Winter Market

I had a chance to visit the Winter Market this morning.  The best thing about the market was that their was quite a crowd.  It was great to see so many people out on a cold, cloudy winter morning.  The worst thing about the market was that is was so crowded that it was difficult to make your way through the crowd to even get to the vendors.

Food Trucks

Southern Railroad Station Main Building

Freight Depot

Neither rain, nor sleet...a look a Knox County post offices

 

"On July 26, 1775, members of the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, agreed
That a postmaster General be appointed for the United Colonies, who shall hold his office at Philada, and shall be allowed a salary of 1000 dollars per an: for himself, and 340 dollars per an: for a secretary and Comptroller, with power to appoint such, and so many deputies as to him may seem proper and necessary.
That a line of posts be appointed under the direction of the Postmaster general, from Falmouth in New England to Savannah in Georgia, with as many cross posts as he shall think fit.1
This simple statement signaled the birth of the Post Office Department, the predecessor of the United States Postal Service and the second oldest federal department or agency of the United States of America." Source

Knox County Post Offices 1846: Beaver Ridge, Church Grove, Gap Creek, Knoxville, Loveville, Mecklenberg, Raccoon Valley, Woodburne

Knox County Post Offices 1851:  Academia, Beaver Ridge, Campbell's Station, Church Grove, Flint Gap, Gap Creek, Knoxville,  Mecklenburgh, Racoon Valley, Woodbourne

Knox County Post Offices in 1876: Asbury, Ball Camp, Beaver Ridge, Bull Run, Campbell's Station, Church Grove, Concord, Cooper, Ebenezer, Gap Creek, Graveston, Hall's Cross Roads, High Point, Knoxville, Letsinger, McMillan, Powell's Station, Riverdale, Roseberry, Spring Grove, Thornburgh, Thorn Grove, Twinville

Today: Burlington, Cedar Bluff Post Office, Corryton, Downtown, Halls Station, Heiskell, Farragut, Fountain City, North Knoxville, Norwood, Mascot, Powell, South Knoxville, Knoxville, Knoxville Main Office, West Knoxville

East Tennessee Mineral Springs

 Anderson County:

Low's Sulphur Springs, near Fairview (State Health Board)

Oliver Springs

Bledsoe County:

Chalybeate Spring, 4 miles from Pikeville

South Saratoga Springd, 10 miles from Pikeville

Sulfur Spring, 3 miles from Stephen's Chapel

Blount County:

Alleghany Springs, 14 miles South of Maryville, Blount County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)  Link

Mack's Sulfur Springs, 6 miles South of Maryville (State Health Board)

Melrose Spring, PO Maryville, Blount County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Montvale Springs, PO Montvale, Blount County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Mount Nebo Springs, near Montvale

Campbell County:

Chalybeate Spring, near Jacksboro (State Health Board)

Carter County:

Chalybeate Spring at Elizabethton, (State Health Board)

Jenkins White Sulfur Springs, (State Health Board)

Claiborne County:

Mineral Spring at the foot of Cumberland Gap

Cocke County:

Carson's Springs, near Newport, (State Health Board)

Patterson's Springs, near Birdsville, Cocke County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Grainger County:

Black Water Springs, near Bean's Station, (State Health Board)

Clynchdale Springs, Bean's Station Valley, (State Health Board)

Lea's Spring, near Spring House, (State Health Board)

Mineral Hill Springs, PO Bean Station, Grainger County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Powder Springs, Powder Springs Gap, (State Health Board)

Tate Springs, Tate Springs, Grainger County

Tate's Springs bottle  Photo credit: Rodney Ferrell

Greene County:

Sulfur Spring, near Locust Spring (State Health Board)

Hamblen County:

Three springs near Russelville (State Health Board)

Sulfur Spring (State Health Board)

White's Sulfur Springs, near Witt's Foundry (State Health Board)

Hamilton County:

Gammons Spring, near Tate Spring, Grainger County (1912)

Gladstone Spring, near Chattanooga, Hamilton County (1912)

Hawkins County:

Alum Springs, near Rogersville (Mineral Springs of North America, 1873)

