"SEE ROCK CITY"



Americans fell in love with the automobile and took to the roads, spawning a whole new advertising medium.  Among the better-known are the iconic red-and-white Burma Shave signs in four stanzas (Cattle crossing / means go slow / That old bull / is some cow's beau / Burma Shave) and the classic red, yellow and white billboards advertising Meramec Caverns.  There were 400 of these, in forty states.  Route 66 between St. Louis and Stanton, MO had forty of them - ten percent of the total - on that 70-or-so-mile stretch of highway culminating at the cave itself.  But the grand-daddy of them all, the most visible, both in terms of size and sheer number, were the ones that read SEE ROCK CITY emblazoned across barn roofs.  Clark Byers, hired by Rock City owner Garnet  Carter, painted over 900 barn ads in nineteen states between 1935 and1969.  If you let him show off his artistry on your barn, in addition to getting your roof painted for free, you would receive a Rock City thermometer to mount on the barn, and a genuine Rock City bathmat.  And as some of the barns proclaimed to travelers "TO MISS ROCK CITY WOULD BE A PITY."

"SEE ROCK CITY" billboards dot the landscape in many southern states.  The iconic
barn roof signs are still around, but in far fewer numbers than in their heyday

Bird houses, designed to look like barns and painted in the original barn
roof advertising motif, are for sale in Rock City's gift shop

The granite rock outcroppings that comprise the heart of the commercial enterprise known as Rock City were historically important to Native Americans.  Likely the first non-natives to report seeing these amazing rock formations were two missionaries.  In 1823, Daniel S. Butrick and William Chambralian were in the area when Butrick made a journal entry dated August 28, 1823 which referred to a "citadel of rocks."   Over a century later, Garnet Carter and his wife Frieda purchased property in this area.

Garnet and Frieda Carter's original home on Lookout Mountain

Frieda Carter built the original stone walkways on the
property, before it became Rock City

Looking down from Rock City at the town below. This view is under a
stone archway, with the swinging bridge in the background

Deer graze on Lookout Mountain

Goats - but not wild.  Notice the feeder in the foreground



Garnet Carter was an inventor and entrepreneur who hoped to develop the area as a golf course.  He soon realized the rocky terrain was too formidable for a golf course.  He then came up with the concept of "Tom Thumb Golf" - - known today as miniature golf.  His miniature golf idea was highly successful and he franchised the concept.  He sold the patent rights and used his profits to open Rock City as a public attraction in 1932.

More of the trails through Rock City

Frieda Carter loved gardening and treasured the fairy tales of her native Germany.  Both of these loves were incorporated into the natural rock setting. The gardens today cover approximately seventeen acres showcasing over 400 native species.  In 1947 the couple incorporated a revolutionary new idea - the "black light" - to illuminate scenes from Frieda's favorite fairy tales which seem to come to life under the ultraviolet lights in Fairyland Caverns.  In 1964, Mother Goose Village was added.

Fairyland Caverns houses tableaus depicting scenes from
Frieda Carter's beloved German fairy tales

The Carters were among the first to use "black lights" commercially

More fairy tales under the black lights



Fairyland Castle

Perched near the summit of 2,388 foot high Lookout Mountain ("See Seven States From Lookout Mountain") on the Tennessee/Georgia border, Rock City, itself, is actually in Georgia.  The approximately two to three hour walking tour of Rock City offers spectacular highlights including a 90 foot waterfall, a180 foot suspension bridge, natural rock formations with descriptive names like Fat Man Squeeze, Needle's Eye, the Hall of the Mountain King, and the legendry Lover's Leap.  Over half a million visitors a year enjoy traversing the 4,100 foot trail to see the sights at Rock City.  Your well-behaved "fur kid" is welcome to join you, as long as he is kept on a leash.  No baby strollers, either for real kids or pets, are permitted.  By the way, some nay-sayers claim that because of haze and other atmospheric conditions, and the curvature of the earth, you can't really "see" seven states from the mountain top, but that you can "look out" in the general direction of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The names of some of the formations are very appropriate...

...like "Needle's Eye", shown here

Gnomes operate a still in the "Hall of the Mountain King"

Mike crossing the suspension bridge.  It sways quite a bit as you cross

Mike and Yvonne at Lover's Leap, with a 90-foot waterfall in the background

"Lookout Mountain" sign at the foot of the mountain as you start up

This sign on the top of the mountain points out the direction of the seven
states that can be seen from Lookout Mountain

Looking east/northeast toward Kentucky and Virginia

Looking southeast toward South Carolina

Looking south toward Alabama

While in the Chattanooga area there are several other "must see" stops for the visitor.  Nearby Ruby Falls offers a respite from the summer heat as it is a constant 59 degrees. It is America's deepest commercial cave. The 145-foot waterfall is the largest underground waterfall in the U.S.

