History of Germantown, TN

One of Germantown's lifelines East to West...In the central portion of the town there were actually two tracks. Ask yourself, how with this one track did they roll baggage onto the train. There was another track to the left of this track between the Depot and this track (in this photo). I am sure it was removed after West Street was opened to reduce the amount of interaction between trains and cars. Besides, passenger traffic stopped in 1968.

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Officers are reporting significant snow and ice coverage on the roads. Please avoid driving until roadways improve.

www.germantowntnhistory - anyone, anywhere, anytime! Enjoy our city's history!

One of our historical sites in Germantown lives on through the efforts of those who care about our community's history. It is now Congregation Coffee (former site of Forest Hill Baptist Church) at 3060 Forest Hill-Irene Road.

(See what the Daily Memphian wrote about it recently!)

You must visit and see the church's original stained glass built into the church's dacade in 1925, now serving as an interior wall feature. Outside you will find old architectural tiles, and new ones that follow the same design. You can also see an old red oak tree come alive in repurposed wall art and tables. In the wall art we will attempt to highlight Germantown's history as it coincides with the rings in the grain of the tree.

Thank you to Jason and Valerie Speed and Kenneth and Debra Schweighofer for your effort to preserve our history!

FYI!

We are in the process of writing the text for two new historical markers for the City of Germantown. As City Historian and former Chair and current member of the Shelby County Historical Commission, I submitted materials to the Commission last month for: Forest Hill Baptist Church on Forest Hill-Irene Road (currently being re-developed as "The Congregation" by Jason Speed), and the Germantown Charity Horse Show (GCHS) which is celebrating its 75th Anniversary this coming June (2024).

We have passed the first step of approvals regarding AGE and SIGNFICANCE.

The church dates back to 1910 and was significant because it served the small community of Forest Hill, TN, in a day when traveling to either Germantown or Collierville was such a long distance.

The GCHS began on the Ralph B. Hunt Field of Germantown High School in 1948. The three forces combining in this joint effort were the Oak Grove Hunt Club, the Germantown Civic Club and the recognition being given to the local 'working hunter class' of horses.

Markers are made at Sewah Studios in Ohio and can now take upwards of 9 months to complete which for the horseshow is still within their 75th Anniversary Year.

Markers cost $3,000 + installation each, and as a sponsor for both, the Germantown Historical Preservation Association has contributed $1,000 toward each marker. Contributions towards these and other endeavors to promote Germantown's history are greatly appreciated..

Wish us luck! We will know something in 2-3 weeks after the full submittal and presentation to the Shelby County Historical Commission.

For more information on either subject go to www.germantowntnhistory.org.

Our last marker (pictured below) was The Germantown Historic Church. Other previously approved and installed markers include Neshoba Plantation and Nashoba ( yes, Nashoba) School.

The Germantown Historical Preservation Association has begun their work on events for the spring and has another 'Chapels Tour' planned for April. Currently, we are looking at Saturday April 13 or 27.

For a change of pace, this will be a driving tour that includes Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Historic 1952 Chapel & Current Sanctuary), and the original St. Georges Episcopal Chapel located on the campus of St. George's Independent School (Germantown Campus). We hope to add the chapel at Kingsway Christian Church on Poplar as well.

This is a great opportunity for people of all faiths to visit places they may never see. More information will follow, but here are a few photos to 'whet your appetite'.

We appreciate all who have joined us in our mutual interest and love of Germantown's history!

We also wish for you and yours, the best in the coming year, and look forward to bringing you more of our city's past, in the future!

The Germantown Historical Preservation Association

A new page was added today about the Nelson-Kirby Farm House!!

Nelson Kirby Farmhouse – Germantown Historical Preservation Association HomePeople and PlacesHistorical PlacesNelson Kirby Farmhouse Nelson Kirby Farmhouse   An Architectural HistoryPrepared by Judith Johnson, “The House Detective”, October 2016 The Nelson-Kirby Farm House The area along today’s Poplar Pike was high ground used as an aboriginal trail by the origi...

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The Germantown Charity Horse Show is one of the City’s many staple summer events. Early each June, horses, riders and spectators of all ages make their way down Melanie Smith Lane to take part in this 74 year-old community tradition, which is also one of the oldest continuously running sporting events in the state of Tennessee and one of the largest all-breed horse shows in the country.

In addition to talented horses and riders, charity is also at the forefront of GCHS. For more than 20 years, GCHS has helped raise funds for Kindred Place (formerly known as the Exchange Club Family Center of Memphis), an organization that helps to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect by replacing abusive and violent behavior with effective parenting skills. Thanks to this partnership, more than $700,000 has been raised over the years to support this vital organization.

Whether you’ve attended every year or this is your first show, we hope to see you out at the Germantown Charity Horse Show Arena during June 6 through 10. Free parking is available in the grass in front of the arena, at Germantown High School and the surrounding streets. A free shuttle is available if you choose to park at the high school. In addition, Germantown Police officers will be on site and help to direct you to open available parking. To view the full schedule of events and to purchase tickets to the show, visit GCHS.org.

Early Map of Germantown. Note:

1. Dogwood Road on both north and south sides of Poplar Ave.
2. Germantown Road goes south in front of Germantown Presbyterian Church then turns west between the Masonic Lodge and Presbyterian Manse as well as the Episcopal Church, before going south again..
3. North Street ties into Poplar Pike.
4. West Street and Exeter do not exist
5. Pete Mitchell crosses North across Poplar.

Map compliments of Eleanor Woodward .

Where in Germantown could this be?

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Harry & Becky Cloyes former property and now an Arboretum. Thank you to Pam Beasley, former Parks & Recreation Director. Poplar Pike at Southern RR Crossing.