Alum Well, 5 miles East of Rogersville (State Health Board)

Chalybeate Spring, in Poor Valley (State Health Board)

Epsom Springs, 7 miles NE of Rogersville (State Health Board)Galbraith Epsom Lithis Springs, Galbraith Springs, Hawkins County (1912)

Galbraith Springs Hotel  photo credit: Lynne Hubbell Roney

Rustic Spring House, Galbraith Springs  photo credit: Rodney Ferrell

Hale's Red and White Sulfur Springs,Hale Springs PO, Hawkins County (Rodney Ferrell)and (State Health Board)

Klipert's Spring, near Hale Springs

Kyle springs, Hawkins County (Rodney Ferrell)

Mooresburg Springs, near Mooresburg, Hawkins County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Price's Springs on Stone mountain, Hawkins County (Rodney Ferrell)

Wright's Epsom Lithia Springs, near Mooreburg and 4 miles from Galbraith Springs, Hawkins County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

James County:

Mineral Springs

Jefferson County:

Banner's Springs, 4 miles from Dandridge (State Health Board)

Canwood or Cawood's Springs, near Dandridge, Jefferson County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Chalybeate Spring, 10 miles South of Dandridge, (State Health Board)

Chalybeate Spring, at Mill Springs, (State Health Board)

Copeland Springs, near White Pine, (State Health Board)

Mineral Spring, near Chestnut Hill, (State Health Board)

Shady Grove Springs, 4 miles South of Dandridge, (State Health Board)

Sulfur Springs, 4 miles South of White Pine, (State Health Board)

Knox County:

Dixie Springs, across from Tennessee River, Knoxville, Knox County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)
Lincoln Park Mineral Springs

Photo credit: CharmaineZoe

Mineral Spring in Poor Valley, (State Health Board)

Neubert Spring, near Knoxville, Knox County

Whittle Springs, Whittle Springs, Knoxville, Knox County

Loudon County:

Price's Chalybeate Spring, 6 miles from Erie, (State Health Board)

McMinn County:

Chilhowee Spring, Chilhowee Mountain, near Williamsburg, one mile South ofKimbrough's store(State Health Board)

Cooper's Springs, 1 1/2 East of Kimbrough's store, (State Health Board)

Monroe County:

White Cliff Springs, in Chilhowee Mountain, 16 miles from Mouse Creek, (State Health Board)

Rhea County:

Brown & Boyd's Spring, 5 miles from Pikeville, (State Health Board)

Morgan Springs, 6 miles from Pikeville, (State Health Board)

Norwood Springs, 1 1/2 miles from Pikeville. (State Health Board)

Rhea Springs, Rhea Springs,

Scott County:

Sulfur Spring near Huntsville. (State Health Board)

Sevier County:

Chalybeate Spring, in Wear's Valley, South of Sevierville, (State Health Board)

Glen-Alpine Springs, PO Newport, Sevier County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Henderson Springs, Henderson Springs PO, (State Health Board)

Line Spring, PO Line Spring, Sevier County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Sullivan County:

Avoca Spring, near Bristol, (State Health Board)

Brown's Springs, near Union Depot, (State Health Board)

Chalybeate Spring, (State Health Board)

Glover's Springs, near Union Depot, Sullivan County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Sulfur Spring, near 8 miles East of Blountville. (State Health Board)

Sulfur Spring, 5 miles West of Union Depot, (State Health Board)

Unicoi County:

Unaka Springs, PO Unaka Springs, Unicoi County (Mineral Waters of the United States 1899)

Union County:

Mineral Spring on Clinch River, (State Health Board)

Mineral Spring, 6 miles North od Maynardville. (State Health Board)

Washington County:

Austin's Springs, Austin's Springs PO, (State Health Board)

Chalybeate Spring, (State Health Board)

Yeager's Springs, (State Health Board)

Unknown County:

Warm Spring, on the French Broad, near North Carolina (Mineral Springs of North America, 1873)

Hoppin' John and Old Christmas

Every New Year's Day we have black-eyed peas and greens. Eating these is supposed to bring you luck. Where I live, this is pretty common fare on New Year's Day. Someone remarked they were not suspicious. This is not about being superstitious, the is tradition.

