Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9411080056
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: F8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOANNE ANDERSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"We haven't had a banana split like that since childhood in Poultney, Vt.," he said. With a player piano rolling old-time tunes and real soda fountain furnishings, it was a deja vu extraordinaire for these senior siblings.
But banana splits aren't the only reason for visiting Historic Jonesborough. Brick sidewalks line the legendary Great Stage Road, modernly known as Main Street, and edge up to shops with antiques, quilts, wood supplies and products, saddles and horse gear and a plethora of Appalachian crafts and collectibles.
There's a simple, uncluttered feeling here. The high-domed Washington County Courthouse stands prominently in the center of town. Belgian horses clip-clop through the streets giving carriage rides. The shopkeepers are friendly; the merchandise is interesting.
Tennessee Quilts stocks handcrafted quilts and 1,000 bolts of cotton fabric. There are 50 antique dealers in the Jonesborough Antique Mart a few doors down, and a couple hundred regional artisans display work in the Cherry Tree Craft Shop.
There are places to eat, things to buy, places to sit and things to photograph.
Jonesborough is not one of the 50 state capitals, but not for lack of trying. Carved out of the wilderness in 1779, the little town was included in a parcel given to the federal government in 1784 when North Carolina ceded its western lands.
The people in the region were left with no formal government, so they created one. They formed their own state, replete with a governor, legislature, courts and militia, and named it Franklin after Benjamin Franklin. Jonesborough was the capital, and Andrew Jackson was admitted to the bar in the tiny log courthouse.
A local representative was sent to Congress to request that Franklin be admitted to the Union as the 14th state. The petition lost by one vote. By 1788, North Carolina had reasserted authority over the region and the "Lost State of Franklin" became a memory. Eight years later, Jonesborough was officially part of the new state of Tennessee.
An architectural odyssey awaits those interested in old buildings. Because Jonesborough was not in the pathway of much Civil War activity, many of its buildings pre-date the mid-1800s.
Also, the original town was laid out in regular streets and uniform lots of one acre. Building restrictions were incorporated into the town's original enabling act. Specifically, each owner was required within three years to build "a brick, stone or well-framed house, 20 feet long and 16 feet wide, and at least 10 feet in pitch, with a brick or stone chimney."
Jonesborough was not a town of great wealth, so few architects were engaged there. Carpenters and builders would often use two styles in one building, or adapt a feature to suit themselves or the materials at hand. As styles changed, owners made alterations, such as adding porches, sometimes resulting in a mixture of the whimsical and inventive.
Greek Revival is obvious on the United Methodist Church built in 1845, while the Christopher Taylor house, circa 1778, is a simple log structure. The Gammon-Sterling house, a Federal-style dwelling built in the 1830s, sports one of Jonesborough's best examples of stepped gables.
The old telephone office is a tiny brick Victorian building with elaborate Gothic ornamentation. The brick row house called Sisters' Row was so named because by 1827 each of the three units was rented by a daughter of Andrew Jackson.
Of the 39 buildings on the Historic Jonesborough strolling tour (well worth $1 at the Visitors Center), 22 were built prior to 1850, three prior to 1800, 10 between 1850 and 1900, and four are 20th century buildings.
The oldest frame structure in town, the Chester Inn, can boast that three presidents visited there - Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson. The 1790 building is now owned by the state of Tennessee and is home of the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling.
Jonesborough takes credit for the storytelling renaissance in America in the early '70s. The historic town will be host to the 21st National Storytelling Festival Oct. 7-9.
The three-day event brings together storytellers from across the land to spin yarns and tell tales in a diversity of styles. There are ghost stories, a midnight cabaret toasting the lives and times of grown-ups, a swappin' ground where anyone may tell a story and a family showcase of enchanting tales for children.
This year's special presentation is "Frontier Traditions: Code of the West" and includes several well-known cowboy storytellers. Appalachian legends, African-American lore, treasured fables and genuine adventures are all shared in old-fashioned storytelling manner.
Of all the stories that will be told, the story of Jonesborough - its history, architecture and even the banana splits - remains one of the most interesting.
by CNB