A day trip to Rogersville and back
A Day Away By Mike Steely
“I always read your interesting stories about your visits to these towns but unfortunately, have not saved them. Now, before it is too late, my wife and I want to visit these towns while we still can!”
Those were the opening words of an email I got recently. The writer was referring to my “A Day Away” columns. He continued, “I am 91 and my wife is blessed with Alzheimer’s that is not getting any better!”
He asked for a list of the towns I have highlighted in the stories, and it got me to thinking. I sent him a thank-you note and a list of smaller towns I have always enjoyed visiting.
I grew up in two neighboring small towns. I returned to both towns during my newspaper career and enjoyed relearning both places. So, at his request, here are a few more of my favorite regional towns, presented as a tour as they interlink.
Here is a day trip that you can take in steps or all in one day, visiting the history and interesting aspects of these small towns. I’m highlighting a few things in each stop that I think might be memorable.
From Knoxville, I suggest you take Tazewell Pike in Fountain City and go north to Rutledge, where you’ll find a replica of President Andrew Johnson’s tailor shop. It is right beside Highway 11W as you enter that downtown section.
Rutledge and Grainger County are known for the production of tomatoes, and you’ll pass by the high school there where a tomato festival is held each year that draws thousands of visitors
As you continue northeast, you will come to Tate Springs, once a thriving health spa. There’s a beautiful spring house just off the highway and a great pausing place to get out of the car and stretch your legs while climbing that structure. Today, the old Tate Springs resort is the Kingswood School for Children.
Just east of the historic springs is the junction of Highway 25 West and Highway 11W, where the Wilderness Road takes off going north to Cumberland Gap and Kentucky. You can take Highway 25W up the mountain to the Clinch Mountain Overlook and see much of the Tennessee Valley and the Smoky Mountains in the distance at the veterans park there.
But continue going northwest and you’ll enter Bean Station, a little historic town that was one of the first settlements in what became East Tennessee. Until the construction of Interstate 81, Bean Station was a major truck stop community. The original location of the settlement is now flooded by the waters of Cherokee Lake, and the town was moved to higher ground to where it is today. At periods of low lake waters, you can drive or walk along the old town site.
Continue northeast on Highway 11W to Rogersville, where you can visit the museum inside the historic depot. You may also like to visit the grave of Davy Crockett’s grandfather, who was killed in a Cherokee attack. He’s buried in a small downtown cemetery. The downtown section of the Hawkins County seat is worth a walk, and you can visit the old Hale Springs Hotel there.
From Rogersville, you can take Highway 66 South to Bulls Gap, where you can find the old downtown city hall, the old railroad terminal with a historic hotel, and you’ll also find the reconstructed childhood home of Archie Campbell. The little downtown is off the main highway, just south of Highway 11E.
Back up on Highway 11E, you can head west to Morristown and drive downtown to see the overhead sidewalks that serve second-story businesses. Morristown also has the Crockett Tavern, a reproduction of the business established by Davy Crockett’s father.
If you continue west on the highway, you’ll pass through Jefferson City, New Market and Strawberry Plains on your way back to Knoxville.
That’s a lot to do on a single day, and you can break it up into different trips. There are lots of other interesting and memorable small towns in our area. It is fun to take a day trip to get away for a while, especially with someone you care about.
