A new list of ten endangered historic sites in Tennessee includes five in the midstate. The Tennessee Preservation Trust says it’s a tough year for finding money to save such sites, but it argues doing so yields strong local returns.
The Trust’s list includes the Columbia Train Depot in Maury County, the Kingston Springs Hotel Complex in Cheatham County, and the Dickson County Courthouse.
Executive Director Dan Brown says getting funds to care for historic sites is never easy, and the recession isn’t helping. But he says it’s a good investment, because heritage tourism is a billion-dollar industry in the state.
“These types of projects dynamically move money within the community, rather than without the community. And then building the community economically and building it from a quality-of-life standpoint – We just think it’s so positive.”
Brown says with proper care, such sites can last generations.
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The list occurs in no particular order; Brown says all of the sites are high priority.
1. Hufstedler Cemetary / Pinckney’s Tomb, Linden, Perry County.
A rare example of 19th c. rural cemetery architecture. The foundation is beginning to fail and could collapse, but funds for repairs are lacking.
2. Shelbyville Dam on the Duck River, Shelbyville, Bedford County.
An early power producing plant, circa 1915. TVA acquired the plant in 1939 and operated it until 1948. It’s since been abandoned and open to vandalism; Brown says it must likely be re-purposed if it’s to survive.
3. Graham-Kivette House, Tazewell, Claiborne County.
The oldest home in the town, built around 1810, is “one of only a few buildings that survived a disastrous fire in 1862.” The example of Federal style architecture is built of local-cut limestone. It is unsecured and exposed to the elements, risking vandalism and deterioriation.
4. Rippavilla Plantation Slave House, Spring Hill, Maury County.
One of the few original African American slave cabins left in the state. A General Motors proposal would allow roads across the site and open the area to utility easements, possibly meaning transmission lines, gas, drainage, etc.
5. Dickson County Courthouse, Charlotte, Dickson County.
The 1833 focal point of the town Square is said to be in relatively good shape and continued use; it needs basic maintenance and is being considered for HVAC, electrical, roofing, and ADA compliance updates.
6. Niota Depot, Niota, McMinn County.
Built in 1854, it’s part of the earliest railroad development in the state. The outer layer of bricks requires new mortar soon or it will deteriorate rapidly; says Brown, “A stitch in time saves nine.”
7. Kingston Springs Hotel Complex, Kingston Springs, Cheatham County.
“One of the few remaining hotel and resort-era complexes encompassing health spas established in Middle TN during the early 1890s until 1917.” Deteriorated over years of neglect.
8. Columbia Train Depot, Columbia, Maury County.
Built in 1905 and once a community hub, it fell out of use in the 1960s and was “recently threatened by an offer that would have relocated the structure to St. Louis.”
9. Knoxville College, Knoxville, Knox County.
The college, founded in 1890, is transitioning between presidents, and is said to have struggled with enrollment and funding. Some Nationally Registered buildings are abandoned, while other buildings in use risk deteterioration due to lack of maintenance.
10. Temple Avenue Neighborhood, Knoxville, Knox County.
The buildings “represent the historic architectural development patterns of Knoxville over the past century,” but the university has announced plans to demolish what remains of it, though the buildings “would have little impact on UT’s expansion plans if [they] were to remain.”
Brown says only about three sites of roughly 100 listed in the last nine years have been lost.
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