DICKSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE

DICKSON COUNTY, TENNESSEEBy W. O. Thomas

By W. O. Thomas

Probably there is no county in the state that is attracting as much attention at the present time as the County of Dickson. It lies on the meridial line that clearly defines the mineral and gas belt forming one of the earth’s great arteries connecting the oil fields of Pennsylvania with the oil fields of Texas, and is rich in every constituent that contributes to the material wants of mankind.

BUSINESS SECTION OF DICKSON

Dickson County contains an area of 650 square miles. The county forms a great watershed, draining into the Cumberland river on the north and the Duck river on the south. It is watered by many confluents of these streams. Thus the county is cut up into innumerable rich and productive valleys, fringed by fruitful uplands that are in turn crowned by great forests of virgin timber. Talk to any lumberman and he will lament the decadence of the timber production. Yet it is a fact that nature’s storehouse still contains a vast reserve supply of this product, and that the present generation will not live to see it exhausted.

The soil of Dickson County is very diverse. Any crop produced in the temperate zone can be grown with profit in this county. Corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, tobacco, sorghum, peanuts, melons, and all kinds of smallfruits thrive to perfection. The northern side of the county is within the Clarksville dark tobacco district, while other sections produce a long leaf tobacco, rivaling in its quality and fibre the famous Sumatra wrapper. The conditions of soil and climate seem especially favorable to this industry, and it is quite certain that tobacco growing will be one of the future staples of Dickson County. The conditions are ideal for the cultivation of Irish and sweet potatoes, tomatoes and that class of fruits and vegetables.

DICKSON HOME OF JOHN T. CRAIN,Southern Representative G. P. Dodge Lumber Co., Chicago

Lands in Dickson County range in price from $2 to $200 an acre. This is a wide range, but it is so. In Bell’s Bend, where the Harpeth river sweeps in a broad semi-circle and doubles back on itself, hugging on either side a long, narrow bluff, the land is priceless. Here it was that Montgomery Bell swayed the rod of empire in the palmy days of yore. He has long since been gathered to his fathers, but his name and fame are traditional in this state, and Montgomery Bell Academy at Nashville is a monument to his generosity and philanthropy.

Montgomery Bell was a thrifty Vermonter who settled in Tennessee about the beginning of the eighteenth century. He acquired vast tracts of land in Dickson County, and laid the foundations of his prosperity in the manufacture of pig iron. He was either directly or indirectly interested in not less than six of these furnaces in Dickson County. They were all operated by water power, steam being an unknown quantity at that time. It is written down in the book of chronicles that Dickson County and Montgomery Bell helped Old Hickory win the battle of New Orleans. For it was the old Cumberland Furnace, on Barton’s Creek, now known as the Warner Furnace, and owned by the Tennessee Iron & Coal Company, that moulded the cannon balls for that memorable battle, and helped repel the proud British invader. Any school boy in DicksonCounty can tell you this, and it is a bit of history of which the citizens are justly proud.

RESIDENCE OF W. C. SMITH, AT DICKSON

To-day there exists in Bell’s Bend the strangest monument to Montgomery Bell that ever man had to perpetuate his memory. This man was a builder of iron furnaces. He built them wherever he could find water power. To him water power meant useful opportunity. I have spoken of the narrow bluff that divides the Harpeth in its magnificent sweep through Bell’s Bend. This bluff is so narrow that a man can stand on its ridge and easily cast a stone into the river on either side. Right here Montgomery Bell had a tunnel blasted through the bluff, and by means of a wing dam drew the waters of the Upper Harpeth through this opening in a mighty, resistless current that afforded unlimited water power for the operations of a blast furnace. And there it is to-day, singing its stormy requiem to the memory of a man and age that have passed into the shade, but yet inviting in its prodigal waste and riotous power the hand of capital and enterprise to harness it anew.

In timber, soil, minerals and climate Dickson County is well dowered. Many of these industries are yet in their infancy. It has been demonstrated that its phosphates are as good as those of Hickman County, and only wait on the capitalist. As for oil, at the present time the Standard Oil Company is preparing to sink two wells near Dickson. It is well known that this section is underlaid by the best of illuminating oil, equal to the Pennsylvania product. The Brown oil wells, on Jones’ Creek, twelve miles northwest of Dickson, have been opened for many years and have pumped as high as twenty barrels a day of fine illuminating oil. This territoryis nearly all under lease, and the indications are that the time is ripe for its exploitation.

One of the most interesting towns in Dickson County is Ruskin. Ruskin was founded a number of years ago as a Socialist colony. Here was to be exemplified the truth of the doctrine that all men are created free and equal. It was to be a practical demonstration. It will take another story to tell how and why it failed. About a year ago the property was acquired by some earnest, ambitious school men. To-day Ruskin is the seat of Ruskin-Cave College, with a faculty of eleven teachers and students from twelve states. The village is owned and controlled by the school board. The full college course compares well with state institutions. The college presents some very remarkable features that entitle it to favorable consideration. W. A. Hughes is business manager and R. E. Smith president.

