In this northeastern Tennessee mountain town, two centuries of history are artfully told, with stories you can see and hear.
Joan Vannorsdall
Greeneville’s “story on every building” includes this Depot Street mural of the first train to arrive in town (yes, it was actually green) and the names of some of the 17 hotels built for travelers and workers.
It’s late afternoon on Main Street. In front of the pillared Greene County Courthouse, the monuments and markers cast long shadows…especially the Civil War soldier high on its pedestal. But before you reach for a Confederate flag, read the base text: This monument is dedicated to the Greene County soldiers who enlisted in the Union Army. “In the honor of their country’s peril they were loyal and true.”
But then…on the other side of the Courthouse walkway, there’s this: the monument to General John Hunt Morgan, “the thunderbolt of the Confederacy,” who was murdered by Union soldiers in September 1864. “His heroism is the heritage of the South,” the final line on the monument reads.
That’s how it goes in Greeneville, Tennessee’s second oldest town, with layers of complicated history going back to just after the Revolutionary War, when Greene County was one of four to declare independence from the United States as the short-lived Free State of Franklin. Greeneville is a place that knows its story well and tells it with beautiful confidence, with murals and quilt blocks, statues and mansions, museums and log cabins.
You can learn Greeneville on your own, using the well-done walking tour maps and QR codes. Or you can do it with a well-versed Main Street tour guide, who will narrate the stops for you. Either way, you’ll wind your way through Greeneville’s history starting from its flowing beginnings at Big Spring and past more than 30 places of interest, including the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, the Olde Greene County Gaol, a replica of the State of Franklin’s log Capitol building, 19th-century homes and mansions, and some of the most beautiful historic churches I’ve seen.
But to really see and feel Greeneville, you need to do two other downtown walks: the Quilt Trail and The Mural Trail. Quilt trails are becoming common in towns looking to beautify and attract visitors—what makes this one special is that the 20 murals represent actual heirloom quilts owned by Greeneville residents, and each one tells a family story that’s shared beneath the painted quilt block.
The Mural Trail will lead you through Greene County history, reaching back to Greene County native Davy Crockett, the arrival of Andrew Johnson and farming and manufacturing heritage. (Top burley processor Austin Tobacco had 23 Greeneville warehouses at its peak; Magnavox produced its first console television here in 1950.) What’s especially intriguing about these 12 paintings is that they raise as many questions as they answer. Most important is this: With such a storied past, what’s next for Greeneville?
I ask that question to Greeneville native and doer Carla Bewley, as we sit in the elegant lobby of the General Morgan Inn, a beautifully restored railroad hotel on Main Street.
“Main Street suffered when our major industries—Austin Tobacco and Magnavox—left, and the Route 11 Bypass was built in the 1970s, taking shoppers outside of town. We’re working hard to re-make our downtown into a place to shop and spend time,” she says.
(Indeed they are—Greeneville has already gone to work on its aged infrastructure, replacing water and sewer lines and laying out parking areas for shoppers on Depot Street, targeted as the future of downtown.)
Bewley is a strong supporter of the arts, as well as the area’s high-functioning Boys’ and Girls’ Club. Like most small towns, Greeneville is working hard to attract young residents who will bring new and diverse points of view.
“Everyone needs to be at the table going forward,” she says. “We need to be an inviting and embracing community.”
Greeneville is a beautiful place, surrounded by Cherokee National Forest land and 24 miles of the Appalachian Trail. It honors its unique history beautifully against the backdrop of the Smoky Mountains. Go there to learn some Revolutionary and Civil War history, and rethink what you learned about our 17th president. Enjoy a walk through murals and quilts on brick buildings. Visit nearby David Crockett State Park and see a reconstructed frontier mountain settlement at its most beautiful. It’s a place you won’t soon forget.
Reconsider the 17th President?
Joan Vannorsdall
It might take you a couple seconds to come up with the name of our 17th president. He’s not generally considered one of our strongest leaders, but spend a day in his hometown and you’ll learn some things that might change your mind.
Andrew Johnson found his way to Greeneville in 1825. Prosperous Greeneville must have looked wonderful to the uneducated, orphaned 17-year-old. He set up his own tailor shop and within a few years was married, had learned to read and write, and was a town alderman. By 1864 he’d risen through the ranks of state politics to the vice-presidency . . . and when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Johnson became president just days after Appomattox and faced the daunting task of rebuilding the Union.
When he died in 1875, Johnson was a wealthy and revered Greeneville citizen, renown for championing the Constitution, the working class, education and preservation of the Union. At the NPS Visitor Center and surrounding grounds, you can tour the museum, see his tailor shop, brick home, and replica of his early homestead. Johnson is buried at the National Cemetery on Monument Avenue.
Wander With a Llama
Joan Vannorsdall
From The Wandering Llamas farm, 20 minutes outside of Greeneville, you can take a half-day adventure trek into the Cherokee National Forest, side-by-side with your own pack llama. They’re funny and friendly and accommodating, these llamas—and so is their owner, Sandy Sgrillo.
Sgrillo left Florida 21 years ago and moved to Tennessee after falling in love with llama trekking. “Wilderness and llamas—animals and nature—are my two loves,” she says.
Recently she built a treehouse, The Fox Den, that sleeps two, where llama-loving guests can stay and spend more time with her 19 llamas. Walk, and they’ll follow you. Hold a graham cracker in your hand, and they’ll take it from you. Love them—and they’ll love you.
With a section of the Appalachian Trail cresting the ridges in front of you, a Wandering Llama trek and stay is a fine addition to a Greeneville visit. For more information, visit The Wandering Llamas FaceBook page, email Sgrillo at llamahiking@aol.com, or call her at (423) 426-7626.
The story above first appeared in our March / April 2022 issue. For more like it subscribe today or log in with your active BRC+ Membership. Thank you for your support!