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Hometown
» Hero^
In 1962, John Rice Irwin attended an estate auction
near his home in Norris, Tenn. (pop. 1,446), where he watched as a
family’s heirlooms were sold piece by piece. One buyer boasted that an
old cedar butter churn would make a fine lamp. Another buyer vowed
to turn a wagon seat into a coffee table.
Irwin was horrified. He knew the stories behind these artifacts, and he knew how
quickly their history was being lost. 'Tilings mean little when they are separated from
their history," says Irwin, 75.
So during his time away from working as a school superintendent, Irwin trekked over
hills and through hollows buying and preserving relics and the stories behind them. Before
Founder John Rice Irwin (left) picks with Ted Wy rick.
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long, curious visitors began stopping
by his garage to see the items and
hear their stories.
"When I was lirtle, our garage
was filled from floor to ceiling with
artifacts he had collected," says Irwins
daughter, Elaine Irwin Meyer, with a
laugh. "I didn't know for many years
that garages were used for cars.”
By the late 19605, Irwins garage
had reached capacity. That's when
he and his wife, Elizabeth, opened
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BA THBOOMS
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The Mark Twain Family Cabin is a popular attraction
at the 65-acre Museum of Appalachia in Norris,Tenn.
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The Display Bam houses pioneer memorabilia, such as wood-carved folk art (above).
the Museum of Appalachia, housed in a log building on a two-acre plot next to his
home. Today, the museum attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually and has
grown to 65 acres with dozens of authentic log structures and thousands of items—
most of them with their stories collected and written down by Irwin, of course.
Cattle, horses, mules, goats, sheep and farm fowl roam the grounds, re-creating
an old Appalachian homestead, while musicians often sit on a cabin's front porch
singing songs like "Old Joe Clark." Mosr of the rustic structures were saved from
demolition and moved from within a 200-mile radius of the museum.
In fact, the Mark Twain Family Cabin was moved from Possum Trot, Tenn.,
where Twain’s parents and some of his siblings had lived. “Mark Twain was
born five months after the family left here in 1835," Irwin says. The cabin itself
was bound for destruction until Irwin purchased it and had it dismantled and
re-assembled at the museum. “It's a shame that so many fascinating and mean
ingful stories are already gone.” he says.
Fortunately, Irwin has saved thousands of stories and artifacts. Take for
example, Gol Cooper's glass eye and a penknife on display at the museum. In
1910, young Cooper was tying his shoe and had an opened penknife in his hand.
He was stooped over, pulling tight the string when it broke, thrusting the knife
blade through his eye.
"Gol’s father had an eye made for him and he wore one until he died in
1979,” Irwin says. The eye and the knife, along with the story, were given to the
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Farm
animals
roam the
grounds.
museum by Cooper's daughter.
The museum also displays miniature carpen
try and farming tools carved by Bill Henry of
Oak Ridge, Tenn. (pop. 27,387). A self-taught
whittler, the 76-year-old says it’s an honor to
have his work preserved at the museum. “It's an
incredible place,” Henry says. "If I would hazard
a guess, I would say that 75 percent of what's in
that museum would be long gone if it weren't
for John Rice. He’s a dreamer, but he’s a dreamer
that makes things come through.”
(Continued on page 9)
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