Water Well on the Murfreesboro Square
Well, guess what's happened? Real deep subject gets deeper By DAN WHITTLE April 1989
Well, guess what's happened? Real deep subject gets deeper By DAN WHITTLE News Journal Staff Writer Likelihood has increased that notable historic figures such as Andy Jackson and Davy Crockett pulled up buckets of cold water from Murfreesboro's recently uncovered Public Square well. Probability also is rising that it took six years - from 1818 to 1824 - to complete the 40-foot shaft and similar wells also have now surfaced in Rutherford County. If that is accurate information, history buff Bob Baskin said, it is likely Andrew Jackson drank from the well when he made a visit to the city, which served as Tennessee's state capitol during that period of time. "President Andrew Jackson paid a visit to the city on July 4, 1826. The population of Murfreesboro at that time was 955 people," Baskin said.
Murfreesboro served as state capital from Sept. 19, 1819, until 1826. Frontier legend Davy Crockett also served in the state Legislature and President James Knox Polk practiced law in Murfreesboro during that era, Baskin said. Mrs. Homer Pittard, another resident with keen interest in Rutherford history, said she is not certain Polk practiced law here, but said he did serve as clerk of the Senate in the state capital time period.
"So, it is very likely that such notables as Andrew Jackson, James Polk and Davy Crockett, and our own ancestors drank cool water from this well," Baskin said. Roamin' Rutherford Mrs. Pittard and Baskin believe 1818 was when digging was started on the well. Baskin said C.C. Henderson's "Story of Murfreesboro" said the first courthouse, built in 1812, burned in 1822.
"This happened while the well was being dug," Baskin said. The publication contained the following reference to "the town well." "The town well was ordered begun in 1818, but not finished until 1824, owing to a destructive fire all wooden chimneys were ordered pulled down, and brick or stone substituted instead." Homer Gannon, a Rutherford County landowner, said he covered an old well built similar to the well on the Square on the farm he owns on Old Nashville Highway and that a similar well existed on what is now Stones River Battlefield. Gannon's theory is that several wells in the region were dug by the same people. "I can show you the spot on the battlefield where that old well was covered up by my father. Iam thinking about uncovering the well here on the homeplace that I covered when my son was a child and one of his lambs fell in the well.
I took a bulldozer and covered it up," Gammons said. Kent Syler, field director for U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Murfreesboro, said Stones River Battlefield Park officials may want to consider locating the old well reported there by Gannon. "They are expanding and renovating the park anyway, so they might want to consider uncovering the old well, which is another part of our region's rich historical past,' Syler said.
"I remember getting water out of the well in the national park. My opinion, and it is only my opinion, but those wells are identical to the one down on the Square and were dug by the same group of people who did that as a trade. My family and another family got our water out of the well that is now in the battlefield park near where the old tollgate building stands. That is along Old Nashville Highway, a major thoroughfare in those days," Gannon said. Gannon, 72, said he does not believe any living person remembers the well on the Square in operation.
Graham Gordon, 93, of Rockvale, said he does not remember a well being in operation on the Square and believes no living person saw the well in operation. "I remember that side of the Square was where we took our mules every Saturday, rain or shine,' Gordon said. Gordon, an uncle to Congressman Gordon, said well digging was no easy task. *Almost all wells, from talking to my people before me, were dug with grubbing hoes and dirt shovels and picks. They would dig down a ways, brace up the area where they had been, and dig some more," Gordon said.
Gammon said David Loughry, a Murfreesboro attorney, suggested making the well on the Square a "wishing well" in order to finance restoration costs. "I consider this discovery of the well on the Square the greatest historic find in the past half-century,' Baskin said
How old, not how deep, is well mystery?
We' just barely have discussed it. We will try to work out something," Mankin confirmed. Mankin said he hopes the well, which is an estimated 40 feet deep, can be preserved. Kent Syler, field director for Rep. Bart Gordon, said he has heard.no specific historic data telling how far back the well goes: Gordon's district office is on the Square near the old curiosity.
