“Close to home but a world away,” Bell Buckle bills itself. Ranked No. 7 this year in the Top 20 Small Cities in Tennessee by citiesjournal.com, it’s much more than an intriguing name. Despite its easy access from Interstate 24 in the heart of Tennessee, it seems far from the fast life of modern society, yet it’s been an important temporary home for many who have become movers and shakers throughout the state, the South and beyond.
In addition to The Webb School, a small institution with a huge impact, Bell Buckle has fascinating shops and delicious dining – plus widely enjoyed music at the Bell Buckle Cafe in Railroad Square – and it is known for an arts culture, multiple fun festivals and Victorian-style homes. It’s also a gateway to walking horse country as well as being within easy driving distance of Nashville and Chattanooga.
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Fast factsPopulation: 502County: BedfordYear incorporated: 1856Largest 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 began to take town-like form in 1852 when the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad sent its main line through that part of Bedford County and A.D. Fuggitt donated land for the railroad and depot. Also in 1852 was the opening of the community’s first general store.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 railroad-based economy of the town, and most of its downtown stores wound up shutting 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 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 maintains about 300 students, 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 school averages 97 full- and part-time employees.The on-campus arts and crafts fair organized annually by the Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce is set for Oct. 17-18 this year. 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.*Sources: The Webb School, Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce
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Dining delightThe acclaimed Bell Buckle Cafe is open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, till 9 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. It has live music Thursday through Saturday nights and hosts a live radio show from 1-3 p.m. on Saturdays.There is also the 82 Market and Diner serving hot breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week and Bell Buckle Coffee Shop & Gifts. 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.Other dining options are available in nearby Shelbyville, as well as lodging, and the Red Rooster Bed and Breakfast is close by in Beechgrove. It serves a country breakfast “every day with every stay,” the website proclaims, noting also its “million dollar view.”Source: Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce
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Flourishing festivals> Bell 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 and 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. 17-18 this fall.> “Old Fashion Christmas” — this year on Dec. 5, 6 and 19 — 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
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.