Taylor Swift History Collection

The Tennessee Centennial Exposition, which celebrated Tennessee's 100th year of statehood, opened May 1, 1897, at Nashville's Centennial Park and enjoyed tremendous success during its six-month run. Citizens from all over Tennessee--and the nation--honored the state's history by sponsoring exhibits at the event, and thousands of visitors flocked to the fairgrounds each day to experience the excitement it offered. In this fascinating collection of over 200 images combined with informative, well-researched text, author Bobby Lawrence takes us on a journey into the past to relive the optimism and wonders of another time. Take a relaxing gondola ride on one of the park's four lakes or stroll the 200-acre grounds and visit a variety of buildings and exhibits featuring everything from ancient artifacts to scientific inventions, from on-site farms to international restaurants, from the thrilling Vanity Fair, a midway attraction comparable to today's amusement parks, to one of the first large displays of electric lights.

Everyone's favorite town, Nashville, is rich in country music history and has a deep hidden side. Read these little-known tales from Music City.

Perched on the banks of the Cumberland River, Nashville is best known for its role in the civil rights movement, world-class education and, of course, country music. In this unique collection of columns, longtime journalist and Tennessee native George Zepp illuminates a less familiar side of the city. Learn the secrets of Timothy Demonbreun, one of the city's first residents who lived with his family in a clifftop cave; Cortelia Clark, the blind bluesman who continued to perform on street corners after winning a Grammy award; and Nashville's own Cinderella story, which involved legendary radio personality Edgar Bergen and his ventriloquist protégé. Cleverly rendered, using questions from readers across the nation, these little-known tales abound with Music City mystery and charm.

For more than four decades, Hendersonville has been home to extraordinary musical talent. Music icons of the early 1960s like Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and June Carter migrated to the city and the tranquility of the lake. These musicians became part of the close-knit Caudill community, which was and continues to be home to southern music royalty. Orbison's legendary "Pretty Woman" came from his time in Hendersonville with his first wife, Claudette. Johnny Cash's critically acclaimed version of Trent Reznor's "Hurt" was filmed in Cash's Hendersonville home, leading to a new generation of fans. The '60s, '70s and '80s were a popular time for musicians to move to Hendersonville. Authors Jennifer Bruce and Tena Lee offer up the legendary history.

By 1858, construction on a new railroad from Mobile, Alabama, to Cairo, Illinois, had intersected the Fulton/Pontotoc Road near an area called Gum Pond. That location contained large numbers of tupelo gum trees, and the intersection became known as Tupelo. Many merchants in surrounding communities, like Harrisburg and Richmond, realized that the intersection was going to be a prime area for commerce and began disassembling buildings that housed places of business and relocating them to Tupelo. By the beginning of the Civil War, there were two stores, two hotels, two saloons, and a temporary depot fronting the railroad just south of present-day Main Street. During the Civil War, Tupelo became a major location for shipping grain and livestock to the Confederate army. It also served as headquarters for the Confederate Army of the West and a rest and recreation area for Confederate armies.