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As promised last week, we’re looking at the motherlode of Tullahoma cornerstones and date stones, all in one location. The location is South Jackson Performing Arts Center, which was once Tullahoma’s first public school.

The original South Jackson building was erected in 1886 and the auditorium and additional classrooms were added in 1922. There are date stones high on the front façade of the auditorium, facing Jackson Street, that convey those two dates: 1886 on the left and 1922 on the right. It’s not clear that there are any actual 1886 walls visible on the outside, but there are some signs of bricked-up windows on the interior hallway. On the northeast corner of the building, somewhat hidden by a tree, there’s a two-part cornerstone engraved with the names of the 1922 Board of Mayor and Aldermen on the east side and 1922 Board of Education on the north.

As a viewer faces the steps leading up the auditorium, there are relocated stones from other buildings. On the right (north side) are the arched “1927” date stone and the long “Tullahoma High School” stone (with the Roman “V” in place of the “U”) that once adorned the entrance to the first high school, built in 1927 where East Lincoln Elementary School is now.

To the left of the steps is a cluster of three more stones. The smaller one is the cornerstone from the first high school. It has deteriorated some, but is in decent enough condition to read most of the writing. It is dated October 1927 and lists the mayor (W.J. Davidson), recorder, city engineer, aldermen, and board of education of that year.

To the left of that cornerstone stands a slightly taller one with no date listing a mayor (W.A. Marshall) and six aldermen. W.A. Marshall served as Tullahoma mayor six different times, his second term coinciding with the date of the initial South Jackson School construction, 1886. This is the cornerstone from that original building, the wall of which was covered up by the 1922 additions.

Just as this article was being wrapped up, a reader enlightened me with the availability of some more stones. Check back next week to see what’s been revealed, plus the mystery of the last stone outside South Jackson.

Do any of our readers have old photos from Tullahoma Christmas Parades of past years, or photos of downtown businesses decorated for Christmas? I’d love to borrow them briefly. You can contact me at alanmayes@lighttube.net.