When I was a kid, there was always a giant tree that went from the main floor up through the rotunda. Now there is a bridge for picture taking with snow flakes hanging above.
Archive for December, 2010
County Ornaments – III
December 30, 2010
Randolph County Court House
Newton County – Elk
Hempstead – Birthplace of Bill Clinton
Franklin County – Cattle
County Ornaments – III
December 29, 2010
Arkansas County Seal
Bradley County – Pink Tomato
St. Francis – County Museum
Wanted – What is it in Lincoln County?
December 28, 2010
I know someone out there knows what this concrete structure is at Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church in Lincoln County. Drop me a line or Jay a line.
Here is the original post by Jay King: http://arkansaschurch.blogspot.com/2010/08/mt-zion-presbyterian-church-lincoln.html
County Ornaments – II
December 28, 2010
Lonoke County Court House
Greene County Court House ( I wasn’t too impressed with this one.)
Saline County Court House
Christmas at the State Capitol – 2010
December 27, 2010
I photographed the State Capitol back in 2007, and strangely, it has the exact same decorations in 2010. How hard can it be to change it up a little?
The Rotunda Christmas Tree
Donated by Dr. and Mrs. Robert Cole, this year’s tree is a Leyland Cypress that stands 20 feet tall and 15 feet wide. It comes from Tom’s Christmas Tree Farm in St. Francis County and was delivered by Bemis Tree Service of Wrightsville.
Sebastian County – Court House
Arkansas Holiday Ornaments
Each of the States 75 counties is represented on the Rotunda Christmas Tree by a hand-painted globe adorning the branches. Secretary of State Charlie Daniels commissioned the ornaments in 2003, and each globe depicts a local image that captures the spirit of each county.
I was unable to photograph every ornament but will share several of them over the next few days that I was able to photograph.
Garland County – Hot Springs Race Track
Grant County is listed as the Sheridan Yellow Jacket but this is the Court House.
Unionists Within the Confederacy – Pigeon Forge
December 26, 2010
On our recent trip to Pigeon Forge, we had breakfast at the “Old Mill”. Little has changed at the mill except that the Civil War is over and the Mill is now a giant restaurant.
Unionists Within The Confederacy
Sevier County Home Guard
When the Civil War began, Sevier County Unionists at first operated quietly in secessionist Tennessee. In 1861, they set up a secret garment factory in the second floor of this mill and made cloth for uniforms. They also made shoes for Federal soldiers and Unionist Home Guards with leather from Newton Trotter’s nearby tannery. According to local tradition, the third floor was later used as a hospital. Capt. William Trotter, son of mill owner John Trotter, commanded Co. H, 9th Tennessee Cavalry (US).
After Tennessee’s vote for secession on June 8, 1861, East Tennessee Unionists formed Home Guard units. Sevier County loyalists established their unit in August 1861. The Home Guard was a militia-type group that protected the lives and property of local Unionists. The Guard initially drilled openly, but when Confederates occupied the county, many members went underground. They gathered intelligence, served as couriers and guides, and harassed the Confederates.
When the Union army took control of the region late in 1863 after the Battle of Knoxville, the guardsmen actively engaged Confederate forces. Early in December, they captured several soldiers in Confederate Col. William H. Thomas’s Legion – a North Carolina unit composed of mountaineers and Cherokee Indians that was camped at Gatlinburg – and jailed them in Sevierville. Thomas raided the jail, freed his men, and disarmed the guardsmen. The Home Guard quickly regrouped and a month later helped Federal cavalry capture Confederate raiders and their commander, Gen. Robert B. Vance (brother of North Carolina governor Zebulon B. Vance), at the foot of the Smokey Mountains.
Modern-Day Old Mill
Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch
December 24, 2010
For novelty, Mark and I stopped off at Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch. Mark had driven through there a number of time but had never had the time to get off the interstate and check it out. I have to say, she has a very nice spread up there with over 6,000 acres of beautiful land and I am sure she employs a number of family members and a lot of local people.
Almost looks like something out of “Gone with the Wind” and has been compared to Graceland a number of times.
Hurricane Mills
This Mill and Dam were built by James T. Anderson in 1896. Though wool was carded here, grain processing predominated. Corn meal and flour were shipped throughout the south. Restored by Loretta and Mooney Lynn, with who permission this marker has been installed by the Anderson family, October 1974.
This Indian statue is in front of the old recording studio and it has been painted probably many times over the years. I believe the tomahawk handle has also been broken off.
This re-created Butcher Holler Home Place portrays the rags to riches legacy of the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and was built in memory of Loretta’s parents, Ted and Clara Webb.
