Turning back the clock in historic Rugby, Tennessee

One day, you're just out exploring......

It's a beautiful day-- just right for a road trip in the country.


So, lets say you're just driving along......
...... on a peaceful, verdant, meandering stretch of State Highway 52 in Tennessee, for instance.....

Suddenly, you come into a very strange little village... right out of the 1880's.

There's an old school house...
.... flying the Union Jack along with the Stars and Stripes......

There's a tiny church with handmade stained glass,
a commissary,
a print shop,
a bandstand ....
surrounded by little cottages in the Victorian style..


Where the hell are ya, anyway?

The GPS doesnt seem to be working, for some reason.

And this place looks so out of place with the 21st century,
----- you just have to stop to investigate.


And, yes, you find to your surprise that many of the buildings are indeed circa 1880....

...... the signs are hand painted, lettered in old tymey script....

there are few signs of the machine age evident,
-- other than the cars zipping by on the highway.........

----- never mind the digital one.


There's a sign pointing down a trail that reads "Gentleman's Swimming Hole" ------>

There's a quaint English style tea house, next to a strange, steepled library.

The library has nothing but really old books,
......... the sign on the door says "opened October 5th, 1882".

At this point,
you might very well expect Rod Serling to step out of the shadows
---- and start one of his famous introductions into a "Twilight Zone" episode.....

( ........ or a train conductor call "Next Stop - Willoughby !" )

It's definitely a spooky feeling alright.

But, you're not in the twilight zone.

You, my friend, have reached a place of which most people are completely unaware ----

That place is called Rugby, Tennessee.

Some of you might have read my previous posts on 'intentional' or utopian communities;
like Oneida, Pleasant Hill, New Harmony, etc.

My interest in those communities often lead me to travel off the beaten path in search of them.

But this one, I came upon purely by accident... much as I described above.

I was driving home from a competition in Kentucky,
and since I detest the Interstate,
( cause you cant really see anything of the country that way ),
I had rigged up a route that would take me home by a very circuitous,
but also very pretty - route, down the Cumberland Plateau.

I knew nothing of the town of Rugby until I drove into it.

I was completely struck by the feeling of stepping out of my world,
.... and into another.


I still remember my sense of wonder as I moseyed around the place in the early morn.

When I got there, it was about 7:30 am... and nothing, and nobody -- was stirring.

For several minutes,
I almost thought the place was deserted,
and had just been dropped there in some weird time shift....

But then,
I saw a fella walking across the road towards what turned out to be the visitors center.

 I followed him in.... and although he wasn't exactly friendly,
( he was looking at me in much the same way you might look at somebody from outer space )
... he was kind enough to explain a little about the town ( tip jar in hand ).

 It was founded as a social experiment by English visionary Thomas Hughes,
based on a form of Christian socialism and egalitarianism--
as described in his book "Tom Brown's School Days",  in 1882.

The community experienced many difficulties in their first years---
---disease, bad water, legal issues, poor soil, hostile neighbors......
............... and it was hard going.

 They worked hard to grow their own food,
and to build up the small community agreeable to their beliefs, the best they could.

 But by 1890, most of the original settlers had given up and left.


 The village stood, almost completely abandoned,
until the mid 1960's when a group of folks decided to save what they could of what remained.

 Preservation started in earnest in the '80's... and what you can see today is kept as close to the original town as humanly possible.

 New buildings must adhere to strict codes that maintain the Victorian architectural identity of the town, and anything other than craft industry is prohibited.


 It truly is an amazing piece of heritage reclamation ----  a living history lesson.


 Run your hands across the intricate woodwork, or admire the stained glass,
in the Christ Church Episcopal Church- built in 1887.

Leaf through an original volume,
from the shelves of the Thomas Hughes Free Public Library, built in 1882.


Visit Kingstone Lisle,
Thomas Hughes' home in Rugby- still with some of the original furnishings.

Chow down on some authentic Welsh Rarebit in the Cafe,
... or buy yourself some locally made crafts at the Commissary.

I promise you that you will come home with something to tell your friends about.


But,
lest you think I've painted a picture of all buttercups and backrubs,
... lemme say this.


The folks that live around those parts of the Cumberland are descended from the same folks who did everything they could to make things miserable for the original settlers of Rugby.......

So if you're expecting a
"Set Down and Rest A Spell-Y'all Come Back Now, Y'Hear" kinda welcome-
( like you'd get at my great grandmother's old Virginia house in Charlottesville )
...... you'll be unhappily discommoded.

Half of the folks that live round there don't even know they ARE in the South,
..... never mind demonstrating any trace of Southern hospitality.

And if I was to say that were of a generally laconic disposition,
... well, I think I'd was being generous.
I think the word "xenophobic" might be more accurate.

The guy at the dump of a corner store on the main road not two miles from the center of Rugby made out like he didn't know anything about the town at all.

The guy at the welcome center looked as though the Martians had just landed, and were lookin' to take over - he answered questions curtly and very reluctantly.


But, in fairness,
the folks at the tea house- The Harrow Road Cafe, were accommodating and very courteous. The food was excellent and very true to the English tradition.

I heartily recommend you visit Rugby...........
  ...........................................................    just don't tell em I sent ya.