Explore with Me – Jonesborough, Tennessee – Aspiring to Live Blessed & Overcome with Excellence Blog & Shop

Hubby and I started doing something new. We decided to explore a new place we haven’t been to that’s within just a few hours from home. For our first little adventure we headed to the oldest town in Tennessee, Jonesborough. We drove up on a Friday night and the next morning began our explorations. So come and Explore with Me – Jonesborough, Tennessee.

We had breakfast at the 11E Diner which was a cute little diner with a lot of character. The server was exactly what you would expect. She was super sweet and the food was good. We then drove around to scout out where we wanted to head on this first visit.

Spring photo of the Jimmy Neil Smith Park — *Courtesy of the Jonesborough.com website.*

We were out much earlier than the shops opened. So, we had to wait before doing any investigating or shopping. We parked at the Visitor Center and walked Main Street. We found this cute little park, Jimmy Neil Smith Park. It is located behind the Storytelling Center and features a storybook trail. Each little stop tells a story for you to read as you stroll through. The story was really cute. And you can purchase a copy of the featured book in the Storytelling Center gift shop.

As the town began to wake up we started our journey through the town museum located inside the Visitors Center. There was a lot of information on the oldest town in Tennessee. The town is actually older than the state of Tennessee. It was once a part of North Carolina before Washington County and several others on this side of the Smokies, became, for a short 4-year period, the state of Franklin. (Which was never officially recognized by the other states). North Carolina didn’t want to lose that section of land. But yet, they eventually did anyway when the state of Tennessee was formed. (Here is more information on the Lost state of Franklin)

This town is loaded with history and we visited a lot of cute shops that you should definitely check out. But I am going to post this more about the historic things that we saw. I really recommend going for yourself. There is so much we didn’t get to see due to the time of year that it was. Let me just say there are tons of festivals and events. Historic Jonesborough is considered the Storytelling Capital of the World and hosts a Storytelling festival yearly.

We saw the Christopher Taylor House, which is one of the few remaining examples of early pioneer construction. It wasn’t open to the public while we were there so we didn’t get to see the interior. Christopher Taylor bought the house in 1770 and he provided lodging to guests traveling on the Stage Road. He was a friend of John Sevier, who was the Governor of the failed state of Franklin as well as the first Governor of the state of Tennessee. He also invited a young red-haired lawyer to take up residence in the house for a short term period. The young lawyer eventually became the President of the United States in 1829. That man was Andrew Jackson.

Right next door to that is a beautiful church, Jonesborough Presbyterian Church. Built in 1840 it is still used and has regular services. It is a Greek-Revival structure that still contains the original pulpit, pews and slave gallery.

On the other side of the church is the location of the very first Abolitionist Newspaper, The Emancipator. The site that was once a print shop now has a private home on the property.

We also had a tour of the Historic Eureka Inn. It was built in 1797 as a private residence and became an Inn 100 years later. It has been refurbished and is still used to this day. This is where we would like to stay in the future. We had the opportunity to meet the owner and take a tour of the Inn. It was beautiful. They host all kinds of fun events there from small weddings in the courtyard to fancy teas. The Inn has a total of 9 rooms. They even rent out the entire Inn for family reunions and other events that the town hosts.

Just down the road from there and on the opposite side of Main Street was the Chester Inn museum. It was closed for the season.

But there are so many historic homes. You can do a self-guided walking tour by picking up a brochure at the Visitor Center.

We also visited the Chuckey Depot museum. If you enjoy trains this is a fun little museum to add to your visit. It’s free admission and it’s small but interesting.