Rare 1934 Photo of Main St. Downtown Crossville from the Hotel Taylor looking South

This photo came from a scrap book that was cut up and sold on eBay a number of years ago.  It was part of phto documentation of the Cumberland Homesteads and may have beloned to the arcitect William Macy Stanton.  The writing at the bottom of the photo appears to be in Stanton's own architect labeling handwriting.  The photo is from around 1934 and shows a Crossville of a much earlier time.  

The Mecca Theatre sign is prominent and you can see the Courthouse tower over the rooftops showing the time of 3:25 PM.  Gas was sold at the Harrison Auto Service business front left along with tires and car repair.

On the right of the photo you can see the railroad crossing, the original location of Mitchell's drugs before they moved up the block.  The second story of the first building reportedly a hotel since it was next door to the train station.  There is a barber shop and then Jack's Cafe.  

Down the block in the near center of the image is the old Jail that was torn down to make way for the US Post Office building in 1938 a few years after this photo was taken and the rebuilt 2nd Courthouse that burned in 1905.

It appears that the photo was taken from the 2nd-floor porch of the Taylor Hotel, what was then the best hotel in town.  

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Crossville Depot back open under city operation with remodeled meeting space.

The Crossville Depot is back open for business after the City of Crossville has taken over the operation of the historic building that opened in 1926.  The building houses a gift shop and meeting space and includes a small museum and caboose.

The large meeting space that makes up most of the building has been remodeled and now features hardwood floors.  For rental information and rates, contact the Depot or Crossville city hall.

Scroll to the bottom for a photo of the original Crossville Depot from the very early 1900s and an old photo of the depot in the 1960's.  The Tennessee Central Depot has been a part of Crossville's Downtown for 92 years.

The 1926 Crossville Depot and Caboose

The gift shop features products made in Tennessee

Checkers Anyone?

Newly improved meeting space with hardwood floors

Meeting Room kitchen with ice maker

Old luggage cart buffet and media center

Back Porch can also be used when the weather is nice.

A number of community members worked on the 

most recent round of improvements to the depot and

were recognized by the city including members of 

Downtown Crossville Inc. that had the new hardwood

floors installed, also Mikki Kavich, Peggy Welch and

Margo Carroll who were presented with the

Key to the Depot by city marketing director

Billy Loggins.

Brief History of Crossville's railroad service

Bob Patton and the Crossville Rotary Clubs worked to

restore the depot after the City bought the building from

the railroad in 1994. 

The Original Crossville Depot. Photo circa 1905 from

a postcard. This depot burned in 1925.

Note from when the new depot opened May 1, 1926.

The station agent at the time was E.M. Roland

The current depot in a photo from the 1960's.  Note the

old semaphore signal on the left.

Crossville Memories: Who remembers the Dixie Cafe?

Found this image in an eBay auction this week.  It is a 5 x 7 photo of the old Dixie Cafe and appears to be dated from 1950.  The information in the second image is on the back of the photo saying it was behind Walker's Shoes and across from the Tennessee Central Depot. 

I have never seen this particular image before but it is a great one with most of the people in it identified.  The eBay listing said that the photo came from a local Crossville estate sale.  Because the photo is an eBay auction it has the watermark on the photo posted there but it seemed like one that should be shared.  The asking price in the auction was $45.00 for the photo.  A great photo!

Crossville's CARFAX Advantage Dealer is

PARK PLACE MOTORS!

Ask them to "Show you the CarFax!"

CROSSVILLE MEMORIES: House built for Mose Dorton's mother just a memory now.

The Webb Avenue house in these photos, now gone, was originally built by Crossville banker and community leader Mose Dorton for his mother to live in.  It was next door to his own house that was also on Webb Avenue and is also now gone.  These photos are from a few years ago and were taken not long before the house was torn down.  Photos (C) Jim Young

Built from cut Crab Orchard stone blocks and veneer, the house

walls were very sturdy but lack of maintenance lead to

its eventual loss.

PARK PLACE MOTORS

Near the new car stores; not near the price!

The original Crossville train depot for the Tennessee Central is NOT the one in Crossville today.

I have been told that the very first Crossville depot was actually a boxcar parked on a siding until a building could be built. The photo below shows the first constructed Crossville Depot and is from a series of postcards that were published around 1905, the time of the construction of the Cumberland Co. Courthouse.  The series of postcards all have similar writing as you see here and included in addition to the Courthouse and the depot, banks, and churches.  There is no identification as to who took the photos or who printed the series of postcards.

Another question is where exactly was this early depot located.  I have been told it was across the street from the current depot, possibly on the location of the Triangle building but have been unable to confirm this.  While the quality of the over 100-year-old photo printing is not the best you can make out a possible structure or something behind the depot on the right side.  It appears the photo was taken in the winter by the coats on those in the photo and the bare trees. 

By the way, THIS is the depot building that Sergeant Alvin C. York would have left from to go to WWI and returned to on his way home to Fentress Co.  This building burned in February 1925 (about 5 weeks after records show a fire extinguisher was installed) and the current depot building was built and opened in about May of 1926. 

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the VORP Store web page

Current Crossville Depot built in 1926

Crossville Flashback: Another piece of long gone Crossville history-the old Cumberland Truck Stop

The old Cumberland Truck Stop on Highway 70-E near Dorton has been gone for many years.  These photos were taken in 2001 before the shell of the old building was cleared away and while the old neon sign is still there it is pretty much unreadable any more.  There were a number of truck stops along Highway 70 before the Interstate was finished as the old highway was the main road between Knoxville and Nashville from the 1930's through the late 1960's.

At one time, bright neon lights would have guided travelers between Knoxville

and Nashville to the Cumberland Truck Stop. Photo by Jim Young

Now gone, the shell of the Cumberland Truck Stop building. 

Photo by Jim Young