Have you ever visited the Prayer Room in the entry at the Germantown Presbyterian Chapel? It was dedicated in loving memory of Betty Springfield (1924-1965).

Where might this be you say?

Germantown Presbyterian Church - Poplar Pike at Germantown Road

Germantown (Mabel C. Williams) High School (1942).

Kate and I want to invite you to attend an event tomorrow called:

"Germantown's Early Years,
Faces From The Past".

This presentation by six of Germantown's early settlers (who are buried in the Germantown Cemetery) will take place indoors in the COOLNESS of the Methodist Owings Life Enrichment Center on 2323 West Street in Germantown.

The presentation is 45 minutes and showings are available at 2, 3 & 4 p.m tomorrow. Tickets are still available on Event Brite.

Here is one of our lovely ushers for the tour of The Germantown Cemetery - Kate Pouncey, playing the role and era of a Gibson Girl. Tickets are available on Eventbrite. Tours are at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 25.

The Germantown Cemetery will play host to "Germantown's Early Years, Faces of the Past", a tour with costumed actors and actresses portraying Germantown's early years. You can purchase tickets at Eventbrite for the June 25th event. There will be three shows at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. Stop by and enjoy the cradle gardens.

We've got bits and pieces of history all over this city. Have you ever seen the displays at Methodist LeBonheur Hospital, down the hall from Administration? Check it out on your next visit to see a loved one...

The Germantown Cemetery on McVay has the beginnings of cradle garden landscaping. The ground may be rough, but the flowers sure are pretty...

At www.germantowntnhistory.org, you can go to 'cemeteries' to learn about the five (5) cemeteries located in Germantown: Germantown, Bethel, Martin, Shepherd, Devonshire and Bedford.

You can click on Germantown Cemetery and see a photo of each marker, the language on that marker and it's dimensions. Today Edna Guntert and I planted another cradle grave in that cemetery for Katie Miller who died at age 21.

On a walking tour of the Old Germantown District, someone pointed out a red and white diamond-shaped sign on the east wall of the Depot. The sign contained the letters, REA, and I did not have a clue. Betty Canestrari immediately knew the answer because her father had worked for the company.

Seventy years ago, we might tell someone we would send a package by Railway Express Agency or REA just as easily as we now say "I'll UPS or FedEx it to you!"

Railway Express Agency or REA, as it was known, used one of the largest fleets of trucks, yet had no implication of trucking in its name; and owned and leased as many railroad cars as some of the largest railroad companies, yet was not a railroad in itself.

For more on this story go to Railroad - Railway Express Agency on the website www.germantowntnhistory.com

The Germantown Cemetery (aka McVay Gardens Cemetery) on McVay (duh!), holds the souls of much of Germantown's early history. Here, Germantown Historic Commission and Historic Preservation Association member Edna Guntert supervises the reconstruction of Florida Thompson's marker/obelisk which has fallen out of repair.

Florida was a teacher who donated the original land on which New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church was erected. For more on Florida and the photos of every marker in this Cemetery, including wording and size, visit: www.germantowntnhistory.org

I was looking at a photo of a beautiful and unknown bride at an unknown church, standing in the center of the aisle with a stained glass window above the altar. This photo comes from the Harry Cloyes Collection at the Germantown Regional History and Genealogical Center. One clue is that the beautiful flower arrangements may have come from Harry & Becky's Flower Shop. They were members of St. George's Church.

I posted this photo on FB and the rector of St. George's Episcopal Church in Germantown, Dorothy Wells, posted back another wedding in the same setting - the original chapel.

While visiting Dorothy today, she told me that the chapel had a fire and the chapel window was removed. It was placed in a small chapel in the rear portion of the nave, at the new church facility on Germantown Road. It was back-lit for effect. In addition, they had the original baptismal font in the foyer.

Oftentimes, we take very interesting routes to find our answers.

For more information on Germantown churches go to:
www.germantownthhistory.org or our Facebook site, City of Germantown.Tn.

The soap box derby in Germantown was held on the hill in front of present-day St. George's Independent School on Poplar. These racers are facing west.

The year 1922 marked the start of telephone service in the city of Germantown. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen contacted the Collierville Telephone Company mid-way through that year asking if it would be interested in building and operating a telephone exchange in the city.

On October 26, J.A. Neely, president of the Collierville Telephone Company, responded to that request by providing the board with information on the cost for each customer.

According to Neely, basic phone service would cost Germantown residents $2.50 a month for a direct line, or $2 a month for a five-party line. If a customer’s calls were all made within a one-mile radius of the exchange, then that would be the total cost. Calls outside that radius would be extra. A five-minute station-to-station call to Memphis, for example, would cost an additional ten cents.

The business rates were slightly higher. A direct business line would cost #3.50 a month, while a two-party line would cost a Germantown merchant $3.00 a month.

“It is understood,” Neely wrote, “that the telephone service is to be continuous day and night, and is to be paid for monthly in advance, on or before the 10th of each month.”

The office building at 2120 S. Germantown Rd. (presently Flinn Clinic) was the old South Central Bell Telephone building from the 1930s until 1975 when Germantown Trust Savings & Loan bought it. Paul and Carole Turner bought the building in 1978 to house his Century 21 business.

The building is one of, if not the oldest continuous business locations still being used in Germantown.

Source: Germantown News February 22, 1990

A springtime photo of the Norfolk and Western Caboose in Oaklawn, a gift from the railroad to former homeowner Harry Cloyes. Harry was a railfan who alerted the railroad to a fire beneath a moving train, saving them thousands and maybe millions of dollars. The railroad asked Harry how they could repay the favor. Harry said, "I would like a caboose." True story!