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Last week I introduced the idea of driving around and just looking at details of old buildings and remnants of buildings no longer present. This is part two of that theme.

You’ll recall if you read last week’s article that I also employ Google Earth in my research. Following is an example of how that helped.

Longtime Tullahoma residents will recall that where the Regal 8 Cinema now stands, there was once a drive-in movie theater, the Jet Age Drive-In. You may have noticed that just to the north of the current entrance to the parking lot, there is a short driveway apron that seems to go nowhere. However, a look at Google Earth’s view of that area reveals that it does indeed go somewhere (or did at one time), and it shows a few other remnants of the Jet Age as well. Look at the top of the satellite picture and you’ll see that there was once either an entrance or exit off that driveway apron and the driveway ran along the northern edge of the property. Also visible in that image are some of the curved parking ramps, once dotted with speaker posts, where cars parked to watch the movies.

In the lower center left of that image, there’s a light colored, somewhat round section. That is where the snack bar and projection building once stood, and part of the tile flooring and the foundation still exist today. That’s the second photo.

Moving downtown for our next discovery, we find a very old sign on the front of 127 W. Lincoln Street, apparently once the home of Bill’s Cash Grocery. This building is undergoing some remodeling efforts and when a newer façade was partially removed, the hand painted sign became visible. At one time, there were several grocery stores downtown in the area of Atlantic, Jackson, and Lincoln Streets. I’ve not been able to garner any details on this particular one, so if you have some insight, please contact me.

Do you have some old Tullahoma photos and accompanying stories to share? You can contact me at alanmayes@lighttube.net.