Observation tower and entrance to Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls, the largest underground waterfall in the U.S.

Chattanooga, TN from the observation tower at Ruby Falls

The Tennessee River from the Ruby Falls tower

Only six miles away, downtown Chattanooga's recently renovated waterfront features a lovely cascading fountain tumbling down a series of steps to the Tennessee River.  The downtown area is anchored by the impressive Tennessee Aquarium which includes two major aquatic biomes.  The River Journey opened in1992 and focuses on freshwater creatures and two living forests.  The Ocean Journey debuted in 2005 with creatures from "beneath the waves" and a rainforest.  Nearby is the Hunter Museum of American Arts, featuring American artwork from colonial days to the present.  A new downtown stadium is home to the minor league Chattanooga Lookouts, a Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

The Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga

Part of the new fountain on the riverfront in Chattanooga



Of course you can't go to this Tennessee city without visiting the Chattanooga Choo Choo - the 1880's wood-burner made famous in song in the 1940s by Glenn Miller. The train is now displayed on the grounds of the 1906 Terminal Station which has been transformed into an historic hotel. The Terminal Station at one time handled nearly fifty passenger trains a day. Due to an increase in automobile and airplane travel, train traffic through the terminal nearly came to a halt by 1960.  On August 11,1970, the terminal closed to the public and was boarded up.  Thanks to some foresighted investors, it was saved; purchased and re-opened on April 11,1973 as a historic hotel.  In 1989 it was again sold, and refurbished by its new owners.  Today it is possible to  stay in the old hotel or spend the night in one of the train's sleeper cars.  There is a restaurant on the premises and a number of shops as well as the train exhibition.

The Chattanooga Choo Choo in the station

So, the next time you drive the historic roadways like Route 66, U.S. 50, or U.S. 36, look for the barns that say "SEE ROCK CITY" and experience your own Road Stories.

Yvonne isn't real tech savy, but she knows how to "tweet" See Rock City

The Bloodiest 47 Acres in America

When you think of the oldest prisons west of the Mississippi, one of the first that comes to mind might be the Yuma Territorial Prison in Arizona, which opened its doors in 1875.  But there is a formidable structure that opened nearly 40 years earlier - and almost a century before the infamous Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay.

The current entrance into the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. This entrance
actually leads into Housing Unit #1, built in 1905, to house female inmates.

Exterior of Housing Unit #1.  The bust is that of Alexander M. Dockery, who
was Missouri's Governor when this unit was built.

Detail of the limestone wall.  The limestone was quarried on-site.

West wall of the prison, with Housing Unit #1 shown

The prison sits on a hill overlooking the Missouri River, which runs along the
north side of the property.

The Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City received its first inmate, Wilson Edison, from Green County (Springfield) on the same day in March of 1836 that the Battle of the Alamo was being fought.  The original wooden structure stood in the southwest corner of what later became a much larger prison complex.  The oldest existing building at the prison today is Housing Unit #4 (also known as "A" Hall), which was constructed in 1868 from limestone quarried on-site by prisoners.  It is also interesting to note that convict labor was used to construct several houses outside of the walls of the prison.  One of those, at 700 East Main Street, directly across from the prison, was the Warden's home, and was provided as part of his salary package.

Housing Unit #4, the oldest building in the complex, dating to 1868.  Also known as
"A" Hall, this was the "honor" cell block, housing convicts that exhibited good behavior.

Inside of Housing Unit #4  - 4 tiers of cells.  This building also has several "dungeon"
cells below it, that were used for solitary confinement over the years.



Generally, 2 to 4 men occupied each cell.  Not much privacy here, either!

 

It is hard to believe that this cell deteriorated this much in 11 years...it
probably looked much the same before the prison closed in 2004

 

Prisoners were allowed to decorate their cells.  Here's one with one thing on his
mind...or maybe that's what got him here in the first place.

Water?  Blue giraffe?  Not sure what this décor represents

 

Prisoners could get a shoeshine...

 

or a haircut in the "honor" cell block.  (Inmate showers are located at the bottom of
those stairs in the background, as is the entrance to the "dungeon" cells.))