LIBRARY RUSKIN’S CAVE COLLEGE

Dickson is the chief commercial town in Dickson County. Charlotte is the county seat, but it has a population of only a few hundred. The population of Dickson numbers about three thousand. Within five years it has almost doubled its inhabitants. It has a chancery and circuit court and a larger and costlier courthouse than the county seat. Being accessible by three railroads, it is the logical commercial and political center of the county. It is also the educational center. In addition to a good public school system, it is the seat of the Dickson Normal College. This is a co-educational institution. The college building is modern and commodious in its every appointment. It is situated in a beautiful grove of native oaks, on a broad table land overlooking the town of Dickson. A corps of trained teachers is in charge of the work. The curriculum embraces a four-years’ course, beginning with an exhaustive study of the common school branches and including a comprehensive course in language, science and mathematics. T. B. Loggins, A.M., is the principal of the college. The enrollment includes students of both sexes from all parts of the state.

The Hudson Business College is also located in Dickson, and is doing a fine work in fitting young people for the business world.

Dickson is a plucky town. Twicewithin a decade it has risen from its ashes. In 1893 the town was practically destroyed by fire, not over half a dozen business houses remaining. Nearly all the buildings destroyed were of frame and were replaced by substantial brick structures. In November, 1905, another disastrous fire broke out, eating the heart out of the business section and entailing a loss of $200,000. With characteristic energy, the work of rebuilding was immediately begun, and to-day the burned district is covered by even handsomer buildings than those destroyed. In addition to this new buildings are going up in every direction, and the town is experiencing a building boom unprecedented in its history.

REV. A. N. KELLYFounder of Beulah Colony

REV. A. N. KELLY

Founder of Beulah Colony

Dickson is on the main line of the N.,C. & St. L. railroad, forty-two miles from Nashville. It is the terminus of the Centreville branch of the same road, and also the Clarksville branch of the L. & N. These roads tap many small towns that are tributary to Dickson, and in addition it has a fine interior trade.

Socially and morally Dickson is abreast of the best towns in the State. Every religious phase of evangelical faith is represented. The personnel of the pulpit is much above the average. Fraternal and social organizations flourish. The town has three banks and there are six in the county. The aggregate deposits amount to nearly half a million dollars. In all the essentials of life Dickson and Dickson county are in the forefront of progress.

RESIDENCE OF A. N. KELLY AT BEULAH.

Dickson county has a well organized Farmers’ Institute. N. R. Sugg is president and R. H. Hicks, of Dickson, secretary. The association meets once a month and is doing a good work in stimulating interest in agricultural pursuits.

To write of Dickson County without making special mention of “Beulah” would be omitting one of the most interesting features connected with the development of this county. Beulah is designed to be Plato’s Ideal Republic on a small scale.

It is a colony of home seekers who have been attracted thither by the salubrious climate and the remarkably low-priced lands of this section. It is located six miles from Dickson, on the Centreville branch of the N., C. & St. L. R. R. It is not far from the line that divides Dickson and Hickman Counties, and within a few miles lies Bon Aqua, a summer resort famous for its healthgiving waters and resinous atmosphere.

Rev. A. N. Kelly is a man of remarkable personality. He is an evangelist and Christian scholar of national reputation. He is an idealist and aman of practical affairs. This is an unusual combination and yet a very useful one when it exists. For it is the man behind the gun who wins the battles.

These are some of the things Reverend Kelly has accomplished in two years:

He found Beulah almost a wilderness. Hundreds of acres of land could be bought for from $2 to $4 an acre. An occasional settler eked out a scanty livelihood in a primitive way, for the lands in this immediate neighborhood were known as the “Barrens,” and it had never entered into the mind of man to give them a practical test. To-day a thriving colony, ever increasing in circumference, marks the spot. Cosy cottages dot the landscape. A comfortable schoolhouse and church building have been erected. The land is being rapidly cleared and is found productive beyond expectation. Much of the land is fast increasing in value, but as compared with more thickly populated sections is still ridiculously cheap. For families of small means, who are looking for a pure, healthful environment, where they may cultivate their own vine and fig tree under comfortable and easy circumstances, this section offers unusual advantages. Only the better class of citizens is desired, for this is designed to be a community of Christian people. Not fanatics, mind you, with visionary and impractical ideas of life, but clean, wholesome people, honest and honorable in their dealings, and with high ideals that propel them constantly upward in the battle of life.

I spent a pleasant day at Beulah, and Rev. Mr. Kelly unfolded to me some of his plans. He is a man of great faith and very useful and noble purposes. It was interesting to talk with the man, to note his fine optimism and invincible energy and courage. He is a college graduate, with a roomy brain and a dynamic spirit. He knows no such thing as the impossible.

Small fruits and vegetables grow to perfection here. The soil is a sub-clay, and, being virgin, retains its pristine strength and vigor. Apples and peaches, and all kinds of vegetables, grow to perfection. A canning factory is in course of operation to utilize these products. The growing of cantaloupes on a large scale will be undertaken this season. Large tracts of land adjacent to the railroad between Beulah and Hohenwald, a stretch of thirty miles, have been secured for this purpose, and a contract has been entered into with the railroad for the marketing of the crop.

Within the limits of this article it is impossible to more than touch on Beulah, its many desirable features, its splendid possibilities. To those more than casually interested, a letter addressed to Rev. A. N. Kelly, Burns, Rural Route No. 2, will bring full information.

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