Rockwood 2000

1936 Tennessee Highway Patrol Museum - See Photo Album

    On Jun 3rd, Rockwood 2000 proudly dedicated the 1936 Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) building located on the corner of Kingston Avenue and Nelson Street. The Rockwood building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and played an integral part in Tennessee’s transportation history.    

    This building was part of Tennessee’s response to increasing traffic concerns for public safety along the new and expanded roadway system in the 1920’s and 1930’s.  It shows the important effect the highway and tourist patterns played in the regions across the state.

The street where the building is located, Kingston Avenue, was once designated as the Dixie Highway.  It served as the primary north-south highway through Rockwood as well as the primary east-west road in Tennessee.  This strategic location required patrol facilities and officers to be stationed along this route.  Highway Patrol officers would travel by Harley Davidson motorcycles from Rockwood to Bristol (Bristol was the next substation) on a daily shift.   Before radio communication became reliable, flags were used to alert motorcycle officers.  Telephone messages were left at local stores, restaurants, etc.  If there was a message for an officer, a flag was placed outside the front of the store or restaurant.  The officer would see the flag and know he had to stop and get the message. 

    It is believed that the Rockwood THP building is the oldest highway patrol station east of Nashville.  The building sat vacant for several decades, until Rockwood 2000 (with the aid of a $15,000.00 historic preservation grant from the East Tennessee Development District) and the City of Rockwood effectively restored the building and adapted it into a museum.

    The THP building was placed on the major state route not only because of the expansion of the roadway system in Tennessee but also because of the increasing role of Tennessee in the national transportation system.

The building is also important because of its architectural style.  It is a fine example of the Craftsman style done in Crab Orchard stone. The building is a small, one-story stone building with a stone foundation, irregular form, tile pyramid roof and an interior chimney.  The Craftsman-style influence of the building is seen in the cut stone, clay tile roofing and local materials.

This building served as the Highway Patrol substation until 1952, when a new building was constructed along the new north-south highway.  The construction of this new highway ended the function of the Kingston Avenue as a prominent highway.