a house known to locals as the "Wedding Cake House" in Bolivar, TN. He was an undertaker. He would often sit on his rocker all day, talking to anyone who would pass by. Dave Parran died in 1936, at the age of 86. He had lived in his house for 75 years, and absolutely loved his home. After his death, most of the locals said the thing they'd miss most was passing by his house and seeing him rock. As it turned out, they would still get to experience this! Dave Parran's old rocker still sits on the porch of the Wedding Cake House. Sometimes, it will gently rock back and forth, even when there is no breeze. Some people have also seen Dave Parran's apparition, rocking peacefully in his favorite chair. Others have said they heard Mr. Parran rummaging through his house in the middle of the night.
• During the Civil War in 1862, Magnolia Manor was occupied by the Union Army and used as Headquarters. Four Union generals stayed here. Photographed and featured by National Geographic Magazine, Magnolia Manor is rich in history!
• Western State Mental Hospital, (written by Linda T. Austin, Memphis) located in Bolivar, was the last state mental hospital to be constructed and habitually the one least funded. In December 1885 the site commissioners chose the farm of Paul T. Jones as the location for the proposed facility. The institution's patient population grew from a few hundred in the 1890s to over 2,000 in the 1960s as patients remained hospitalized for decades. Many were crowded into large dormitories and had little privacy. With a limited number of doctors and attendants and a large patient population, many were simply "warehoused." Patients at Western received the treatments available in their period of institutionalization. These treatments ranged from hydrotherapy and insulin shock therapy to lobotomies and electric shock therapy. With the severe staff limitations, however, patients were fortunate to receive ten minutes per week with a psychiatrist. From its original one building, presently used as the administration building, WMHI grew to at one point, 1140 acres with seven buildings housing patients. Its census on June 30, 1950 was 2330 patients, compared to the average of 260 today.
• Hatchie River is a designated scenic river which runs across the county, offering a hunter's and fisherman's paradise. More than 20 watershed lakes, ranging in size from 10 to 78 acres each, have been constructed and stocked with game fish. It is listed as one of the Top 75 geographic preservation locations by the World Conservatory, a non-profit organization earmarking global natural wonders to be preserved. The rivers banks have been unchanged by man. The Hatchie River was used extensively for travel and shipping, for instance, the Pillars furnishing was purchased from New York and shipped down through the Hatchie River.
• Hardeman County towns have come and gone. Crainsville, Searles, and Middleburg are near ghosts, Berlin changed to the name of Saulsburg, and Grand Junction and Hornsby lost their distinction of the being the counties highest populated, but Bolivar, Middleton, and Whiteville have long been the leading districts.
Contact Information . . .
• Bills-McNeal Historic District
Corner of Bills & McNeal streets
Phone: 731.658.6554
Contains several lovely antebellum homes.
• Bolivar Historic District
500 W. Market
Phone: 731.658.6554
• The Columns Home
307 McNeil St.
Phone: 731.658.5277
Antebellum home.
• Historic Court Square District
Phone: 731.658.6554
• Log Cabin Courthouse & Museum
Court Square
Phone: 731.658.6554
• Ames Plantation
4275 Buford Ellington Road
Phone: 901.878.1067
Home of the annual National Bird Dog Field Trial Championships
• National Bird Dog Museum
505 W. Hwy. 57
Phone: 731.764.2058
Museum honors the National Bird Dog Field Trial Championship and contains an extensive exhibit on bird dogs. National Bird Dog Field Trial Championship held annually in February.
Phone: 731.764.2058
• Hardeman County Chapter, Assn. for Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, Hardeman Co. Chamber, P.O. Box 313, Bolivar, TN 38008; (731) 658-6554; Web Site: www.hardemancotn.org
• Hardeman County Courthouse, Court Square, Bolivar, TN; Hardeman Co. Chamber, P.O. Box 313, Bolivar, TN 38008; (731) 658-6554; Web Site: www.hardemancotn.org
• Luez Theatre
Located across from the courthouse. 219 Main St 731.658.6005. Movies shown daily since 1958 in its present location, and since 1927 on Market Street. Other Hardeman towns had movie theaters in the 1950’s, including Grand Junction (The Grand) and Middleton.
• Hardeman County Arts Council
731.658.2787
Performance Art in Hardeman County on a continual basis.
• Hardeman County Golf & Country Club
215 Country Club Lane
Phone: 731.658.2731
• Chickasaw State Park
20 Cabin Lane | Henderson, TN 38340
Office: 731-989-5141 | Restaurant: 731-989-5141 | Cabin Reservation: 800-458-1752 | Tee Times: 888-944-2327 Chickasaw State Rustic Park is situated on some of the highest terrain in west Tennessee. Of the area's 14,384 acres of timberland, 1,280 acres are used for recreation. The remainder is state forest managed jointly by the State Forestry Division and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The park is located in Chester and Hardeman Counties, 18 miles south of Jackson, Tennessee on State Hwy. 100.
• Magnolia Manor, circa 1849
418 North Main Street Bolivar, Tennessee
Phone 731-658-6700
• Shiloh National Military Park
• Tennessee Pewter Company in Grand Junction
133 Madison Avenue
731.764.2064
• Hardeman County is home for the Tennessee Forest Festival, held annually in October. The festival gives the state lumber industry an opportunity to display its products, and it's a time for festivities such as the parade, an art show, arts and crafts sales, the Logger's Breakfast, golf tournament and the Miss Forest Festival Pageant, a preliminary to the Miss Tennessee Pageant.
|