We have Hopping John, greens and tomato pudding.

Hopping John

Tomato Pudding

"Today, hardly anyone knows of Old Christmas. But, the elder bushes and the animals of the barn and field have surely not forgotten..." (from the Tellico Plains newspaper) Elder bushes bloom on the ground and you need to give carrots or other treats to animals in the barn. At midnight, the animals kneel down to pray and sometimes you can hear them talk.

Too many people are in a rush for Christmas to be over. This date goes back to the Julian calendar which was replaced in about 1751 by the Gregorian calendar which was a more accurate calendar. In order to accomplish this, the calendar was moved ahead by several days in September. Some people were upset by the “missing” days and they decided to celebrate Christmas as it had been celebrated before the calendar change. Old Christmas is on the sixth of January.

There are many superstitions associated with this day such as not washing clothes or sweeping. Also, a woman should not leave the house until a man has entered that door from the outside. I am pretty sure that I will not observe the last one because when Miss Bailey wants to go out, she wants to go out now. She does not care whether or not a man has entered the house by this door.

Long after my friends have taken down their trees and packed away the decorations Several friends have starting decorating for Valentine's Day, but I will continue to leave my Christmas tree up and my candles in the windows until after Old Christmas.

Ancestor Tree

The bittersweet joy of Christmas

 

Christmas is a time of celebrations.

of Lights

of Shopping and wrapping

of Christmas carols

or Parties with family and friends.

As we prepare for these events with shopping, decorations, wrapping and baking, many of us experience sadness as well. It is what I call the bittersweet joy of Christmas because as we gather with friends and family, we are painfully aware of our loved ones who are no longer with us. The empty spaces in our circle.

The other day I ran out to pick up some coffee for my husband and a sweater for my daughter, I was reminded of the many shopping trips that I had made with my Mother while we were getting ready for the Christmas holidays. It was just a little wave of sadness. I put the packages in the trunk of my car and headed back toward the the interstate, unstoppable tears ran down my cheeks. My friends already know that I almost never cry. I turned up the radio, but it made no difference, the tears kept kept falling.

If someone else was writing this story, it would end with my Christmas spirit being restored by an encouter with an angelic baby, a Christmas choir or a beautiful sunset. None of these things happened.

As I have done in the past, I continued to make the preparations for Christmas. I do this with little variation every year. I love Advent, the time of preparation that is both physical and spiritual. Each day facing the challenges and acknowledging the blessings.

Today is Christmas Eve and I had a wonderful day with my family. We went to Mast General Store and then had lunch at Long's Drugstore. We are so lucky to have a drugstore with a soda fountain. A quick stop at Blue Ridge and then skating at the Ice Chalet. I am truly blessed.

When I looked at Facebook, I saw that someone very dear had shared the excitement of her daughter opening her new Kindle in a video. I know that four young teens are going to have something under the tree this Christmas. I was touched by a post from a Gold Star mother reaching out to the wife of a Wounded Warrior. A longtime friend shared the good news that he has accomplished a lifetime dream, Leave No Paws Behind reached their emergency fundraising goal with $1,000 to spare, thanks to an anonymous Santa and I was surprised by especially thoughtful gestures by my daughter and my husband.  I asked for help finding photos of churches in Greene County and schools in Knox County and I have been blessed with many contributions. I am blessed to have my family at home for Christmas.

Tomorrow, we will gather to exchange gifts, share stories and pictures. We will have a big dinner and eat lots of dessert. We will miss those who are no longer with us and cherish those are with us today.

Shopping Local in Clinton

Clinton is a great place to shop for antiques and unique gifts

No trip to Clinton is complete with a stop at Hoskins Drug Store

An old fashioned store a great place to find gifts

Great place for lunch, do not miss the milkshakes!

Shopping Local in Dandridge

Tinsley Bible Drugstore

Lunch!

 

Great Antique Store

Lot's of goodies in this real Hardware store

Christmas Presents!!!