| For immediate release May 15,
2006
FOUR TENNESSEE SITES ADDED TO NATIONAL REGISTER
OF HISTORIC PLACES
Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee Historical Commission has announced
four Tennessee sites have been added to the National Register of Historic
Places. The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s
official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. It is part
of a nationwide program that coordinates and supports efforts to identify,
evaluate and protect historic resources. The Tennessee Historical Commission
administers the program in Tennessee.
- The Moore Family Farm, located at 483 VFW Road
in Hawkins County, is a 350-acre working farm with 29 historic resources
on it. The Moore family first settled the land around 1866 and continues
to live and farm here. The farmstead reflects changing agricultural
patterns and techniques, from its nineteenth-century beginnings to
early mechanization and the introduction of electricity through the
mid-twentieth century when agri-business rather than family farms
became the norm. The buildings on the farm represent vernacular building
traditions in the region that have been passed down through the Moore
family.
- St. Marks Presbyterian Church in Rogersville (Hawkins
County) was built in 1912. It qualified for the National Register
of Historic Places for its significance to African American heritage
and its architecture. Now owned by Hawkins County, St. Marks Presbyterian
Church was historically associated with Swift Memorial College, an
important school for African Americans in East Tennessee until it
closed in 1955. The St. Marks building also represents a fine example
of twentieth century Shingle Style architecture.
- Also circa 1912, the Cross Mountain Miners’ Circle
in Briceville (Anderson County) consists of two concentric circles
of graves that are part of a larger cemetery. The 21 graves and large
obelisk of the miners’ circle commemorate the deadly mine explosion
at the Cross Mountain Mine in 1911. The site is important for both
its commemorative aspects and as a representation of funerary art.
It now joins the Fraterville Miners’ Circle on the National
Register of Historic Places in recognizing coal-mining history in
Tennessee.
- Now owned by the city of Franklin, Harlinsdale Farm
has local and statewide importance as a superb example of Tennessee’s
Walking Horse industry. Begun as a dairy farm around 1900, brothers
Wirt and Alex Harlin transformed the farmstead into a model horse-breeding
farm. The 1935 horse stable set a precedent for Walking Horse stables.
Another precedent setting success at Harlinsdale was Midnight Sun.
The first stallion named World Grand Champion in 1945, the Harlin’s
instituted a successful stud program and his offspring dominated Walking
Horse competitions for decades.
For more information about the National Register of Historic Places
or the Tennessee Historical Commission, please visit the Web site at
www.tdec.net/hist/.
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