Les Jones

East Tennessee > World's Longest Yard Sale

Saturday Melissa and I went to the World's Longest Yard Sale on Hwy. 127. The four day sale spans 450 miles from Kentucky through Tennessee to Alabama. Over lunch we heard stories of people coming from as far away as Oregon. Even the LA Times saw fit to run a story about it (hat tip to Michael Silence).

We visited the stretch from Crossville to Jamestown, Tennessee, which is where the idea for this grand yard sale originated. Melissa bought a Christmas ornament, I bought a trucker hat, and we picked up a matching set of salt, pepper, flour, and sugar shakers at the Cumberland General Store.

We went home via 52, 63, and I-75. It turned out to be a beautiful drive. That route took us through Jamestown, whose claim to fame is as birthplace to World War I hero Alvin C. York and, uh, conception place to author Mark Twain. The original York Institute, named for York and built with funds he helped raise, is on 52. The institute has moved to new headquarters, and the original brick building is decaying so much that the ruin is visible from the road. The Tennessee Preservation Trust placed the York Institute on its ten most endangered list.

The road continues to Rugby, a utopian colony founded by English novelist Thomas Hughes. This was their 38th annual pilgrimmage, and many of the homes had open house. We stopped just briefly because it was late in the day. We're planning a return to visit Rugby, the Alvin York birthplace, and Northrup Falls in Colditz Cove State Natural Area.