Episode 3827

- [Announcer] "Tennessee Crossroads" is brought to you in part by.

- [Narrator] Some of our biggest checks have also made the biggest difference. The Tennessee Lottery, proud to have raised more than $7.5 billion for education. Now that's some game-changing, life-changing fun.

- [Announcer] Discover Tennessee trails and Byways. Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made in Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at tntrailsandbyways.com.

- [Announcer] The co-op system in Tennessee consists of independently owned co-ops, driven to serve farmer owners, rural lifestyle customers, and their communities throughout Tennessee and in five neighboring states. More at ourcoop.com.

- [Announcer] Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts helps students explore the world, engage minds, enrich lives, and earn a living. More at mtsu.edu/cla.

- This week, we visit a deli with an impressive menu, ride up a mountain on a Chattanooga Choo-Choo, tour a beautiful historic home in Gallatin, and meet an artist who overcame many obstacles to do what he loves. Hi, I'm Laura Faber, doing what I love. Welcome to "Tennessee Crossroads." There is nothing more satisfying than homemade southern cooking done right. People drive miles for it. And, when you find it in an unassuming building where only the locals know what's inside, it tastes even better. We found just such a place recently in Brentwood. Since 1963, there has been a market along Highway 31 South in Brentwood, Franklin Road. This building actually predates the city of Brentwood. Locals will remember that this used to be a Jim Dandy back in those days. Today, it is the Brentwood Market and Deli, and you've likely driven by millions of times without realizing what actually goes on inside. Homemade Southern cooking is what goes on inside at the Brentwood Market. Banana pudding, casseroles, meatloaf, chicken salad, homemade family recipes that Haley and Jeremy Hyatt's mamas cooked first. The Hyatts have owned the Brentwood Market since 2019.

- Well I grew up in Dixon, so when we opened the store, I told her that Brentwood had enough bistros, it needed an old general store.

- We do breakfast in the mornings, our girls do. We have great biscuits. They make my grandmother's, we call it Bulldog Gravy, it's Mimi's Bulldog Gravy. We make cinnamon rolls every morning, and they're huge.

- [Laura] There is a lunch special every day. Meatloaf on Mondays, catfish on Fridays. Today, it's fried pork chops.

- [Haley] Banana pudding. That was his mother and grandmother's recipe. And we make it every Wednesday, and people literally drive from Hendersonville to come get it.

- [Laura] Haley calls this her accidental business. She's always loved to cook, and when she was a stay at home mom, started making meals to help other moms. She'd send out an email and they'd pick up their food out of her refrigerator from their home.

- Now I like to call them my refrigerator squad. And a lot of the ladies still come in here and I said, "I'm gonna have t-shirts made for y'all. Y'all were my refrigerator squad." Because I would've never dreamed truly that people would've bought my food. I didn't see it as a gift until I realized how much it blessed moms that didn't know how to cook maybe, or didn't have time to cook certainly. And so it really became a mission for me about getting people back around the table and out of the drive-thru.

- [Laura] One mom became 200, and the Hyatts started renting space at a commercial kitchen to make her 30 minute meals. But then, Jeremy drove by this building and saw a for sale sign. The rest is history.

- [Jeremy] She has a gift. And she comes from a family that loves to be around the table, loves to cook. And my family's the same way. Again, my mom was a caterer for so many years. And so it truly can be, number one, a mission field, but it can also be just a way to reach your community in ways that people can't describe. We've had people sit around the table here in the store and say, "What do you like about this place? And they say, "I don't know. I just feel good when I'm in here."

- [Laura] It is a true family affair. All three kids have worked every job imaginable at the market, whether behind the register or washing dishes. Jeremy and Haley's parents are often here too.

- [Haley] The majority of our recipes are all my grandmother's, his grandmother's, my mom's, his mom's. And we try to honor them in that. Everything comes from that. Or maybe it's something that I've created. But yes, it's all authentic homemade.

- [Laura] Whether it's the Reuben sandwich or the pimento cheese.

- [Haley] Hey Robert, are you sure you don't want any bacon or anything on this?

- He doesn't know. I'll tell him how he should eat a sandwich.

- [Laura] This market has always attracted the construction crowd, but now that they've upped the food game here, moms, businesspeople, even celebrities are regulars.

- [Rudy] She's a wonderful cook. And all those ladies behind there, oh my goodness. Now Jeremy doesn't do a darn thing I don't think

- [Laura] You might recognize Rudy Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers.

- This is more like what I grew up with 50, 60 years ago when I was a kid. This is a homey down home kind of feeling.

