(Click on button above to download Oct 07 "Legacy" Newsletter)

Update 10-11-2007

The Oliver Springs Historical Society is pleased to announce to you that we have taken ownership of the once proud old building situated at the corner of Kingston Avenue and Winter's Gap Avenue.

Made possible by a generous donation from the Coker family in memory of their parents Irene and Verldon Coker, this building has been a fixture on the Oliver Springs landscape for longer than even the most senior members of our society can recall. Garage, bowling alley, bus station, movie theater, church building, snack shop… this building has worn many hats in its long career. Built sometime after 1915 for master mechanic Tom Abston, this building first saw duty as Abston’s garage, where many a model “T” or “A” limped in sick and coughing, soon to leave purring like the proverbial kitten. (Tom Abston was (according to our most treasured historian the late Snyder Roberts) a mechanical genius who also operated the town’s power plant. Tom’s son Luther gained notoriety by driving his cherry red Model “T” all the way out to the center of the 2000-foot-long L&N Trestle, then coolly backing it off again.)

Built on property that was once owned by the Wiley family, the brick structure was laid by masons Johnny Cox and John McNamara. (Item of note: John McNamara once served as an Oliver Springs policeman and was called as a witness in the trial of the murderer of Pony Cash, Oliver Springs’ first town marshal. John was married to Sallie Butler McNamara, by all accounts one of the more colorful characters ever to inhabit these

parts. Sallie was also called as a witness in the Pony Cash trial.)

With the onset of WWII, the venerable brick building saw service as the Oliver Springs Theatre, while on Sundays it was host to worship services of the newly founded Oliver Springs Church of Christ, which met there for a time until building their own building in Kellytown.

(Is that... could it be... Our own Pat Roberts McDonald in the middle?)

In recent years the building had once again been the home of a repair garage, as though coming full circle. Mr. Ralph Daugherty had run his auto repair service out of this building for many years until his recent death. Mr. Daugherty's family is thrilled at the specter of this landmark building being restored.

There are extensive repairs that will be needed to return the building to its former glory, but planning has begun on the best ways to begin the restoration.

We extend a heartfelt "Thank you" to the Coker family for their magnanimous contribution to the ongoing efforts to preserve the legacy of this proud little town of ours!

How many of you remember the old Parten's barn down on the Old Harriman Highway about a half mile out of town? As barns go, it was one of the finest examples of "barnmanship" (is that a word?.... it is now..) with so many of those intangible elements that make a barn so doggone appealing. Alas, for it is no more. I had meant to post this update before now, but I forgot until today when I happened across these pictures and decided to share them with you.

This is how you might remember it...

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

I almost missed the teardown entirely.. I was out riding my motorcycle and happened by as the dozer had just cut into the main section. This one really made me melancholy, as I loved that old barn. Do you remember the old song with the lyrics "I got my education.... out behind the barn"? Here's one pilgrim with so many "barn" memories from my youth that I could write a book on them. So many things we used to sneak and do as chidren seemed so daring and on the edge back then, but by the standards of this modern age seem so very innocuous. I'll still keep my memories, thank you very much.. I wouldn't trade them for all the tea in China...... Besides, looky at how fine I turned out..  ;-)

Much more to come.......