"If it was built when the first courthouse was built, it is definitely conceivable that Presidents Andrew Jackson and James Polk traveled through here and took water at the well. I would hope someone can document the well's history and make it a permanent facility to help preserve our heritage," Syler said. •Blake Tidwell, chairman of the MaTH Street Project - the organization responsible for the renovation of the historic Square - echoed Syler's sentiments for preservation. "I do not know of anything in downtown Murfreesboro that has generated more interest or debate than the old well. It has caused widespread community interest and 99 "If it was built when the first courthouse was built, it is definitely conceivable that Presidents Andrew Jackson and James Polk traveled through here and took water at the well.
Kent Syler Congressional spokesman it is a historic finding," Tidwell said. Tidwell called finding the well "a miracle.' "If it was dug when the first old courthouse was built back in 1815, it could have been the original water supply of the early settlers in Murfreesboro," Tidwell said. Engineer Ken Hays, of Hickerson, Harrison & Hays Inc., confirmed an attempt is being made to determine when the well was constructed. MTSU personnel are doing research to try to find out what old wells looked like back during those days. When they get that together, we will attempt to draw sketches about how to preserve it,".
Hays said. Hays said the well's location is ideal for preservation. "It could not have been more ideally located. It could have been out in the middle of the street, but it so happens that it falls right in the middle where a planter was supposed to go. It is in a perfect place to be preserved," Hays said.
How--- (Continued from page one) Hays said there was a historic reference found that could take the well back past 1815. "We think it could pre-date 1815. It is very possible it could go back to the very earliest settlers," Hays said. Murfreesboro resident Thomas Watts said he remembers when the well was in use. "I was a little kid when it was still there.
It had to be in the early 1930s. The Courthouse yard was about four times bigger than what it is now. * Watts said. Watts said farmers gathered in the city from miles around. "There was a small road all around the Courthouse then and all the farmers came in of Saturdays and tied their mules around the Courthouse," Watts said.
Watts, 60, said the old well was possibly covered over with construction of the first parking lot around the Courthouse back in the late 1930s. Joe Howse, an. 88-year-old Murfreesboro resident, said he also remembers the well in use. He said the well had not been used in the past 50 years. His son Albert Howse, 66, recalled seeing horses drink at the well..
How to preserve it
A leader of the Main Street Project, catalyst agency in revitalization of downtown Murfreesboro, says it is not etched in stone the old well found on Public Square will be saved. The well was found earlier this year when construction workers uncovered it during sidewalk work. Area historians say they believe the hand-dug well was initially begun around 1818. "Whether the well will be preserved has not been decided. Both the county and city have an interest in the well, which actually sits on city property," Dawn Eaton, Main Street director, said.
Engineer, Ken Hays, did a drawing showing how the well likely looked when in operation. However, costs to restore the well have not been worked out, Mrs. Eaton said. Kent Syler, field director for U.S. Rep.
Bart Gordon, D-Murfreesboro, who has an office on the Square, thinks the well has significant historic value. "It is a unique part of our history. Bullets holes remain in the Courthouse from the Civil War. People died there," Syler said. "Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson likely drank water there.
There is nothing like that old well anywhere. I think it adds historical character to the Square and would blend in very well with the recent improvements," Syler said. "We have proceeded with the drawings, which was made possible from reference material found for us Downtown renovation was started four years ago. "Our agency serves as a catalyst to develop new business. We are trying to improve the parking situation.
Plans call for this current renovation to be completed by September," Mrs. Eaton said. through MTSU. The engineer, however, remains to get the complete all the details to get an estimate on the cost," Mrs. Eaton said.
Mrs. Eaton said she hopes a decision on the well will be made by June. IT'S A FACT: BEATS ANY If our price isn't already lower, we will.
What you see today.
