Maury County TN Archives History - Books .....Introduction 1906 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tn/tnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com September 18, 2005, 7:14 am Book Title: Century Review CENTURY REVIEW 1805 - 1905 MAURY COUNTY, TENNESSEE A Condensation of the Most Important Events of the Past One Hundred Years, and Descriptive Sketches of the Cities and Villages COLUMBIA AND MT. PLEASANT IN DETAIL ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANY BUILDINGS THE AGRICULTURAL AND CLIMATIC ADVANTAGES FULLY BROUGHT OUT Commercial, Industrial, Transportational, Religious, Educational, and Professional Matters DIRECTORY OF THE CITIES AND MAIL LIST FOR THIRTY-SEVEN RURAL ROUTES OF MAURY COUNTY AUSPICES OF THE BOARD OF MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF COLUMBIA 1905 INDEX AT CLOSE. BE SURE TO READ SUMMARY Best Binding, $2.50; Leatherette, $2.00 INTRODUCTION. This book is produced, 1st, to prepare the way for a centennial celebration two years hence of the formation and active settlement of Maury Co.; 2nd, to preserve in convenient shape for reference important facts and dates of the hundred years of history and make a business directory of the county; 3rd, to advertise the many advantages of this section for cooperation and substantial progress. The fact cannot successfully be controverted that it is far easier for an industrious citizen to make a good living for himself and family in the South than is possible in the North. In the latter nearly half the year is spent in an effort to lay by enough to keep from freezing in the winter. In many trades six months of strenuous work are followed by six months of enforced idleness. What has the farmer, the fisherman, the stonemason, and others to do in a Northern winter but to escape the cutting winds and try to keep his family from absolute suffering? Sunny South.-Southerners are accused of laziness. The secret lies in the fact of being able to till the ground at least ten months out of twelve, and by working nearly the entire year the farmer does not need to lead a strenuous life. What Columbia, Mt. Pleasant, and Maury Co. are to-day has not been acquired by the characteristic hustle of Western and Northern sections, but by virtue of their unmistakable natural advantages. An equable and salubrious climate, ranging between the long, bitter winters found north of Dixie and the monotonous, humid sultriness of the Gulf States, void of the blizzards and droughts of the West, with a mean temperature of 60°, an average annual rainfall of 50 inches, makes Middle Tennessee as desirable a place for a home as any spot on earth. Maury Co. has cold weather, to be sure, on rare occasions the mercury going down to zero. Her winters, however, last but a week or two-long enough to freeze out the noxious germs and give us contrast, while the farmer can work his ground eleven months of the year and stock requires but little housing and feeding. All Should Hustle.-Nature has done a full share for Maury Co.; and if her citizens do their part, the future must be bright. The military school for boys, the canning factory to turn the farmer's products into cash, the new courthouse and better architectural tendency, the push for electric transportation, and other progressive movements at Columbia, with the hustling push in phosphate and commercial matters at Mt. Pleasant, would indicate that many of our citizens are headed in the right direction; but cities, counties, and States have found that it pays to advertise their specialties and advantages, as well as it does the individual or corporation. Let every one fall into line, and nothing can prevent ultimate success. We have several good wholesale and jobbing houses in the county, but there is still room for up-to-date commercial enterprises and abundance of chance for success in proper industrial plants. The South is each year attracting more and more Northerners, who desire to escape a five-months' winter and find profitable investment for capital. It has recently been published, with propriety, in the Columbia Herald that the city needs a four-story modern city flat, with 100 rooms, a first-class restaurant, and other city conveniences. It also needs an up-to-date office building, and more than $100,000 could be profitably invested in these enterprises. The moral and progressive influence of a Y. M. C. A., with gymnasium, baths, and other attachments, is worthy of the consideration of generous donors, and should be taken up with the Carnegie Library project. It takes a lively step to keep pace with true American progress, and Maury Countians should awaken to their own interests and fall into the line of march. Incomplete.-The compiler does not claim completeness for this sketch. In order to bring it within the number of pages desired, he has left off all word painting and superfluous titles, made short dates, condensed and abbreviated in every way that still permits of giving a correct understanding, so that the book might be less expensive and secure a wider distribution. Some facts are merely touched upon which would bear great extension; but the compiler has endeavored to reach the most essential features for the purposes of this work, and will gladly leave to others the production of a more extensive history of the county, which will be required at no distant day. Many Thanks.-As but brief sketches of Maury Co. history have been printed heretofore, the compiler has been forced to original manuscripts, the memories of old citizens, and written records for much of his data, and is under special obligations to the county and city officials and others for the use of printed sketches and written records. Through the courtesy of T. F. Fleming he has perused the printed address of the late Chancellor W. S. Fleming, which was delivered July 4, 1876, and which contains many valuable historical points. He has read Judge Frank H. Smith's contributions to the State "History of Tennessee," and valuable articles to the Columbia press, as well as manuscript copy in hand. N. W. Jones' "History of Mt. Pleasant" has been drawn upon, and he has had access to newspaper files. There are many other aids that have been extended, for all of which the compiler desires to acknowledge grateful thanks. Additional Comments: From: CENTURY REVIEW 1805 - 1905 MAURY COUNTY, TENNESSEE A Condensation of the Most Important Events of the Past One Hundred Years, and Descriptive Sketches of the Cities and Villages File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/maury/history/1906/centuryr/introduc10nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/tnfiles/ File size: 6.8 Kb