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Street fairs are usually fun events, bringing friends and neighbors together to celebrate some special aspect of a town. Tullahoma’s 41A Music Festival is always a good time in downtown Tullahoma, and it attracts music lovers from all over the area. It’s about the only street festival still taking place in town, but as I’ve been researching Tullahoma history, I’ve come across photographic evidence of others from the past. My first article in this series, way back on April 23, 2023, featured a 1924 photo of a street festival on N. Atlantic Street. Today’s photos were taken in the same area, but about five decades later.

The exact date of these photos is unknown, but judging from the clothing on the participants and the glimpses of vehicles when the photos are enlarged, I believe it to be the mid-1970s. The updated 2002 edition of Paul Pyle’s Historic Tullahoma book states that Daddy Billy’s Delicatessen (now known as Daddy Billy’s Restaurant & Bar), visible in one photo, opened in 1975, and the aforementioned vehicles fit that timeframe.

Visible in that same picture and in the vertical one are photos on display and for sale on the sidewalk in front of Couch’s Photo Store. The sign on the display reads “All photographs taken and individually printed by Sally Rhodes.”

Barely visible in the background of the vertical photo is Tullahoma’s old water tower, which stood southeast of the intersection of Lincoln and Atlantic Streets, between the railroad and Atlantic. It was built in 1932 and removed in 1993. In that same shot, notice the RC Cola/Hudson’s Bakery sign. That appears to be on the 1914 building just south of the current Downtown Avenues building.

The third photo is looking southeast from the northwest corner of that same intersection. It appears to be a dunking booth, but the unlucky dunkee is being pre-wetted with a fire hose! Across the street and the tracks, the Parris store’s sign is visible. That’s the building currently housing Southern Electric.

These photos were acquired at the Couch Photo auction a couple of years ago and were very likely taken by Bob Couch, Jr. The Historic Tullahoma book is available at the Mitchell Museum at South Jackson Performing Arts Center. It’s a worthwhile resource for anyone interested in Tullahoma history.

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