a tour of the historic tennessee brewery

The historic Tennessee Brewery in Memphis was built in 1890. During its peak production years, it churned out 250,000 barrels of beer per day, making it the largest brewery in the South. It ceased production in 1954, and it became home to a scrap metal company until 1981. It was saved from the wrecking ball by the current owner in 1999. Despite his many efforts to revitalize the building, it has remained empty and he decided it would be demolished at the end of the summer if he hadn't found a buyer for it by that time. In order to help sell the building, a group of local businessmen decided to showcase its potential by opening a beer garden in the building's courtyard for six weeks. The Brewery Untapped features food trucks, acoustic musical acts and fundraisers for local nonprofits, and has attracted tons of patrons. You can read more about the efforts to save the building here. For more really interesting details about the Tennessee Brewery's past, I highly recommend this article from the Commercial Appeal.

Here are some photos from our afternoon at the Tennessee Brewery:

Isn't the white-washed brick lovely? The windows and arches are really incredible as well. 

 We have been so inspired by the efforts to save the Tennessee Brewery, and we hope this neat old building's story has a happy ending. Memphis has so many abandoned architectural gems. It would be such a big win for our city if they were able to save this building and turn it into a sustainable investment. 

family stories: sadie and gerald hardin

I've mentioned that we're currently working on a photography preservation project for Jonathan's grandparents, Sadie and Gerald. They were high school sweethearts, and they have been married 61 years. As we've been busy scanning and editing their photographs, I wanted to share some of them. These were my favorites that have already made it onto our gallery wall.

The photos were all taken around the time they were married, when they lived in downtown Memphis for several years. Gerald worked and attended business school, and Sadie worked several jobs. One of Gerald's jobs was in the Sears catalog division in midtown Memphis. 

Since we moved to Memphis in 2006, we have enjoyed taking them to downtown and midtown Memphis so they could see some of their old neighborhoods and reminisce. Unfortunately quite a few of the landmarks they remember began to decline in the 1960s and have since been razed to make room for uninspired (and often empty) strip malls.

The Sears building in midtown was one of Memphis' most notorious examples of a historic building that had been abandoned and neglected. In a lucky twist of fate, the building has recently been saved and is being converted into a mixed use urban village. You can read about it here. We're all excited that this piece of Memphis history will be preserved. Perhaps it will be the catalyst Memphis needs to save more of its historic buildings and homes. 

Above: Sadie and Gerald in high school.

Above: Sadie and Gerald at a state park in Mississippi. Below: Sadie's first job was as a dessert server. She was 17. Bottom: Sadie and Gerald at the Mid-South Fairgrounds Amusement Park in Memphis with their niece Patsy. She spent the week with them in their Memphis apartment.

On the Road: Millington and Covington, Tennessee

Since Jonathan and I moved to Memphis seven years ago, we have wanted to drive to Millington, Tennessee to pick peaches at Jones Orchard. I'm not sure why seven years have gone by without a visit, but on Saturday, we finally decided to go to the orchard. The day was blistering hot, but we didn't care. When we arrived, a clerk handed us a basket and sent us down a gravel road to pick our $10 worth of peaches. It was a little confusing at first, but soon we saw signs that directed us to the peaches that were ready for picking. From there we ventured off the beaten path in Jonathan's truck, feeling hundreds of peaches and trying to determine which ones were the sweetest of all. After a while, we figured out that the peaches on the highest branches were the best, so Jonathan backed his truck up to a tree and scored a ton that were ready-to-eat. We left with about 40 peaches and had a great time as well. Bonus: the truck smelled like peaches all the way home! After our peach picking excursion, we drove on to Covington because we had always heard good things about it. The town square did not disappoint, boasting not one but TWO old theaters, several antique stores and a very quaint coffee shop, Coffee in the Attic, where we enjoyed sandwiches and a brownie sundae. Although they didn't have veggie options on the menu, they created a toasted lettuce, tomato and cheese sandwich for me that was so good that I've been craving them ever since. The brownie sundae hit the spot as well, as you can see!

Something I noticed everywhere we went -- the people were incredibly charming and warm. It's really nice to explore new places and be welcomed like old friends. We will definitely visit again soon!

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