Sad News from Loudon County

Last week the world watched as Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral burned. This week East Tennesseans are watching a fire burn the Loudon County Courthouse. The county mayor says it is a significant if not total loss.

The only thing we know for certain was rescued at this point is a flag. Efforts were underway to salvage what they could.

Fortunately many records are microfilmed by Tennessee State Library & Archives. These same records are available in Knoxville's Calvin M. McClung Collection in the East Tennessee History Center. FamilySearch offers a handful of records in comparison to the holdings of Tennessee State Library & Archives.

Many researchers know about Tennessee's county archives program. Sadly Loudon's archives is classified as partial or inactive.

I don't have a photo to share because of copyright issues. This news story offers a photo at the moment, but it may be updated as the evening progresses.

I hope early records are saved, but I'm thankful many records are preserved through microfilming and digitization.

UPDATE: The local news reports many historic documents were recently removed because a "historic preservation society" was being established. I wonder if that means a county archives. Hopefully we'll learn more soon.

East Tennessee Regional Preservation Conference

In today's mail, I got a brochure for a local conference that looks quite interesting. It's called "East Tennessee Regional Preservation Conference 2009." This year's theme is "The Peaceful Side of Preservation." For those of you who don't know it, this is a play on an advertising campaign that the region around Townsend in Blount County and Wears Valley in Sevierville have. In that campaign, they advertise that they are the "Peaceful Side of the Smokies." It appears that Knox Heritage is the main sponsor for the conference. Registration for the two day event which will be held September 18-19, 2009 at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend is only $30 and includes a full year's membership in the East Tennessee Preservation Association. I'm quite excited about Friday's presentation on the town of Jonesborough. This is Tennessee's oldest town, and they've done a good job there in making that area come alive through preservation of both buildings and traditions such as storytelling. Saturday afternoon there is a workshop called "An Archaeological Perspective on Historic Cemetery Studies" which should be very interesting as well. These are just a couple of the sessions offered. The $30 for the conference and membership seems like a real bargain! (By the way, the student rate is $20.)

2009 East Tennessee History Fair

At the East Tennessee History Center , Krutch Park , and various downtown sites

August 22, 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

The East Tennessee Historical Society will celebrate our region’s history in a big way in Downtown Knoxville. On August 22 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., bring your friends and family to join in the excitement. Activities will include a living history timeline, historical and genealogical groups from our 35 counties, live traditional music, historical craft demonstrations, storytelling, children’s activities including Davy Crockett’s birthday party, trolley tours to downtown’s historic homes, old movies at the Bijou Theatre, Market Square Farmers Market, tours of the new exhibitions Voices of the Land: the People of Tennessee and Mountain Splendor: Art and Artists of the Great Smoky Mountains, 1850-1950, and much, much more. The event is free to the public.

The East Tennessee History Fair is sponsored by the Knoxville Central Business Improvement District (CBID) and Clayton Bank and Trust. The East Tennessee History Center is located at 601 S. Gay Street , Knoxville 37902 . For more information call 865.215.8824 or visit www.eastTNhistory.org. Look for more to come on this event in Newsline and future emails.

Straw Plains - 1863

Shorpy has a photo of Strawberry Plains taken in 1863. The town is much closer to Knoxville nowadays!

Mourning a Loss

I was driving around East Tennessee today and was very sad. I see new subdivisions going up where there was once farmland. I miss seeing the pastures and the cows. I miss the rural rustic beauty that once was in this area. I feel hypocritical when I actually look forward to the development of "Dumplin Creek" which will be built on what was once a wooded area in the heart of Dumplin Valley. (It will be nice to have decent shopping on this end of Knoxville, but is it really worth the price of losing our scenery?)

This area is becoming a retirement haven. I have spoken with several realtors lately who have said that you'd think business would be bad here when you look at the national numbers, but that it isn't. We have lots of folks moving up from Florida to flee the insurance and taxes. One I spoke to said he is also seeing a lot of New Englanders moving to East Tennessee. I just hate that we're losing the farmland and the trees because of the area's growth. I suppose that everyone has said that when it happens to their area. I'm just grateful that we do have protected areas such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Panther Creek State Park, and other areas where some of the area's natural beauty will remain intact.