Stories and history are the primary appeal of Johnson City and adjoining Jonesborough. The history includes Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and Al Capone, plus prehistoric beasts from 7 million B.C. But if you prefer tall tales to hard facts, Jonesborough has that covered as well.
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HISTORYThe very first white settlers to hike through the Appalachian Mountains into what became Tennessee ended up in the Johnson City area. What was life like in those days? Visit the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site, 2620 S. Roan St., to find out. The main house was built in 1784 by Col. John Tipton and the site includes a smokehouse, pigsty, loom-house, stillhouse, springhouse, log barn and corncrib. Another building was the home of a Haynes family slave, George Haynes. The site is open for visitors March 1-Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. From November through the end of February, call for hours.To go even further back in history, drive a couple of miles west of downtown Johnson City to Jonesborough, the oldest town in the state. Founded in 1779, it became the capital of the short-lived state of Franklin in 1784. Legendary historic figures such as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone lived in or around Jonesborough, as did U.S. President Andrew Jackson. The town was a center of the abolitionist movement in the South, with Elihu Embree’s The Emancipator as the first newspaper in the U.S. dedicated to the anti-slavery cause.For a demonstration of life in frontier Tennessee, travel about five miles northeast of Johnson City to the Rocky Mount Living History Museum at Piney Flats. Open March 1-Dec. 16, the site features costumed “interpreters” who re-enact typical activities from a farm in the year 1791. You can tour the house, with its historically correct furnishings, and in the kitchen you can see what it was like to prepare a meal with no help from a refrigerator, microwave or food processor. There is also a blacksmith shop and a weaving cabin.When Prohibition was announced in 1920, some of the nation’s most prominent bootleggers were quick to notice that the Johnson City area had two assets of interest: It was a railroad crossroads and it was right in the middle of an area known for illegal alcohol production. The Montrose Court apartment complex was known as a hangout for many well-known gangsters, including Al Capone, and Johnson City earned the nickname of “Little Chicago.” The apartment complex burned but was rebuilt and later converted to condominiums.
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PRE-HISTORYWant to go back a bit further in time? The Gray Fossil Museum showcases fossils of animals that have not been seen in East Tennessee for 4.5 million to 7 million years, such as a saber-toothed cat, ground sloth, rhinoceros, camel, shovel-tusked elephant, tapirs and a red panda. (Sorry, no dinosaurs. They died out about 66 million years ago.)The site was once a watering hole, and since its discovery by a road-building crew in 2000, scientists from East Tennessee State University have been finding the fossils of animals attracted to the area.>The museum also features special exhibits, currently including one on trilobites, ancient creatures that crawled in the sea between 320 million and 500 million years ago, long before the rise of dinosaurs. That exhibit closes in November.The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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*FESTIVALSWhile Jonesborough retains its small-town charm, it can claim national recognition for its annual National Storytelling Festival in October, which draws 15,000 fans and several dozen of the world’s best purveyors of tall tales to the stage.The Downtown Little Chicago Music and Arts Festival, held this year in August, plays on the city’s nickname. Local bands, artists and crafts people are featured along with plenty of food and family fun.
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MUSICThe Down Home Eclectic Music Room has been offering a variety of local and national musical acts since 1976.
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FOR KIDSThe Hands-On Regional Museum has interactive fun for kids, including a TV studio, a waterway that you can dam, magnets, air blowers, cutaway cars, a coal mine, a kids’ bank, a slide, a place to make permanent shadows, and much more.>The current featured exhibit is the Make It, Take It area, where kids are encouraged to take common materials and turn them into something creative.
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OUTDOORSLooking for a leisurely walk or bike ride? The Tweetsie Trail runs along the old East Tennessee & Western North Carolina railroad line connecting Johnson City to Elizabethton. It’s a relatively flat trail through a lovely rural setting, great for running, walking or bicycling.If you prefer a better view of town, try one of the trails in Buffalo Mountain Park, a 725-acre natural resource area that rises above Johnson City to the south. There are more than 8 miles of trails, and the 1,500-foot rise from the bottom to the top can be strenuous.Boone Lake is a favorite of fishermen, offering 4,400 acres stocked with black bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and striped bass. There’s plenty of room for swimming and boating as well.
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SHOPPINGDowntown has a mix of stores selling men’s and women’s clothing, jewelry, furniture, crafts, art, music, sewing supplies and organic gardening materials.