Wednesday, May 18th, 2005 RESTORING THE PAST IN ROCKWOOD ROCKWOOD – For many years, a small, almost inconspicuous building sat vacant on the outskirts of Rockwood. The heavily trafficked roads it once adjoined became interstate highways elsewhere, and the once common moonshiners and gangsters from Chicago faded away. The building no longer witnessed the tightly
 controlled emotions and unbending dedication of the uniformed men on Harley Davidsons who considered the building a second home. As the other identical structures across the state vanished over the years, this one remained. On June 3rd, 2005 at 10:30 a.m. the 1936 Tennessee Highway Patrol Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will be formally dedicated as a museum. Restoration has been a joint effort between civic group Rockwood 2000 and the city of Rockwood. Speakers at the dedication ceremony include Tennessee Safety Commissioner Fred Phillips, Senator Tommy Kilby, Representative Dennis Ferguson, Rockwood Mayor Mike Miller and Rockwood 2000 President Judy Wassom. Immediately following the dedication ceremony, the building will be open to the public for touring and historic memorabilia will be on display.
With mobility came problems; law violators limited only by the speed of their vehicles, easily outran the jurisdictional boundaries of local lawmen. The answer to these problems was the creation of the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 1929, whose charter was to make the roads safe for the public across the state. Strategically located along principal roadways in Rockwood, the Highway Patrol Headquarters was constructed in 1936. It is located on the corner of Nelson Street and Kingston Avenue, and is a small one-story stone building with a stone foundation, pyramid roof, and an interior chimney. The exterior walls are of Crab Orchard Stone originating from the Cumberland Stone Company in Cumberland County, Tennessee. The interior floor plan of the building is modest, containing two rooms and a bathroom. The location of the building provided access to Kingston Avenue, formerly the Dixie Highway, a major north-south thoroughfare. Assigned to Rockwood’s addition to the Highway Patrol infrastructure were new law enforcement officers. Tennessee’s average highway patrolman was 28 years old, average height was 5’11” with a high school diploma. Workdays were from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and they worked on Fridays, Wednesdays, Saturday and Sundays from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Pay was $100 per month with a 35 cent allowance for one meal per day. Troopers worked alone during daylight hours and in pairs after dark, riding Harley-Davidsons. These bikes were basic factory models with added red lights, a friction siren, first aid kit, and fire extinguisher. Many new hires had no motorcycle experience. Teaching the new patrolmen to ride was pretty basic; place the man on the motorcycle, put the cycle on the rear wheel stand, start it, rev it up, and push the cycle off the stand. In April 1939, Patrolman Hamby was scheduled to escort Governor Prentice Cooper and governors from two adjoining states to the Mississippi state line. A car pulled out in front of his motorcycle, and he was thrown fifteen feet over and beyond the car, breaking his spine and paralyzing him from the waist down. As the years passed, the job didn’t get any easier. Along with ensuring motorists’ safety, Highway Patrolmen had other concerns: moonshine runners. The first NASCAR stars were liquor runners from the Thunder Road days following World War II. The era was best summed up by Gordon Pirkle, who owned a pool room in Dawsonville, GA. “You know how you played cowboys and Indians when you were kids?” asked Pirkle. “We played moonshiners and revenuers.” Rockwood Mayor Mike Miller’s father was also a Tennessee Highway Patrolman. Mayor Miller remembers, “In 1949, Dad went on the Tennessee Highway Patrol and worked in Newport, TN. By 1950 he transferred to Rockwood and actually lived in the Rockwood Highway Patrol Station Building for six months until he could find a place for he and Mom to live.” Mayor Miller’s father enjoyed a full career, retired from the Highway Patrol and passed away in July 2004. “It’s a great thing to bring the old building back to life.” adds Miller. On June 3rd, Rockwood’s Highway Patrol Museum will be dedicated to all the Highway Patrol officers who worked under unbelievably arduous conditions, making great personal sacrifices to bring safety to the roads of Tennessee. The Rockwood museum will be open for special events such as the annual Rockwood Fall Festival, the Rockwood 2000 Tour of Homes, and is available for field trips by scheduling in advance with J.W. Cisson at (865) 354-0555. - 30 - prepared by Beverly Stroh |
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The renovation symbolizes an important reminder of the years this patrol station played an integral role as Tennessee and America developed. In 1936, America was embracing their love of the automobile by becoming mobile in great numbers. State highway construction efforts focused on Highway 1, a route connecting Memphis and Bristol. This became the first paved highway in Rockwood, an important location along the main thoroughfare. State Route 1 was designated as U.S. Highway 70, the primary east-west roadway in Tennessee. Families, singles and all those with wanderlust took to the roadways exploring new locales in their automobiles. 
Motorcycle patrol was dangerous. In the history of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, more officers were killed in the line of duty as a result of motorcycle accidents than from any other cause. Tom Hamby, Roane County Roads Commissioner and son of Chester Lee Hamby remarked “Daddy had scars all over him from the motorcycle. But he really enjoyed working in the Patrol.”