- [Laura] You can get groceries here. Many products are from local vendors, or order lunch and eat around one of two tables inside, or grab dinner that just needs warming up. The fact that the Hyatts' new hot to do takeout meals helped them survive the pandemic. It also helped them serve first responders during another monumental event in 2020. The sign behind the register and the memorial out front pay tribute to Brentwood police officer Destin Legieza, killed by a drunk driver in front of the store.

- And we thought that this place would be a place of tragedy for Brentwood Police Department. But they've almost treated this more like a safe place. And they look out for us, we look out for them, they're great to us. So we'll all always honor Destin.

- [Laura] Running a small business is not for the faint of heart, but the Hyatts have learned it's about more than just their outstanding homemade Southern cooking. It's also the community it's created.

- [Jeremy] To be a little over five years old and to be a destination spot, that's a source of pride, not in a pretentious way, but just that my kids have been able to watch their parents invest in something that has a legacy and matters to people beyond just the food being good. But it's a place where you know you're gonna get a, "Hey y'all, how are you?" You're gonna get a smile. You're gonna get somebody that cares.

- Our little staff here, man, I couldn't do it without them. And we have people that will come every day because they love our staff. It takes all of us, and they do it really well. That's my favorite part is it's just, it's extended our family with our staff and it's extended our community with our customers. It's bigger than us, and that is what I am most grateful for, and that I never expected. ♪ Pardon me boys ♪

- You've no doubt heard of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Well, there's more than one choo-choo in the scenic city. High atop Lookout Mountain, Miranda Cohen found one that takes passengers up above the clouds on a trip called America's Most Amazing Mile.

- [Miranda] It is called America's Most Amazing Mile.

- All right, please have yours tickets ready. Make sure to watch your step.

- [Miranda] Since the late 1800s, people have traveled to Lookout Mountain to do just that, take in the spectacular views of the Tennessee River Valley some 1,600 feet below. The first cars carried coal and workers, but soon, the magnificent views from above became the attraction. The sightseers showed up, and the opulent Lookout Inn Hotel was built as a mountain resort.

- Well, Chattanooga has always been a tourist town, so them building the hotels, there was more and more people coming to flock to the mountain.

- [Miranda] They also came to work and to trade. And it became evident that there needed to be a safe, fast, and cost-effective way to get travelers up and down the mountain. That's when the idea of the Incline Railway was born, a convenient and adventurous way to get people from point A to point B. Today, the hotel is gone, and so are the boilers and steam that once powered the two railway cars on this parallel track. But the thrill of ascending and descending the mountain is still thriving.

- Our cars run at about six miles per hour, and it goes from an elevation down in the valley of like 600 feet above sea level. And then we get to the top of the mountain. It's like 1,200 feet above sea level. The car, the track is one mile long. And grade at the steepest point is a 72.7% grade. And our cars are actually built on an 18 degree angle, so that way if you come up the mountain, you're not falling out of your seat. So therefore the cars are built on a angle. So when you're at the bottom, you're kind of reclined in your seat. But when you get to the top, you're sitting level.

- [Miranda] The story of the Incline Railway director, Matthew Higgins, is just as interesting as the railway itself. You see, Higgins grew up on Lookout Mountain in the shadow of the railway.

- I was raised right beside the Incline Railway. My parents' house was probably within rock throwing distance of the incline track. So growing up, we just always, I just always wanted to work there because you could see the maintenance people as they walked down and greasing the track.

- [Miranda] In fact, Higgins and his friends put pennies on the track in the hopes of getting a smashed souvenir so many times that the conductor paid a visit and offered to fuel his fascination with the railway by offering him a job.

- [Matthew] My first job was actually the night janitor here. I started out doing cleanup after hours, and my dad would come up and pick me up after hours after I got done cleaning.

- 36 years later, Higgins is the director of the Incline Railway. He calls all the shots, constantly overseeing the boarding, loading, and unloading of the cars, monitoring traffic and the weather. He can also answer any questions the tourists have about Lookout Mountain, or the engineering marvel that is the nation's steepest and safest incline railway. The incline railway in Chattanooga is called a funicular railway. It even has fun in the name. It is an ancient term meaning pulling a rail car up the hill with a rope. But today, it is done a lot more high-tech.

- These here are our 125 horsepower motors, and then we have a coupler here that goes to a gear. And this here is one of our brakes for this particular side of our equipment. And then we just have different gear reductions here to more or less have the horsepower to be able to move our 12 ton cars up and down the mountain.

- Rail Car 1 is ready to go.

