RESIDENCE OF W. C. SMITH, AT DICKSON
To-day there exists in Bell’s Bend the strangest monument to Montgomery Bell that ever man had to perpetuate his memory. This man was a builder of iron furnaces. He built them wherever he could find water power. To him water power meant useful opportunity. I have spoken of the narrow bluff that divides the Harpeth in its magnificent sweep through Bell’s Bend. This bluff is so narrow that a man can stand on its ridge and easily cast a stone into the river on either side. Right here Montgomery Bell had a tunnel blasted through the bluff, and by means of a wing dam drew the waters of the Upper Harpeth through this opening in a mighty, resistless current that afforded unlimited water power for the operations of a blast furnace. And there it is to-day, singing its stormy requiem to the memory of a man and age that have passed into the shade, but yet inviting in its prodigal waste and riotous power the hand of capital and enterprise to harness it anew.
In timber, soil, minerals and climate Dickson County is well dowered. Many of these industries are yet in their infancy. It has been demonstrated that its phosphates are as good as those of Hickman County, and only wait on the capitalist. As for oil, at the present time the Standard Oil Company is preparing to sink two wells near Dickson. It is well known that this section is underlaid by the best of illuminating oil, equal to the Pennsylvania product. The Brown oil wells, on Jones’ Creek, twelve miles northwest of Dickson, have been opened for many years and have pumped as high as twenty barrels a day of fine illuminating oil. This territory is nearly all under lease, and the indications are that the time is ripe for its exploitation.
One of the most interesting towns in Dickson County is Ruskin. Ruskin was founded a number of years ago as a Socialist colony. Here was to be exemplified the truth of the doctrine that all men are created free and equal. It was to be a practical demonstration. It will take another story to tell how and why it failed. About a year ago the property was acquired by some earnest, ambitious school men. To-day Ruskin is the seat of Ruskin-Cave College, with a faculty of eleven teachers and students from twelve states. The village is owned and controlled by the school board. The full college course compares well with state institutions. The college presents some very remarkable features that entitle it to favorable consideration. W. A. Hughes is business manager and R. E. Smith president.
LIBRARY RUSKIN’S CAVE COLLEGE
Dickson is the chief commercial town in Dickson County. Charlotte is the county seat, but it has a population of only a few hundred. The population of Dickson numbers about three thousand. Within five years it has almost doubled its inhabitants. It has a chancery and circuit court and a larger and costlier courthouse than the county seat. Being accessible by three railroads, it is the logical commercial and political center of the county. It is also the educational center. In addition to a good public school system, it is the seat of the Dickson Normal College. This is a co-educational institution. The college building is modern and commodious in its every appointment. It is situated in a beautiful grove of native oaks, on a broad table land overlooking the town of Dickson. A corps of trained teachers is in charge of the work. The curriculum embraces a four-years’ course, beginning with an exhaustive study of the common school branches and including a comprehensive course in language, science and mathematics. T. B. Loggins, A.M., is the principal of the college. The enrollment includes students of both sexes from all parts of the state.
The Hudson Business College is also located in Dickson, and is doing a fine work in fitting young people for the business world.
Dickson is a plucky town. Twice within a decade it has risen from its ashes. In 1893 the town was practically destroyed by fire, not over half a dozen business houses remaining. Nearly all the buildings destroyed were of frame and were replaced by substantial brick structures. In November, 1905, another disastrous fire broke out, eating the heart out of the business section and entailing a loss of $200,000. With characteristic energy, the work of rebuilding was immediately begun, and to-day the burned district is covered by even handsomer buildings than those destroyed. In addition to this new buildings are going up in every direction, and the town is experiencing a building boom unprecedented in its history.