Tennessee's 10 most endangered historic sites...

Yesterday, the Tennessee Preservation Trust named its ten most endangered historic sites for 2009. According to WPLN Nashville Public Radio, this list includes five sites here in Middle Tennessee. The complete list includes:

  1. Hufstedler Cemetery / 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.
  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 deterioration.
  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. 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.
  7. 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.
  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 deterioration 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.”

Click here to read more from the WPLN story.


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1 comment:

Perry Chamber said...

I don't think it is because of a lack of funds that has caused Pinckney's Tomb to be neglected. The Historical Society of Perry County has funds and has even found a dry mason to do the work, but the question is who owns the property. The last I heard it was an absentee land owner from Memphis who would never meet with the Society to determine the property boundaries and give permission for the work. You can contact the local library for further information in Linden, TN.

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