Walking tour captures Bledsoe County’s history
In the late 19th century, in a small building behind his family’s home, Dr. James A. Ross saw patients who paid him with chickens, corn and other produce. He and his wife, Jennie, built the folk Victorian in 1872, and the building later became the community’s first hospital. It became known as the Dr. Ross House.
Dr. Phillip Burns remembers visiting his grandfather when he was a patient there. He shares his recollections in one of a series of videos available on a walking tour that takes visitors on a stroll through Bledsoe County’s historic past.
The Bledsoe County Tourism Committee offers the self-guided Main St. Walking Tour. The route includes stops at 12 locations in Pikeville with videos accessible through a QR code on display at each site. Tour-goers learn details of important historical events like the good deeds of Dr. Ross and the legend of one of Pikeville’s most famous villains, John A. Murrell.
By scanning the QR code at each site, or by using a handheld guide, visitors can watch history come to life through the videos, says Ruth Burton, chairwoman of the tourism committee. “We feel like the history of Bledsoe County is one of our best assets,” Ruth says.
The Main St. Walking Tour debuted in August. Early visitors included a representative from the state tourism office who told Ruth this may be the first tour of its kind in Tennessee. “The state is very interested in oral history projects like this,” she says.
Story Behind the Stories
Each stop on the tour shares Bledsoe County’s colorful, complicated past. Always interested in Bledsoe County’s history, Ruth has authored two books, including “Bledsoe County’s Best Stories,” the source for some of the tales for the walking tour.
Other sources include stories shared from Tommy Swafford, who wrote the Bloody Bledsoe series, “The Swafford-Tollett Feud,” “Moonshine Man” and “Whiskey Wars,” and former county historian Elizabeth Robnett’s “Bledsoe County, Tennessee: A History and First Families of Bledsoe County.”
“Back in the ‘40s, we were known as Bloody Bledsoe,” Ruth says. “Now, you’d never know that by looking at our beautiful streets.”
Ruth and Keslin Moore, the Bledsoe County Tourism Committee’s marketing specialist, are working to get the word out about the tour. Downtown Pikeville provides a perfect location, visitors can stop and shop or grab a hot dog and ice cream along the way.
Members of the community volunteer to share stories on the videos, produced by a team at BTC Fiber. Technicians also created the QR codes that link visitors to each stop’s video. “We could not have done this without BTC Fiber’s assistance with the videos,” Ruth says. “They took this from an idea to the technical part that brought it all together. They have just done a fantastic job.”
Fall Creek Falls State Park has been valuable partner, as well, Ruth says, distributing guided tour rack cards and sending visitors who stay at the park to the downtown area. “We have so much history and this walking tour tells what makes us unique,” she says. “Before this, there wasn’t a way to share our story with visitors.”
Content provided with by BTC Fiber.