| H-haid's Corner: Abbott's Mill |
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By: Aug. 4, 2007
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Post reader cmac caught the Walter Hill dam on a good day.
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And a happy Saturday to you...
Hammerhead and Betty Lou are thinking about going to Abbott’s Mill after they stock up on back to school stuff during today’s Sales Tax Holiday.
They celebrated last year’s holiday by buying bag fulls of shoes and buying enough ink pens and spiril notebooks to last til the year 2020.
Well anyway, back to Abbott’s Mill.
Ever seen the dam at Walter Hill? The Abbott family back around 1830, operated a mill on that same spot. Later it was called Pierce’s Mill.
As for the community of Walter Hill itself, the area was once called Black’s Crossroads in honor of the Black family, who were prominent citizens of the area.
There’s two different tales about the origins of the name “Walter Hill.” One version recounts how Dr. Coleman, a property owner gave a nearby hill to his son Walter....Walter’s Hill. But the more likely story is that Walter Hill was an early postmaster and store keeper in the area and that he used “Walter Hill” as his postmark at the end of the 19th century.
But did you know that before the days of TVA, Walter Hill Dam was an important power generation station. Around 1908, a generator was installed at the dam to supplement an electrical generation station in Murfreesboro. J.C. Beesley, George Beesley and R.B. Roberts bought the facility in 1916. The Beesleys and Roberts ultimately sold the property for a then record $700,000.
The Tennessee Electric Power Co. expanded the Walter Hill plant and operated it until the power supplier was absorbed by TVA in 1939.
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