Tennessee Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Tennessee trivia? Try our list Tennessee little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

In 1896 in Memphis, Samuel Henry Kress opened the first of his chain of five-and-dime stores, known as S.H. Kress and Co.

first appeared: 11/1/2009

The Rev. Horace Burgess, an ordained minister in Crossville (pop. 8,981), began in 1993 to build a tree house to be closer to God. Built from scrap wood, the structure is 10 stories high with multiple observation decks and balconies.

first appeared: 10/18/2009

Four residents, out of 13,000 who applied, have won the right to participate in the state's first-ever managed elk hunt Oct. 19-23. The hunt on the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area comes after a decade-long effort to reintroduce elk to the state. A fifth permit was auctioned.

first appeared: 10/4/2009

With an output of more than 1,000 hamburger buns a minute, the fastest high-speed bakery in the world is Tennessee Bun Co. in Dickson (pop. 12,244). Cordia Harrington founded the company in 1996 and makes buns, rolls and English muffins for McDonald's, Pepperidge Farm and other clients.

first appeared: 9/20/2009

Since 1948, in an alley in downtown Memphis, Charles Vergos' Rendezvous restaurant has served dry-rub charcoal ribs to rave reviews.

first appeared: 9/6/2009

In the 1930s, Norvin Hagy entertained friends and family with catfish cookouts in a shack on his Shiloh property, which became known as the Catfish Hotel. He opened a restaurant in the hotel in 1938, and today a third generation serves catfish, hush puppies and other food.

first appeared: 8/23/2009

Built in 1930, Engel Stadium in Chattanooga is legendary for its deep center field, which is 471 feet from home plate.

first appeared: 8/9/2009

In 1948, Grace and Jim Proffitt opened Ridgewood Barbecue in Bluff City (pop. 1,559) and began serving thinly sliced smoked ham with their secret barbecue sauce. Today, a third generation, Lisa Peters, runs the restaurant.

first appeared: 7/26/2009

—Oreck Corp., headquartered in Nashville, was founded in 1963 by David Oreck, who began manufacturing upright lightweight and durable vacuum cleaners for the hotel industry. When hotel personnel asked to buy the vacuum cleaners for their own use, Oreck swept into the home market, too.

first appeared: 7/12/2009

—The 55-acre Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art is a Nashville estate once owned by the Cheek family, who developed Maxwell House Coffee.

first appeared: 6/28/2009

—Brenda Valentine, nicknamed "First Lady of Hunting," is host of Bass Pro Shops' Real Hunting television program. She was born and raised in a remote area of Henry County (pop. 31,115) and began hunting as a child to provide food for her family. She is the first female inductee into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

—Pat Summitt, women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is the first Division I basketball coach in history to win 1,000 games. Summitt, who began coaching the Lady Vols in 1974, reached the milestone in February.

first appeared: 5/31/2009

—Las Paletas in Nashville is a favorite local dessert spot because of its gourmet popsicles, which are made with fresh fruit and come in flavors such as avocado and chocolate with mint chips.

first appeared: 5/17/2009

—At 95, Ray White of Knoxville is one of America's oldest bloggers. White began his blog, tomatogardeningwithdad.blogspot.com in 2003 to help people grow a good tomato.

first appeared: 5/3/2009

–More than 12,000 Union soldiers are buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery, including men who were killed in battles at Lookout Mountain (pop. 2,000), Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge.

first appeared: 4/19/2009

—Soles 4 Souls, a Nashville-based charity founded by Wayne Elsey, has collected and given away more than 3.5 million pairs of new and used shoes to needy people worldwide. Elsey began the shoe charity after helping victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and 2005's Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast.

first appeared: 4/5/2009

—The Ebbing and Flowing Spring near Rogersville (pop. 4,240) exhibits tidal characteristics, going from barely a trickle to flowing at 500 gallons per minute at intervals of 2 hours and 47 minutes.

first appeared: 3/22/2009

—Farms dominate the Volunteer State, with 85,000 farms covering 11.6 million acres, or 44 percent of the state. The top commodities are cattle and calves, broilers, soybeans, nursery and greenhouse crops, and cotton.

first appeared: 3/8/2009

—The oldest college basketball player in the nation is Ken Mink, 73, who has played for Roane State Community College in Harriman (pop. 6,744) since last August. Mink, of Knoxville, previously played college basketball 52 years ago for Lees College in Jackson, Ky. (pop. 2,490).

first appeared: 2/22/2009

—The state’s oldest church of any faith still at its original location is Sinking Creek Baptist Church, organized in 1772, in what today is Carter County (pop. 56,742).

first appeared: 2/8/2009

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.