Cleo Jenkins Retires after 57 Years Operating Ferries. This Is Cleo Jenkins Story from 1972. After more than half a century, an era may be coming to an end – as Mr. Cleo Jenkins, operator of the Washington Ferry for nearly 30 years and other ferries for 27, is retiring. It all started 57 years…
County Wide
Morgan Farm Site Chosen For Rhea Hospital in 1955
The Morgan farm can be seen in the background on the hilltop. This was the site chosen for the construction of the new Rhea County Hospital which opened in 1958 (Photo Courtesy Glass Family Collection) Old Hospital Site and Current Justice Center sits on former Morgan Farm Land. The feature photo above was taken in…
Rhea County Jail History
The feature photo above shows one of the cells from the 1998 addition of the jail. (Photo by Dean Wilson) Old Rhea County Jail Downtown Now a Certified Juvenile Jail Facility In March of this year, 2021, the county opened a new Rhea County Jail and Justice Center located on the property of the former…
Fables Band Big Hit With GI’s Overseas
(Pictured L-R) Major Cecil B. Smith, Benny Daniels, Bonnie Smith, Bobby Beard, Candy Graham, Jerry “Jug” Standifer and Eddie Daniels. Major Cecil B. Smith, a Rhea County native, greets members of the Fables on the tarmac at the Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. Dayton band Travels Overseas To Entertain The Troops In the…
Pvt. Warren Glinn Harding DaVault
Pvt. Warren G.H. DaVault Killed in WWII November 20,1944 Laid To Rest In His Hometown 76 Years Later Born September 29, 1920, Warren Glinn Harding DaVault was drafted during his senior year at Rhea Central High School before he had graduated. He entered the Army on November 14, 1942, at Fort Oglethorpe, GA. He was…
Rhea’s James Evans Missing In Action
James Floyd Evans, Jr. was born July 27,1920. James grew up on the Cunnyngham farm along the Tennessee River in Rhea County. He graduated from Rhea Central High School, then he worked for the TVA. In early 1943, James enlisted in the Army Air Corps. After training at an Idaho air base, James was a…
Paxton Sawyers Parade Marshal For Three Decades
Parade Marshal passed From Sawyers to Ronnie Raper in mid 1980’s Around noon on every parade day, people begin to line the street in front of the famous Rhea County Courthouse preparing to watch the parade. Some people will drift up towards Hwy 30 where the parade route starts. This has been a tradition ever…
Rhea Records Hold Past
Historian David Gray above under took a project in the early 1980’s to clean and care for some of the county’s neglected records. Gray was a dedicated member of the Rhea County Historical Society. (Photo courtesy Rhea Historical Society) Time had not been kind to Rhea’s Records Rhea County Courthouse and the county’s records tell…
Fort Bluff Cabin-Then and Now
For those of you that have been up to Fort Bluff, I’m sure you’ve seen the cabin that is adjacent to the large three story Bluff House. The original cabin, shown above in the early 1950’s, was owned by the R.E. Winsett family. The Winsett family purchased and used the cabin for many years as…
Governor of Tennessee sets Strawberry Festival Week 1961
Governor of Tennessee Buford Ellington is pictured above in 1961 handing Miss Imogene Wilkey, 1960 East Tennessee Strawberry Queen, his proclamation setting the week of May 15 -21, 1961, as “East Tennessee Strawberry Festival Week.” Also pictured above with the Governor and Miss. Wilkey is “Miss Dayton” Nancy Shipley. Visit The Official Page Of The…