But there were always reminders that they were in prison.

There's a dangerous-looking character!

One cell still has the original 1868 door, barely 5 feet tall.  I don't know why
it was not replaced when all of the others were, unless it was used as an
example to show inmates how bad conditions were in the "old days"

By 1885, the prison included six major shoe factories, including one owned by the International Shoe Company of St. Louis, a clothing factory, a soap factory, and a factory making saddle trees, the wooden frames onto which leather and padding were stitched to make completed saddles.  All were operated with convict labor.  The saddle tree factory at the Missouri Penitentiary was the largest in the world - until an inmate named "Firebug" Johnson set fire to it, burning it to the ground.  The fire claimed the lives of four inmates, and earned Johnson a long stretch in solitary confinement. 

The first female inmate, Amelia Eddy, arrived from St. Louis County in 1842.  Years later, in 1905, as the female prison population grew, Housing Unit #1, which currently serves as the main entrance to the prison and the starting point for all tours, was constructed to house female prisoners.  One, an anarchist by the name of Emma Goldman, was incarcerated in Unit #1 as a result of the efforts of a young J. Edgar Hoover.  Goldman was accused of crimes ranging from inciting riots to advocating the use of birth control.  She served two years of a much longer sentence but was released in 1919.  Ironically, later in her life, she was instrumental in forming Planned Parenthood.  

Exterior of Housing Unit #1, built in 1905 to house female inmates

This relief of Governor Dockery is on the interior wall of Housing
Unit #1, and his bust is on the outside of Unit #1, as well.

Housing Unit #3 was constructed in 1914.  In addition to a regular block of cells, the building contained an administrative segregation (solitary confinement) unit and a capital punishment (death row) unit.  Death row continued to house inmates scheduled for execution until 1989, when that unit was moved to a new prison in Potosi, MO.

Housing Unit #3 contains administrative segregation (solitary confinement) cells and capital
punishment (death row) cells. This photo was taken from a cell on tier 3 of Housing Unit #4

Kept separated from the general population, convicts in Unit #3 were allowed out
of their cells to exercise in this fenced in "yard" for one hour per day.

Close-up of Housing Unit #3.  Death row was on the bottom floor,
on the level with the blue doors, where the smaller windows can be seen.

It was in Housing Unit #3 that one of the worst prison riots in American history took place in 1954.  Almost 2,500 inmates were running wild through the facility.  Four building were set afire.  Numerous police departments from around the state, the Missouri Highway Patrol, and the Missouri National Guard were all mobilized to quell the riots.  By the time order was restored, four inmates were dead (all killed by other inmates), fifty more were injured, and one had attempted suicide.  Damage to the prison was estimated at more than five million dollars.  There were, however, no escapes.  Perhaps part of the cause of the unrest was the sheer number of prisoners incarcerated in the facility.  By 1932, the Jefferson City prison was the largest in the nation, housing some 5,200 inmates, a number that remained high through the next several decades.  When the prison finally closed in 2004,  1,355 inmates were transferred to a new facility east of Jefferson City.

In the mid-1930's, two additional buildings were constructed.  In 1938, the prison opened a modern, five story, 240 bed hospital.  Planning and construction of the hospital had covered a span of three years.  Just a year earlier, in 1937, a much smaller building opened.  The gas chamber is a single-story, small, square limestone building set some distance from the housing units.  In its 53 years of use (1937-1989) the building was used to carry out 37 executions. (A total of 40 executions were carried out at the prison during the time that it was open.  Most of these were done in the gas chamber, but in 1907, following a failed escape attempt, three prisoners were executed by hanging in the prison yard, as a warning to the other prisoners.)

Entrance to the gas chamber. The left door leads into the viewing room, where
witnesses to executions sat. The right door leads into a room that contains
two holding cells and the gas chamber, itself.

 

Two chairs in the gas chamber. Only once  were both used at the same time.

 

Holding cell where the prisoner would eat his last meal and await his execution.

Keys to the gas chamber building and the holding cells

This phone hangs on the wall outside the gas chamber.  If a last-
minute stay of execution was granted, the call would come on this phone.

