The origin of the town's unusual name is not known. According to the local chamber of commerce, one story says that one of the first white men to travel through the area found a tree with carvings of a cow bell and a buckle, possibly carved by Indians to warn white settlers away, or possibly carved by surveyors to mark the area as good pasture. Another form of the legend holds that a bell and buckle were tied around a tree. In any case, the nearby creek was named Bell Buckle Creek, and the town later took the name of the creek.
The Bell Buckle area was settled in the early 19th century. A bustling town grew up after the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad came through the area in 1852. A railroad depot was built in 1853 and the town was incorporated in 1856. Bell Buckle had its period of greatest prosperity after about 1870, becoming the major stockyard between Nashville and Chattanooga and growing to a population of more than 1,000.
So says a site that I looked up after visiting the small and very quaint town of Bell Buckle yesterday.
The sun finally and unabashedly shone and the temperature finally climbed back into the upper 40's and low 50's after a busy week of clouds and sun and rain and freezing rain and even some snow.
It was a day too beautiful to be Winter.
Certainly a day too beautiful to stay indoors.
Before yesterday I had only been to Bell Buckle once before.
During the Summer Bell Buckle holds a special event called the RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival.
It is a very southern festival designed to celebrate the two barely-digestible sweet concoctions for which it is named.
But it is much more than that.
It is a festival that includes all the simultaneously wonderful and ridiculous trappings of a Summer-time and small town event.
Wacky costumes, silly competitions, country entertainment, loads of calorie-laden and sugar filled and deep fried food, music and color and layed-back visitors who wander and look and enjoy and laugh and buy.
It is a wonderful event that embraces both the tacky and the fun, and which thankfully does not take itself too seriously.
Or seriously at all.
More information on the event:
And a photo gallery:
Many years ago (and long before I met LC) I visited Bell Buckle early the morning of the festival.
I did not have a gps at that time and did not bother Mapquesting directions because I had seen a sign for the turnoff to Bell Buckle many times.
So on my first and only trip to Bell Buckle I ended up taking probably the longest route possible by going through Shelbyville, heading up towards Murfreesboro on the four lane highway and then circling back towards the tiny town (less than 500 people now).
It was a lengthy drive at the time and after that one visit I never made it back.
On that day I arrived very early, signed in at the registration table for those who were doing the 10 mile road run, walked around the small town with the still closed doors, ran the race and got horribly overheated in the process, and then drove home.
Too drained from the overwhelming heat of the day and the run, I had no desire to dive into the crowds of people who were milling throughout the town by the time I was done.
Yesterday we drove back to Bell Buckle.
Scenes from an historical site we unexpectedly came across on the way...........
One temperature gauge in Tullahoma read 39 degrees and another read 52 degrees as we headed out of town, so somewhere between those two lay the truth.
But with a sky as blue as it was yesterday the truth-in-temperatures did not really mean anything of consequence.
It was simply a beautiful day.
I was a little stunned when we reached Bell Buckle because the drive had passed by so quickly and it was at that moment that I realized that my last trip had taken me WAY out of the way.
Now I know.
Just on the outskirts of town I saw two buildings that I wanted to photograph and asked LC to pull into a gas station close by.
One colorful building was for sale, but the other one (which I assumed to be a free-standing small art studio) had a couple of interesting characters standing outside...............
A view of the downtown business district taken while standing in front of the two buildings...........
After climbing back into the truck we drove across the tracks and pulled into a parking space near the businesses.
The town looked exactly as I remembered it even after all these years.
A long series of old, colorful, and wonderfully decorated stores primarily of the restaurant, antique, country craft variety, surrounded by very beautiful and old historic homes.............
For the next 30 minutes we wandered around the downtown area.
Surprisingly, in this down-time Winter-time of year, there were many vehicles parked outside the stores.
Many visitors were eating (or waiting to eat) at one of the restaurants, while others were simply and casually wandering around the eclectic stores..............
Tornado warning sirens are a common sight in Tennessee............
We walked briefly along a side street and unexpectedly found this beautiful church.
There are churches on almost every street corner of this town, but this one stood out to me.
Primarily because it was very old, with rich architectural detail and beautiful stained glass windows.
I do not know if it is still a functioning church but I somehow think that it is not.
On a Sunday morning there were no vehicles parked in or around the building, and the roof appeared to be badly in need of repair.
I would be willing to guess that it is one of the towns' oldest churches and I hope that it gets the repairs that it needs.............
There were sweet, cute, country touches throughout the business section of town.
A wooden blue bird attached to the old, brick wall advertising Blue Bird Ice-cream...........
Another wooden decorative touch..............
This very sweet hound dog came from in back of the building to greet us but only stayed for a moment, before turning around and heading back the way he had come.
A short visit..............
Christmas lights still decorate all of the store fronts and we wandered leisurely into one store after another trying to get a feel for the place.
Store owners smilingly greeted us and it was a quiet and nice and relaxing way to spend a short while..............
Painted into the concrete walkway...........
And one more painted sign in concrete, found along the walkway in front of stores............
Wooden lady bugs climbing the entire length of one post in front of a store called (appropriately enough) The Doodle Bug.............
After we had wandered and looked we walked back to the truck, grabbed Jamie and walked over to the bright red locomotive.
Researching the history of Bell Buckle it became obvious that this town sprung up in the same way that so many other small towns seem to have sprung up in this region.
The importance of the railroad to this community and this region cannot be overstated.
And consequently I am learning that these red cars are frequent sights in towns.
In the short time that we have been back in Tennessee I have now seen identical bright red rail cars in Bell Buckle, Wartrace and Tullahoma, and am certain that we will continue to find more of them in towns that we visit in our travels.
As I walked with Jamie, LC grabbed the camera and took pictures both inside and out of the rail car.................
Bell Buckle is a town filled with color, simplicity, friendliness and country charm.
A short visit but a good visit.
A good way to spend time on a sunny and warm Sunday in mid-January.............
No comments:
Post a Comment