- [Miranda] Just like the cars themselves, Higgins and his team are in constant motion, ensuring a safe, seamless, and scenic ride for the tourists.

- [Matthew] On a typical busy day, we can haul anywhere from three to 4,000 people, and that's running nonstop from daylight to dark,

- Have a good day, thanks for riding.

- Oh, it was great, it was steep at the top, and the views were tremendous from the top.

- [Miranda] Once at the top of the mountain, there are sweeping observation decks that offer panoramic views. You can tour the engine room or treat yourself to homemade fudge and hand-dipped chocolates. And everything and everyone that goes up must come down. And that is a thrill too.

- [Matthew] The view through the roof, it's kinda like it's an Astrodome roof or a lot of people say it's almost like riding in a greenhouse because there's so many windows in the top of the cars, the side of the cars, there's just so many windows, and the view is beautiful in the springtime.

- [Miranda] You can ride the rails rain or shine, and thanks to the ever-changing color show, you will always see something different. But the one thing guaranteed is a journey like no other.

- [Matthew] If you've never ridden an incline, it's an experience that you will never ever forget. We get so many people that are just scared of heights, but once they get on the car, they actually say, "This isn't half bad at all" because the view is just breathtaking. So they forget about their fear of heights and say, "I can do this."

- Thanks, Miranda. The state of Tennessee has an incredible array of historical sites, many predating the state itself. Cindy Carter visited one such historic home in Gallatin that is older than the Hermitage. And although not as famous, it has a rich history all its own.

- [Cindy] Let's be honest, most Tennesseans probably never even heard of the Douglass-Clark house. And it's also a safe bet that folks driving along busy Long Hollow Pike near Gallatin fly right past the little house without a second glance. But it's Douglass-Clark's historic interpreter, Andrew Spicer's mission.

- [Andrew] Talking about history is my thing.

- [Cindy] Calling actually to change that.

- I have a lot of people who they come in for a tour not knowing at all what to expect, and then I give them this 45 minute tour. At the end, they're just blown away by how much information they were able to learn.

- [Cindy] This historic gem was built in 1786 by early settler Elmore Douglass, a cabin for his growing family at a time when Tennessee was still part of North Carolina.

- [Andrew] He was exploring with several other pioneers who just came out here. They camped out here somewhere along the Station Camp Creek. Elmore Douglass evidently liked the land and he put in for the application, and he was granted a piece of this land.

- [Cindy] Initially just a two room cabin, Andrew uses Douglass-Clark to paint the full picture of just how the various families who once called this place home lived and survived.

- They had 10 kids. If you can imagine in this space 10 kids. What I can imagine is mom and dad saying, "Go play outside."

- [Cindy] Just before the turn of the century, as the area became more settled, so did the need for public infrastructure. There certainly wasn't a courthouse available in this rugged, undeveloped region. Elmore Douglass offered his home for the greater good.

- It was the courthouse of Sumner County from 1788 to 1790, before Tennessee became a state. This house was built 10 years before Tennessee became a state. In 1789, they appoint a new district attorney who was a 21-year-old man named Andrew Jackson. So Andrew Jackson practiced law in this home.

- [Cindy] Andrew, Spicer, not Jackson, stresses the former United States President who once paced these floorboards did so at a time in his life that the public may not be as familiar with.

- He was 21 years old at the time, was not quite the same guy that you see on the $20 bill, did not have the white hair yet. He was a redhead, if you can believe it, which might explain a few things.

- [Cindy] As the area became more settled, the need for makeshift courthouse ends, and full-time family life returns to the little cabin. Elmore Douglass' niece, Emma, and her husband, William S.F. Clark, add on two additional rooms to the two room cabin, which offer a bit more space for the couple's 10 children.

- Four of Emma's sons are gonna fight for the Confederacy during the Civil war. Three of them are going to die during the course of the war. We have the boys here who fought for the Confederacy, but we also have a former enslavement. His name was Winchester Clark. He was born into slavery on this property. He, during the Civil War, he self-emancipates. He joins the Union Army. He ultimately fights the battle of Nashville.

- [Cindy] So the story of the Douglass-Clark House not only reflects Tennessee's origins, but also includes painful and complicated parts of our nation's history.

- It's the responsibility of all historians who work with the public to be able to present that side of history. Because it's been so ignored for so long,

- The house itself was ignored for a long time. The Douglass-Clark family and their descendants lived here quietly until the house was sold out of the family in the 1950s and eventually stood empty. Highway travelers and nearby Station Camp Creek visitors never gave it a passing glance, until developers building the nearby subdivision did, realized what they had, and donated the abandoned cabin to the Sumner County government for restoration. Many of the items on display inside the house like this Civil War era bullet were found just by walking around the grounds. Piece by piece, they tell the story of a family, not famous or particularly unique, but the site does offer a true glimpse into how Tennesseans once lived.

