Close to Interstate 24 but far from the fast life of modern society, Bell Buckle is the smallest Tree City, USA, in Tennessee. But it also is a Governor's Three-Star Community and has been an important temporary home for many who have become movers and shakers throughout the state and beyond. It is No. 1 in Onlyinyourstate.com's 2016 list of "10 small towns in Tennessee where everyone knows your name."
An arts haven with inviting shops and delightful dining - plus widely enjoyed music at the Bell Buckle Cafe in Railroad Square - the town is known also for quality quilts and crafts, fascinating festivals, Victorian-style homes and antiques. For 130 years it has been home to The Webb School, a small but esteemed preparatory academy. The town also is a gateway to walking horse country as well as being within easy driving distance of Nashville and Chattanooga.
Bell Buckle is a quaint place to visit for a day or a few, and it's on the Jack Trail, a Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways option that begins and ends in the state capital but takes motorists through a variety of historic or otherwise interesting places and scenic rural settings in the midstate.
The Junior Room at The Webb School in Bell Buckle is a restored 1800's schoolhouse still used as a classrooom. (Photo contributed by The Webb School)More Info
*COZY UP TO BELL BUCKLEPopulation: 502County: BedfordYear established: 1852Largest employer: The Webb SchoolNotable resident: Margaret (Maggi) Britton Vaughn, the poet laureate of Tennessee, author of 18 books and overseer of Bell Buckle PressChattanooga connection: Holds an annual RC & MoonPie Festival named in part for the snack cake created by Chattanooga Bakery.*Source: Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce
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TOWN HISTORYThe most accepted explanation for the origin of the town’s distinctive name is that a white man going through the area saw some carvings on a tree near a creek, and they were in the shapes of a cowbell and a buckle. According to the Chamber of Commerce website, they were “interpreted as a warning from Indians that the domesticated animals of white civilization were intruding upon their lands.” The creek came to be called Bell Buckle Creek, and the town that developed there took its name from the creek.A settlement there existed through the early 1800s, and it started becoming a town in 1852 when the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad sent its main line through that part of Bedford County. A.D. Fugitt donated land for the railroad and depot. The community’s first general store opened in 1852.The population grew to more than 1,000 in the 1870s as Bell Buckle became the major stockyard on the rail line between Nashville and Chattanooga, and the town included a hotel, two banks, professional offices, schools, groceries and other businesses.The Great Depression wrecked the town’s railroad-based economy, and most of its downtown stores shut down, but Bell Buckle was rejuvenated in the 1960s as an arts and crafts and tourist haven, and with that came National Register of Historic Places status for the downtown district and the restoration of many of the stately old homes.Source: Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce
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FAR-REACHING WEBBWilliam R. “Old Sawney” Webb, a Civil War veteran and North Carolina educator, opened a preparatory school in Culleoka, Tenn. — in Maury County — in 1870 but accepted an offer from Bell Buckle officials in 1886 to subsidize its move to their town.The Webb School has turned out a United States senator, governors of three states, a chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, an attorney general of the United States, a president of the American Red Cross, an international editor for Time magazine, prominent college professors and administrators, award-winning poets and musicians and actor Wayne Rogers, who was “Trapper” John McIntyre in the television series “M*A*S*H.”The longest continuously operated boarding school in the South, it has a little more than 300 students in grades 6-12. But plans are in effect to increase the boarding population to nearly 150 by 2022 while keeping the day students at about 200. New boys’ and girls’ dormitories are part of the 2012-17 strategic plan that is making great progress in the school’s largest building project ever. The dorms, housing 20 students each, will be part of a “Residential Village” that will also include a new student center.>The on-campus arts and crafts fair organized annually by the Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce is set for Oct. 15-16, 2016. It brings in about 60,000 shoppers to see hundreds of booths of quality creations.>Other good chances for the public to visit the campus include the daytime Follin Speaker Series presentations, music performances, fall and spring plays and athletic events. And visitors are encouraged to see the Junior Room, a restored schoolhouse from the 1800s that continues to serve as a classroom.Source: The Webb School; Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce
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DINING DELIGHTSThe acclaimed Bell Buckle Cafe & Music Parlor is open from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays and until 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, until 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. It has live music Friday and Saturday nights and hosts a live radio show 1-3 p.m. on Saturdays.Also on the square are the Southern Charm Tea Room, providing “great lunches” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, and the Bell Buckle Coffee Shop with “delectable beverages, homemade treats and sandwiches.”The 82 Market and Diner on Webb Road W serves hot breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.Chef Ken Vroman Catering provides upscale dining for weddings, corporate events and other special events, and the Bell Buckle Cafe caters special events at the Bell Buckle Banquet Hall.* Bell Buckle Cafe & Music Parlor: 16 Railroad Square St.; 931-389-9693* Southern Charm Tea Room: 29 Railroad Square; 931-389-0003* Bell Buckle Coffee Shop: 2 Railroad Square E; 931-813-3095* 82 Market and Diner: 103 Webb Road W; 931-389-0082* Chef Ken Vroman Catering: 15 Webb Road; 931-389-6549Source: Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce
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QUAINT QUARTERSNewly opened are the Bell Buckle Bed & Breakfast on Liberty Pike and the Seasons Bed & Breakfast on Webb Road East, which also is home to the Walker Inn B&B and the Bell Buckle Hideaway two-bedroom condo. And the Red Rooster Bed and Breakfast in nearby Beechgrove gets overwhelmingly excellent reviews.
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*SIGNATURE FESTIVALSBell Buckle is a small town big on festivals, beginning each March with Daffodil Day. That naturally includes a show of those flowers as well as Tree City USA festivities.The RC-MoonPie Festival in June includes a parade, entertainment, a variety of activities, the World’s Largest MoonPie, and a certified 10-mile run goes with it.The Webb School Art & Craft Show in mid-October showcases two permanent highlights of Bell Buckle — the school and creativity — and brings in artisans from elsewhere to provide more than 500 booths of items for sale and artist demonstrations. It is set for Oct. 15-16 this fall.“Old Fashioned Christmas” — this year on Dec. 3 — has become another popular tradition of the town, with a number of its shops getting into the spirit with free samplings.*Source: Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce