Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee
Encyclopedia
Red Boiling Springs is a city in Macon County, Tennessee
, United States
. The population was 1,023 at the 2000 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²), all of it land.
of 2000, there were 1,023 people, 404 households, and 252 families residing in the city. The population density
was 719.8 people per square mile (278.2/km²). There were 457 housing units at an average density of 321.6 per square mile (124.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.14% White, 0.29% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.29% from other races
, and 1.17% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.27% of the population.
There were 404 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples
living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 75.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 69.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $19,868, and the median income for a family was $28,333. Males had a median income of $26,313 versus $16,842 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $14,274. About 18.4% of families and 25.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.2% of those under age 18 and 18.1% of those age 65 or over.
that was located nearby, approximately four miles northwest of current day Red Boiling Springs. The salt lick attracted animals, and, in turn, attracted Native Americans
as well as other peoples. Among the people who came to hunt the animal trails was Daniel Boone
, who reportedly carved his name and the year, 1775, into a beech tree in a nearby community.
The area was first surveyed and land grant
s were first awarded in the mid 1780s. The first post office was established in 1829 and was named the Salt Lick Creek post office. In 1847, the post office was renamed "Red Boiling Springs." Sometime in the 1830s, a farmer named Jesse Jones noticed red-colored sulphur water bubbling up from springs on his farm. In 1844, a businessman named Samuel Hare, realizing the springs' commercial potential, purchased a 20 acres (8.1 ha) plot of the Jones farm surrounding the springs, and constructed an inn. The inn's remote location and the region's poor roads likely doomed the venture, however, and the inn was gone by the 1870s.
, where there was a railroad stop. This likely led to renewed commercial interest in the springs, and by 1876, a general store owner named James Bennett had purchased the springs tract and had built a hotel. Bennett's hotel consisted of a row of log cabins flanking a central frame dining hall. In the late 1870s, Nashville newspapers first started mentioning Bennett's hotel and its guests' activities, as it was vogue during the Gilded Age
for newspapers to report on daily happenings at upper class and upper-middle class resorts.
The 1880s saw a boom in the development of mineral springs resorts as "summer getaways," due in part to the publicity received by places such as Saratoga Springs
in New York. During this decade, New York businessman James F. O. Shaugnesy purchased the Red Boiling Springs tract and began development of the area as a resort. In 1889, the town first made the Nashville newspapers' front pages when former Tennessee Governor John C. Brown
died of a hemorrhage at one of the hotels. The papers emphasized that due to the isolation of the town and a lack of a telephone or telegraph, there was no way to get help. During the following decade, a railroad line was extended to Hartsville
, and the railroad established a stagecoach line to Red Boiling Springs. With the continued rise in the number of visitors, two local general store owners— Zack and Clay Cloyd— opened the Cloyd Hotel during this period.
In 1905, several investors formed the Red Boiling Springs Water and Realty Company, and the following year purchased the original springs tract from Shaughnesy. By 1916, the company had replaced Shaughnesy's hotel with a lavish 64-room structure named "The Palace." During this same period, road improvements allowed the stagecoach lines to be replaced with automobile taxis, reducing the travel time from the railroad to just three hours. In 1918 there were four hotels in town— the Palace, the Cloyd, the Donoho
, and the Central Hotel; a decade later that number doubled and soon after, over a dozen hotels and at least that many boarding houses had been erected to take advantage of tourism. The hotels all followed a similar design plan— two stories with elegant verandas spanning the facade, and interiors containing large dining halls and 50 to 60 rooms (some later doubled or tripled their roomspace with annexes).
While most mineral water
resorts fell out of favor as medical science began to question the healing properties of mineral springs, Red Boiling Springs persisted, reaching its peak in the 1920s and 1930s. The resort was visited by many famous personages in the first half of the 20th century. The hotel registers included the names of judges, lawyers, heads of business and industry, famous musicians and singers, and politicians, among them Jo Byrns, Al Gore, Sr., Nathan Bachman, and most notably President
Woodrow Wilson
. Although the Great Depression
destroyed many Americans' disposable incomes and hence budget for travel, Red Boiling Springs still had large numbers of visitors. The Summer of 1936 brought over 14,000 people to the little hamlet of approximately 800.
