Hawkins County

Description

Historic Hawkins County in northeast Tennessee is an area so rich and diverse in history that it is actually 10 years older than the state itself. Organized in 1786, it was named for Benjamin Hawkins, a member of the Continental Congress. Rogersville, the county seat, boasts the state’s oldest courthouse. The town of Pressmen’s Home served as the headquarters for the International Printing Pressmen’s Union of America. During the Civil War, the Battle of Big Creek was fought on the banks of the Holston River a few miles south of Surgoinsville. Built in 1762, Long Meadow in Carters Valley is considered Tennessee’s oldest wooden structure. The county’s natural beauty once attracted Hollywood; in 1983, The River, starring Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek was filmed in Laurel Run Park in Churchill. Motown legend Diana Ross has ancestral ties to Rotherwood Plantation in Allendale. Today Hawkins County retains much of the illustrious history and charm that has captivated residents and visitors for over 200 years. Title: New book will focus on county’s history
Author: Joel Spears
Publisher: The Rogerville Review
Date: 8/19/09
On September 7, Hawkins County Historian Rodney Ferrell will release his latest book to be published about the county’s past.
“Hawkins County,” part of the “Images of America” series by Arcadia Publishing, will feature 128 pages of photos and memories from days gone by.
The pictorial account begins in Rogersville with a varied collection of photographs, some unseen for many years. Some examples are Rogersville’s Hop Cross Theatre which sat on Church Street, as well as the Williams Boarding House which sat near the present site of The Rogersville Review.
Other features include a look inside the historic Stagecoach Inn which stood on the current site of TRW and pictures of notables from politician Henry Clay, to Diana Ross.
Additional pages focus on Big Creek and the Holston River; the many communities that once dotted the county’s landscape; the 1984 movie “The River;” and photos of Pressmen’s Home, headquarters of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistant’s Union of North America.
Rodney Ferrell was formally appointed county historian in 2008 and has, along with local photographer Randy Ball, also compiled the recently released pictorial “Rogersville: Then and Now.”
He is also a weekly columnist for The Review and has previously published “Stories From Home” which also focuses on the region’s history.
Ferrell is also an active member of the East Tennessee Historical Society, the Association of the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities and the Hawkins County Records
Since its inception in 1993, the Images of America series has been published to help preserve and commemorate the shared history of hundreds of communities throughout the Unites States.
Hawkins County will be available for $21.99 from Arcadia Publishing at local retailers, online bookstores, by calling 1-888-313-2665, or visiting arcadiapublishing.com

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