Tennessee Trivia & Tidbits - Page 3

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

—At Hillbilly Golf in Gatlinburg (pop. 3,382), golfers ride a tram to the top of a mountain, then play a course that is riddled with mountaineer hazards, such as outhouses and moonshine stills.

first appeared: 2/10/2008

—Albert Gore Jr., 45th vice president of the United States and winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, split his boyhood years between Washington, D.C., as the son of former U.S. Sen. Albert Gore Sr. and Pauline Gore, and the family farm in Carthage (pop. 2,251).

first appeared: 1/27/2008

—A spicy vinegar and chicken soup called “doodle soup” is a favorite in Bradford (pop. 1,113), which bills itself as the “Doodle Soup Capital of the World” and celebrates with Doodle Soup Days each fall.

first appeared: 1/13/2008

—The largest privately owned Confederate cemetery in the nation is the McGavock Confederate Cemetery at historic Carnton Plantation in Franklin (pop. 41,842). The cemetery is the burial place for 1,481 Confederate soldiers.

first appeared: 12/30/2007

—Environmentalist Shirley Caldwell-Patterson, 87, of Nashville, received the President’s Volunteer Service Award, the highest volunteer award given by the U.S. president, in August for her conservation work. In 1997, Caldwell-Patterson co-founded the Cumberland River Compact with a goal to clean up the Cumberland River.

first appeared: 12/2/2007

—Bernard Lansky of Lansky Brothers in Memphis, known as “the clothier to the King,” dressed Elvis Presley in his first flashy clothes, including hi-boy collar shirts, pegged pants and black suits with pink piping. Lansky also chose the white suit and blue tie that Elvis was buried in.

first appeared: 11/18/2007

—With 4,945 residents, the state’s least populated county is Pickett County, and the most populated is Shelby County, with 897,472.

first appeared: 11/4/2007

—With 318 curves in 11 miles, a section of U.S. Highway 129 near the Tennessee and North Carolina state line is known as the Tail of the Dragon and is a favorite ride for motorcyclists, sports car drivers and other thrill seekers.

first appeared: 10/21/2007

—A $2.48 yellowed rolled-up document at Music City Thrift Shop in Nashville turned out to be a rare bargain for Michael Sparks. The document, an “official copy” of the Declaration of Independence, one of 200 commissioned by John Quincy Adams and printed in 1823, sold in June at auction for $477,650.

first appeared: 10/7/2007

—RCA Studio B in Nashville is one of the nation’s most famous recording studios and known as “The Home of 1,000 Hits.” Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley and Eddy Arnold were among the artists who recorded in the studio between 1957 and 1977.

first appeared: 9/30/2007

—Only six runners have completed the Barkley Marathon in the allotted 60 hours since the race began in 1986. Runners encounter extreme elevation changes, thickets and raging creeks in what is called the world’s toughest footrace, run in a 20-mile loop five times for 100 miles at Frozen Head State Park at Wartburg (pop. 890). A “fun run” of 60 miles also is held.

first appeared: 9/9/2007

—President Andrew Johnson, who served from 1865 to 1869, is buried wrapped in the American flag with a copy of the U.S. Constitution under his head. His grave is atop Monument Hill, formerly called Signal Hill, in Greeneville (pop. 15,198).

first appeared: 8/26/2007

—A 6-foot circle of worn oak at the center of the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville was cut from the stage of the Opry’s former home, the Ryman Auditorium. The circle gives musicians a chance to perform on the same spot as Patsy Cline and other notables.

first appeared: 8/12/2007

—With his 1956 hit, “Blue Suede Shoes,” which he wrote on a potato sack, Carl Lee Perkins helped establish the rockabilly music movement. The son of sharecroppers, Perkins was born in 1932 in Tiptonville (pop. 2,439), and his first guitar was made from a cigar box and baling wire.

first appeared: 7/29/2007

—Clarksville native Rachel Smith, 21, was crowned Miss USA in March. She graduated from Belmont University in Nashville last year.

first appeared: 7/15/2007

—In 1930, Elmer and Henry Nickle’s love of aviation propelled them to build the Airplane Service Station in Powell. The landmark resembles an airplane, complete with a propeller and a wing that serves as a canopy over the gas pumps.

first appeared: 7/1/2007

—Standing nearly 42 feet tall and weighing 12 tons, a statue of the Greek goddess Athena at Nashville’s Parthenon in Centennial Park is the tallest indoor sculpture in the Western world.

first appeared: 6/17/2007

—Both McMinnville (pop. 12,749) and McMinn County (pop. 49,015) are named for Joseph McMinn, who served three terms as state governor, from 1815 to 1821.

first appeared: 6/3/2007

—When John Rice Irwin’s collection of old farm tools and other artifacts outgrew his garage in the late 1960s, he opened the Museum of Appalachia beside his home in Norris (pop. 1,446) to preserve the region’s relics and the stories behind them.

first appeared: 5/28/2007

—The state’s worst mine disaster occurred on May 19, 1902, at the Fraterville mine in Campbell County (pop. 39,854) when 184 men and boys were killed in a methane gas and coal dust explosion. Some accounts placed the death toll higher.

first appeared: 5/6/2007

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