, from which iron sulfate is dissolved into the waters. Some were named for the color they would turn a silver coin; two, dubbed "Red" and "Black", were from springs which were capped off and then piped throughout the town to a series of wells with manually-operated pumps on both public and private property. Along with iron and sulphur, Red and Black waters both contained relatively high amounts of calcium
and magnesium
. The flavor of the "Red" water was only somewhat sulfurous and seemed to be at least slightly agreeable to many; the "Black" was very-strongly flavored, off-putting to the novice, and an acquired taste (at best) for most. "White" was used only to cure dyspepsia. "Freestone" water contained none of the trace minerals that brought the crowds to the springs but it was by far the most palatable. The most mineralized water, known as "Double and Twist," was named for the effect it had on the person drinking it. "Double and Twist" was advertised as the "only water of its kind in the United States."
"Taking the waters" at Red Boiling Springs generally consisted of more than merely ingesting them; steam and tub baths featuring the waters and their alleged therapeutic properties were often featured. The bathhouses followed the hydrotherapy
regimen developed by John Harvey Kellogg
at his Battle Creek Sanitarium
in Michigan, which was very popular at the time. The various waters contained several minerals but sulfur
was predominant, giving the waters the scent (and some would say, the flavor) of rotten eggs
. There were medical doctors on hand to prescribe which treatments would work for a particular ailment. The mineral waters, either from ingesting them or bathing in them, were touted as cures for diseases such as dyspepsia
, hydropsy
, diabetes, rheumatism
, neuralgia
, kidney stones, gonorrhea
, and various eye and skin diseases. An advertising brochure claimed "sickness among the year 'round residents is practically an unknown thing."
As the resort grew, it became the stopping point for minstrel show
s, circuses and other entertainments to a far greater degree than typical for towns of its small size. The town boasted a number of "diversions": bowling alleys, tennis courts, shuffle board, croquet, a ballroom, swimming pools, a small golf course, theatre, and an amusement park. The hotels also provided picnics and barbecues. Dancing was the most popular nighttime activity, and many of the hotels had their own orchestras for nightly ballroom dances. String bands also frequented the town, playing mostly at the many taverns scattered around the town's periphery.
as the 20th century progressed. A new highway system made it easier for people to travel, but it also meant they could travel to other places as well, such as the state parks that were opening. Those who had promoted tourism and the mineral resorts had retired or died and the next generation was not as interested. Some of the hotels had been left in the hands of managers that did not reinvest the profits in the upkeep of the buildings. A number of the hotels burned and were not rebuilt. The townspeople were hesitant to support tourism. The area's general remoteness began to work against it; this was greatly aggravated by World War II
and the resultant gasoline
rationing
. Tourism focus shifted within Tennessee to more highly-developed areas such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
.
By the time the postwar period had arrived, most of the hotels had closed and the area was a shell of its former self. There was a slight rebirth during the 1950s. The town was incorporated
on April 27, 1953. A booster club was formed, two of the hotels were restored and new attractions were added. A drive-in billed as the only one of its kind in Middle Tennessee outside of Nashville joined the local theatre. By the early '60s only five hotels remained, then, by the end of the decade, it was back down to three.
had been swept approximately 500 feet into a steel-concrete bridge. Whole houses and many cars floated through town. Two young girls were killed in the flood. One was not found until four days later after being swept 4 miles downstream.
State and Federal grant money aided businesses, built watershed dams and help the townsfolk rebuild. By the late 1970s the town began to revisit its history in earnest with an eye to marketing it a tourist destination again, if only on a small scale. Two covered bridge
s were built, and park lands were developed. Later, a library
was built on the site of a former hotel.
, where water is bottled from Bennet Hill Springs, a source of Freestone water. Ironically, the plant removes all the natural minerals from the water by reverse osmosis and later adds a specific mixture of minerals to give it a consistent taste.
The old hand pumps that stood on public land were made inoperable because of liability issues that could occur. The hand pumps can still be seen on private property around town, and some people still believe in the curative powers of the mineral waters. As of 2010, three of the historic hotels were in operation, with The Armour Hotel still offering a full complement of steam treatment, mineral tub baths, and therapeutic massage
.
of 1:16.
The school offers the following sports:
One of the biggest annual festivals in Tennessee, The Summer Solstice, attracts around 2,000 people every year for 3 days of camping out on an organic farm listening to live music, and eating fresh organic food. Marked by the 1st day of summer and longest day of the year the celebration is usually put off until the following weekend.
The Middle Tennessee Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America holds their antique car show in Red Boiling Springs each year. The event is always scheduled for the first Friday and Saturday after Labor Day and held on the lawn of The Thomas House Hotel. This event has been held for over 50 years.
How'd Dey Do Dat? Day is held the second Saturday in October. It is a rural heritage celebration held just outside of city limits on the Ritter Farm with demonstrations of "old time skills", i.e. blacksmith shop, grist mill, horse drawn equipment, quilting, candle making.