Of the thirty-seven people executed in the gas chamber, the youngest was 19 and the oldest was 73.  Thirty-six were men and one was a woman.  The woman was Bonnie Heady.  She and a partner, Carl Austin Hall,  kidnapped a young boy.  After getting a $600,000 ransom, they killed and buried the boy.  They were arrested in 1953, tried and convicted, sentenced to death, and executed all within the space of a year.  So heinous was the crime that authorities decided to execute them together.  There are two chairs in the gas chamber at the prison; this was the only time that both of them were used simultaneously. The last execution took place in January of 1989 when George "Tiny" Mercer was put to death by lethal injection (in the gas chamber building) for the rape and murder of a waitress in the Kansas City area.

Photos of all 40 inmates executed as the Missouri State Penitentiary with their
date of execution are displayed inside the gas chamber building.

Typically, guards at the prison did not carry weapons.  Cell blocks had only a minimal number of guards on duty, and at meal time, when as many as 600 prisoners were moving from a cell block to the mess hall, only two guards would be on duty...one on each end of a long hallway through which the convicts were moving.  If a fight broke out or an assault took place in the hallway, there is no way the guards could make their way through the mob of men to break up the altercation.  Over the years, inmate-on-inmate violence and killings were so prevalent that in a 1967 article, Time magazine called the Missouri State Penitentiary "...the bloodiest 47 acres in America."

Among the thousands of prisoners incarcerated over the years, three names stand out.  Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd served a three year term from 1925 to 1928 for the armed robbery of a Kroger Store in St. Louis.  following his release, Floyd embarked on a life of crime, and was named "Public Enemy #1" following the capture of John Dillinger.  Floyd died in a shoot-out with police in Ohio in 1934.

Charles "Sonny" Liston was sent to the penitentiary for armed robbery in 1950.  The prison Chaplain recognized his potential as a boxer and encouraged him to train.  His story caught the attention of a newspaper publisher, who arranged for his parole in 1952 and entered him in the Golden Gloves tournament.  A year later, he turned pro.  in September 1962 Liston won the Heavyweight Championship of the World, a title that he held for 17 months, until he lost to a brash young fighter named Cassuis Clay on February 25, 1964.

A life-size cut-out of Sonny Liston is displayed outside of the cell
that he occupied for two years in Housing Unit #4

James Earl Ray was serving time in the Missouri State Penitentiary for a 1959 armed robbery of two grocery stores in St. Louis and one in Alton, IL.  During eight years in prison, Ray had attempted to escape a number of times, but failed.  However, in 1967, Ray escaped by hiding in the false bottom of a box in a truck that was delivering bread from the prison bakery to other corrections facilities in mid-Missouri.  Ray travelled to Chicago, then to Canada, and eventually back to Alabama, then Mexico, before ending up in Memphis in April of 1968.  On April 4, 1968, firing from the bathroom of a rooming house near the Lorraine Motel, Ray shot and killed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The decommissioned state penitentiary, the oldest prison west of the Mississippi River, hosts a number of tours including history, paranormal activity / ghost hunting (many believe the prison is haunted), and photography tours.  Tours are led by experienced guides...in some cases, the guides actually served as guards at the prison.  Our tour guide, Ray, is a retired deputy sheriff.  In addition to hosting tours in Jefferson City, Ray and his wife often "winter" in Las Vegas, where he works as a tour guide at Hoover Dam.  A knowledgeable and personable gentleman, Ray told us several stories that, I believe, were not part of the "script."  When I asked about a small wooden cross in the prison yard, Ray told us that "Mike" is buried there.  Mike was a cat that roamed freely around the prison.  The prisoners would feed Mike scraps of food to get him to come to them on command...Mike had a regular routine that he would follow, going from cell block to cell block for food.  The inmates fashioned a set of "saddlebags" for Mike, and used his free access to the buildings to send messages and smuggle contraband around the prison via the cat.

Mike and our tour guide, Ray - a great story-teller and a really nice man.

Another story Ray told us is that mid-Missouri Little League baseball teams sometimes came to the prison recreation yard to play games.  They were escorted to the field by the guards.  Prisoners served as umpires (thus avoiding any disruption of the game or un-sportsman-like conduct by parents.)  Often, as the players warmed up, the prisoners would talk to them, asking about their season, how the team was doing, their won-loss record, and so on.  It turned out that, far from being merely interested, the inmates were using this information to place their bets on one team or another for that afternoon's game.

 

View of the wall and a guard tower from what was once the ball fields.  That part
of the prison is now a parking lot for state-owned motor pool vehicles.

The rear of Housing Unit #4, as seen from what was once baseball fields and exercise area.

A visit to the Missouri State Penitentiary offers a fascinating glimpse into history.  Imagine, if those walls could talk, couldn't they tell some interesting Road Stories.



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