- All right, so welcome, folks. My name is Andrew. I'll be your historian.

- [Cindy] Every day, Andrew brings pioneer life alive with the help of an incredible visual aid, something Sumner County, Tennessee has more than its fair share of, says the county's Tourism Executive Director, Barry Young.

- We're a well kept secret in Sumner County. We have more than our share of historic sites. We have well over a dozen sites in Sumner County, ranging from the Revolutionary War all the way through the Civil War. So if we have history buffs out there, we'd love for them to come and visit.

- [Cindy] Old homes and buildings often get torn down to pave the way for progress. It almost happened to Douglass-Clark, but Sumner County has managed to hang on to places like the unusually large log bridal house in Cottontown or Hendersonville's Rock Castle.

- [Barry] We have more state owned historic sites in Sumner County, I believe, than any other county.

- [Cindy] And that's why Andrew Spicer and the Douglass-Clark House are such a good fit.

- So Andrew Jackson practiced law in this room.

- [Cindy] This young historian enthusiastically leads the charge to take the little cabin off the almost forgotten list, one story-filled tour at a time.

- [Andrew] I really enjoy it. It's what I would be doing, even if no one was paying me. Ask my parents, they will tell you.

- Thanks, Cindy. To make a living doing what you love is a serious challenge for many Tennessee artists. Some face more obstacles than you might imagine. Edwin Lockridge knows this firsthand. Here's the story of a mixed media artist who's encountered more than his share of roadblocks on the journey to success.

- I am a multi media artist, mixed media artist. Anything that I can find, I put in art. Found objects I find along highways and streets, alleys, where I can find stuff interesting, I pick it up and make art out of it.

- [Joe] Edwin Lockridge is a Nashville-born artist who spent more than 50 years honing and perfecting his creative talent, a talent he says was blossoming even as a baby.

- My father went to Tennessee State and studied art, and my parents have actual photos of me as a baby in a crib with pen and paper painting and drawing.

- [Joe] In the many years that followed, Edwin experienced the usual ups and downs of struggling artists. However, since the onset of Covid, he's endured an especially painful burden, homelessness. So how'd you get by then?

- Faith, it hit me especially hard because not a whole lot of family members left and mother and father, Alzheimer's, illness. It was pretty rough on me.

- [Joe] Fortunately, Edwin discovered a place called Daybreak Arts. It's a local nonprofit that creates artistic and economic opportunities for those experiencing homelessness. Nicole Minyard is Executive Director.

- We have people who have gone to art school and we have people who are just self-taught artists. And they all come together with this common experience of homelessness and create really beautiful art together.

- [Joe] With his eye-catching art and infectious personality, Edwin quickly became one of Daybreak's favorite members.

- [Nicole] And I just remember being so excited by his creativity and talent. He was so resourceful and would take so many unique materials to create so many inspiring things.

- [Joe] Speaking of resourceful, one day when he was out of canvas and money, he discovered a rather creative and cost-free substitute.

- Actually, when I ran out of canvases and I could not afford them, and I saw the first bumper, and that actually inspired me. And whenever I went out of money, out of canvases, I go looking for bumpers.

- While Edwin is still technically homeless, he's far from hopeless. The attention for his art is growing, well just like the passion he has for creating it.

- Well you have to start off with a empty canvas, a blank canvas, and make something beautiful out of it that somebody admires and that which could possibly change the world. That for me is a blessing.

- Now that is an inspiring story, and I hope we inspired you to watch more "Crossroads." Check out our website, Facebook page, YouTube channel, PBS app, and above all, take care of yourself. See you next time.

- [Announcer] "Tennessee Crossroads" is brought to you in part by.

- [Narrator] Students across Tennessee have benefited from over seven and a half billion dollars we've raised for education, providing more than 2 million scholarships and grants. The Tennessee Lottery, game-changing, life-changing fun.

- [Announcer] Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways. Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made in Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at tntrailsandbyways.com.

- [Announcer] The co-op system in Tennessee consists of independently owned co-ops, driven to serve farmer owners, rural lifestyle customers, and their communities throughout Tennessee and in five neighboring states. More at ourcoop.com.

- [Announcer] Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts helps students explore the world, engage minds, enrich lives, and earn a living. More at ntsu.edu/cla.