Red Boiling Springs is also home to Tennessee's only motorcycle museum, Cyclemos, which holds an annual Show and Old School Swap Meet that draws thousands of visitors and bikes.
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 1,023 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Red Boiling Springs is located at 36°31′57"N 85°50′59"W (36.532509, -85.849742).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 1,023 people, 404 households, and 252 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 719.8 people per square mile (278.2/km²). There were 457 housing units at an average density of 321.6 per square mile (124.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.14% White, 0.29% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.29% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.17% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.27% of the population.
There were 404 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 75.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 69.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $19,868, and the median income for a family was $28,333. Males had a median income of $26,313 versus $16,842 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $14,274. About 18.4% of families and 25.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.2% of those under age 18 and 18.1% of those age 65 or over.
Founding
The area was originally known as Salt Lick Creek due to a salt lickSalt lick
A mineral lick is a natural mineral deposit where animals in nutrient-poor ecosystems can obtain essential mineral nutrients...
that was located nearby, approximately four miles northwest of current day Red Boiling Springs. The salt lick attracted animals, and, in turn, attracted Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
as well as other peoples. Among the people who came to hunt the animal trails was Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
, who reportedly carved his name and the year, 1775, into a beech tree in a nearby community.
The area was first surveyed and land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
s were first awarded in the mid 1780s. The first post office was established in 1829 and was named the Salt Lick Creek post office. In 1847, the post office was renamed "Red Boiling Springs." Sometime in the 1830s, a farmer named Jesse Jones noticed red-colored sulphur water bubbling up from springs on his farm. In 1844, a businessman named Samuel Hare, realizing the springs' commercial potential, purchased a 20 acres (8.1 ha) plot of the Jones farm surrounding the springs, and constructed an inn. The inn's remote location and the region's poor roads likely doomed the venture, however, and the inn was gone by the 1870s.
Tourist attraction
In 1873, a stagecoach line was established between Red Boiling Springs and GallatinGallatin, Tennessee
Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, along a navigable tributary of the Cumberland River. The population was 23,230 at the 2000 census. Named for U.S...
, where there was a railroad stop. This likely led to renewed commercial interest in the springs, and by 1876, a general store owner named James Bennett had purchased the springs tract and had built a hotel. Bennett's hotel consisted of a row of log cabins flanking a central frame dining hall. In the late 1870s, Nashville newspapers first started mentioning Bennett's hotel and its guests' activities, as it was vogue during the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
for newspapers to report on daily happenings at upper class and upper-middle class resorts.
The 1880s saw a boom in the development of mineral springs resorts as "summer getaways," due in part to the publicity received by places such as Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
in New York. During this decade, New York businessman James F. O. Shaugnesy purchased the Red Boiling Springs tract and began development of the area as a resort. In 1889, the town first made the Nashville newspapers' front pages when former Tennessee Governor John C. Brown
John C. Brown
John Calvin Brown was a Confederate general during the American Civil War and the Governor of Tennessee from 1871 to 1875, the first Democrat to be elected to that position following the war.-Early life:...
died of a hemorrhage at one of the hotels. The papers emphasized that due to the isolation of the town and a lack of a telephone or telegraph, there was no way to get help. During the following decade, a railroad line was extended to Hartsville
Hartsville, Tennessee
Hartsville is a town in Trousdale County, Tennessee, United States. It is the county seat of Trousdale County, with which it shares a consolidated city-county government...
, and the railroad established a stagecoach line to Red Boiling Springs. With the continued rise in the number of visitors, two local general store owners— Zack and Clay Cloyd— opened the Cloyd Hotel during this period.
In 1905, several investors formed the Red Boiling Springs Water and Realty Company, and the following year purchased the original springs tract from Shaughnesy. By 1916, the company had replaced Shaughnesy's hotel with a lavish 64-room structure named "The Palace." During this same period, road improvements allowed the stagecoach lines to be replaced with automobile taxis, reducing the travel time from the railroad to just three hours. In 1918 there were four hotels in town— the Palace, the Cloyd, the Donoho
Donoho Hotel
The Donoho Hotel is a historic hotel in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee, United States. Built in 1916, the Donoho is one of three hotels remaining from the early-20th century resort boom at Red Boiling Springs, and the last of the great white frame hotels with full-length two-story verandas...
