Concord, TN

I noticed when I was looking through the last few batches of pictures I've taken that I've kind of fallen into a rut as far as where I go on walks with the camera. I mean, I love the University Gardens, Wall Avenue, and Market Square as much as the next person (probably more than a lot of people, now that I think about it), but there have to be other places that are just as interesting, if I could figure out how to find them. I thought about it for a couple of days, and realized that even though I've lived here for a few years, I know practically nothing about the surrounding towns.

That's how I found the historic village of Concord. When I looked at the list towns surrounding Knoxville on wikipedia, Concord jumped out because it's one of a handful that are unincorporated, and when I followed the link to Concord's wikipedia page, there was a cute picture and a story about the town being listed as a historic neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places. The article also mentioned a Concord Park, so I searched for that, found the directions, and headed out this morning.

Concord Park is pretty standard, as parks go. It has picnic areas and playgrounds:





and some boat launches and fishing docks:





The lake itself was quiet, and I was the only one around.





It's probably really pretty in the summer. Being that it was cold and a little windy, though, I decided to head for the village itself. According to the wiki page, much of the village was flooded when Fort Loudon Lake was created, and the parts that are left are showing their age.



There's an art gallery in the old bank building:





but for the most part the historical part of the village looks like it's badly in need of preservation. I saw a lot of fallen bricks and crumbling masonry, and the Baptist church looked a little rough:









I was curious about what it would look like inside, since the windows were covered over from within, but I could tell by the noise that church was in progress, and I didn't know how they would feel about someone with a camera slipping in the back. I might have only been ten miles from home, but ten miles can be a long way, and people's faith should be respected if you haven't been invited. I've seen enough movies to have a pretty good "Don't wander in there, ok?" sense, and if the church service is loud enough that I can hear the pastor outside, I'm going to go with that feeling and not end up in "Children of the Corn Part 12".

On the way out of town, I did stop to pull in at a pumpless gas station/former restaurant/bait shop:







All in all, it turned out to be a pretty fantastic morning trip. That sandwich sign is fantastic, and was worth the ten minute drive. I'd hang that thing in my house if it was for sale, and you know how much I hate putting things on my walls. I can't wait to see what else is waiting in the rest of east Tennessee.