, and the Central Hotel; a decade later that number doubled and soon after, over a dozen hotels and at least that many boarding houses had been erected to take advantage of tourism. The hotels all followed a similar design plan— two stories with elegant verandas spanning the facade, and interiors containing large dining halls and 50 to 60 rooms (some later doubled or tripled their roomspace with annexes).
While most mineral water
Mineral water
Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...
resorts fell out of favor as medical science began to question the healing properties of mineral springs, Red Boiling Springs persisted, reaching its peak in the 1920s and 1930s. The resort was visited by many famous personages in the first half of the 20th century. The hotel registers included the names of judges, lawyers, heads of business and industry, famous musicians and singers, and politicians, among them Jo Byrns, Al Gore, Sr., Nathan Bachman, and most notably President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
. Although the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
destroyed many Americans' disposable incomes and hence budget for travel, Red Boiling Springs still had large numbers of visitors. The Summer of 1936 brought over 14,000 people to the little hamlet of approximately 800.
The mineral springs and daily life in the resort period
Almost uniquely, five different types of mineral waters are found at Red Boiling Springs. These springs are "mineralized" by their contact with exposed black shaleShale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
, from which iron sulfate is dissolved into the waters. Some were named for the color they would turn a silver coin; two, dubbed "Red" and "Black", were from springs which were capped off and then piped throughout the town to a series of wells with manually-operated pumps on both public and private property. Along with iron and sulphur, Red and Black waters both contained relatively high amounts of calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
and magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
. The flavor of the "Red" water was only somewhat sulfurous and seemed to be at least slightly agreeable to many; the "Black" was very-strongly flavored, off-putting to the novice, and an acquired taste (at best) for most. "White" was used only to cure dyspepsia. "Freestone" water contained none of the trace minerals that brought the crowds to the springs but it was by far the most palatable. The most mineralized water, known as "Double and Twist," was named for the effect it had on the person drinking it. "Double and Twist" was advertised as the "only water of its kind in the United States."
"Taking the waters" at Red Boiling Springs generally consisted of more than merely ingesting them; steam and tub baths featuring the waters and their alleged therapeutic properties were often featured. The bathhouses followed the hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy, involves the use of water for pain-relief and treating illness. The term hydrotherapy itself is synonymous with the term water cure as it was originally marketed by practitioners and promoters in the 19th century...
regimen developed by John Harvey Kellogg
John Harvey Kellogg
John Harvey Kellogg was an American medical doctor in Battle Creek, Michigan, who ran a sanitarium using holistic methods, with a particular focus on nutrition, enemas and exercise. Kellogg was an advocate of vegetarianism and is best known for the invention of the corn flakes breakfast cereal...
at his Battle Creek Sanitarium
Battle Creek Sanitarium
The Battle Creek Sanitarium, in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States, first opened on September 5, 1866, as the Western Health Reform Institute, based on the health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1876, John Harvey Kellogg became the superintendent, and his brother, W....
in Michigan, which was very popular at the time. The various waters contained several minerals but sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
was predominant, giving the waters the scent (and some would say, the flavor) of rotten eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
. There were medical doctors on hand to prescribe which treatments would work for a particular ailment. The mineral waters, either from ingesting them or bathing in them, were touted as cures for diseases such as dyspepsia
Dyspepsia
Dyspepsia , also known as upset stomach or indigestion, refers to a condition of impaired digestion. It is a medical condition characterized by chronic or recurrent pain in the upper abdomen, upper abdominal fullness and feeling full earlier than expected when eating...
, hydropsy
Edema
Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...
, diabetes, rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
, neuralgia
Neuralgia
Neuralgia is pain in one or more nerves that occurs without stimulation of pain receptor cells. Neuralgia pain is produced by a change in neurological structure or function rather than by the excitation of pain receptors that causes nociceptive pain. Neuralgia falls into two categories: central...
, kidney stones, gonorrhea
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The usual symptoms in men are burning with urination and penile discharge. Women, on the other hand, are asymptomatic half the time or have vaginal discharge and pelvic pain...
, and various eye and skin diseases. An advertising brochure claimed "sickness among the year 'round residents is practically an unknown thing."
As the resort grew, it became the stopping point for minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
s, circuses and other entertainments to a far greater degree than typical for towns of its small size. The town boasted a number of "diversions": bowling alleys, tennis courts, shuffle board, croquet, a ballroom, swimming pools, a small golf course, theatre, and an amusement park. The hotels also provided picnics and barbecues. Dancing was the most popular nighttime activity, and many of the hotels had their own orchestras for nightly ballroom dances. String bands also frequented the town, playing mostly at the many taverns scattered around the town's periphery.
Decline
Several factors contributed to the town's decline as a major resort. One was a general loss of confidence and interest in the purportedly curative powers of mineral waters by AmericansUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as the 20th century progressed. A new highway system made it easier for people to travel, but it also meant they could travel to other places as well, such as the state parks that were opening. Those who had promoted tourism and the mineral resorts had retired or died and the next generation was not as interested. Some of the hotels had been left in the hands of managers that did not reinvest the profits in the upkeep of the buildings. A number of the hotels burned and were not rebuilt. The townspeople were hesitant to support tourism. The area's general remoteness began to work against it; this was greatly aggravated by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the resultant gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
. Tourism focus shifted within Tennessee to more highly-developed areas such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
.
By the time the postwar period had arrived, most of the hotels had closed and the area was a shell of its former self. There was a slight rebirth during the 1950s. The town was incorporated
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
on April 27, 1953. A booster club was formed, two of the hotels were restored and new attractions were added. A drive-in billed as the only one of its kind in Middle Tennessee outside of Nashville joined the local theatre. By the early '60s only five hotels remained, then, by the end of the decade, it was back down to three.
1969 flood
At 3:30 AM on the morning of June 23, 1969, it started raining. A newspaper reported that by 6:00 AM, the water had risen "about 5 feet above maximum flood level". In six hours the entire Salt Lick Valley was under water. An unofficial report stated that 10 inches of rain fell in 6 hours. Overall, 15 businesses and 35 houses were either heavily damaged or destroyed, and a Trailways busTrailways Transportation System
The Trailways Transportation System is an American group of 80 independent bus companies that have entered into a franchising agreement. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.- History :...
had been swept approximately 500 feet into a steel-concrete bridge. Whole houses and many cars floated through town. Two young girls were killed in the flood. One was not found until four days later after being swept 4 miles downstream.
State and Federal grant money aided businesses, built watershed dams and help the townsfolk rebuild. By the late 1970s the town began to revisit its history in earnest with an eye to marketing it a tourist destination again, if only on a small scale. Two covered bridge
Covered bridge
A covered bridge is a bridge with enclosed sides and a roof, often accommodating only a single lane of traffic. Most covered bridges are wooden; some newer ones are concrete or metal with glass sides...
s were built, and park lands were developed. Later, a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
was built on the site of a former hotel.
Present day
At the beginning of the 21st century, a large water bottling plant was built on the outskirts of town by NestléNestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
, where water is bottled from Bennet Hill Springs, a source of Freestone water. Ironically, the plant removes all the natural minerals from the water by reverse osmosis and later adds a specific mixture of minerals to give it a consistent taste.
The old hand pumps that stood on public land were made inoperable because of liability issues that could occur. The hand pumps can still be seen on private property around town, and some people still believe in the curative powers of the mineral waters. As of 2010, three of the historic hotels were in operation, with The Armour Hotel still offering a full complement of steam treatment, mineral tub baths, and therapeutic massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
.
Education
Red Boiling Springs School is a K-12 public institution that is overseen by the Macon County School System. It has 671 total students and 41 teachers, making a student-teacher ratioStudent-teacher ratio
Student-teacher ratio refers to the number of teachers in a school or university with respect to the number of students who attend the institution. For example, a student-teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students for every one teacher...
of 1:16.
The school offers the following sports:
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
- SoftballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
- GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
- CheerleadingCheerleadingCheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
- FootballHigh school footballHigh school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
Festivals and attractions
The town is home to several annual events. The Donoho Hotel hosts the annual Red Boiling Spring Bluegrass Festival on the first Friday and Saturday in June. The event is for both professional and "shade tree pickers".One of the biggest annual festivals in Tennessee, The Summer Solstice, attracts around 2,000 people every year for 3 days of camping out on an organic farm listening to live music, and eating fresh organic food. Marked by the 1st day of summer and longest day of the year the celebration is usually put off until the following weekend.
The Middle Tennessee Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America holds their antique car show in Red Boiling Springs each year. The event is always scheduled for the first Friday and Saturday after Labor Day and held on the lawn of The Thomas House Hotel. This event has been held for over 50 years.
How'd Dey Do Dat? Day is held the second Saturday in October. It is a rural heritage celebration held just outside of city limits on the Ritter Farm with demonstrations of "old time skills", i.e. blacksmith shop, grist mill, horse drawn equipment, quilting, candle making.
Red Boiling Springs is also home to Tennessee's only motorcycle museum, Cyclemos, which holds an annual Show and Old School Swap Meet that draws thousands of visitors and bikes.