When entering Big Ridge State Park, one of first structures you will see is a stone building right on the side of the road. Most people who visit the park probably know very little about the structure or know nothing at all about the unique little building. Some folks that have grown up visiting the park may know a lot more about the building than visitors not from around these parts.
The stone building was originally built around 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). After the completion of Big Ridge Park, it was run and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
It was designed and used as a point to pay your access fee and enter the park.
Yes, that is correct, I said access fee. The park has not always been free use for the day. When the park was first open to the public TVA charged 10 cents a car. Folks would load up a carload of friends and family and visit the park to play, hike, camp and swim in the lake. A ranger would spend a shift at the stone building taking peoples’ access fee.
I have heard numerous people tell me stories of how families would drive to Big Ridge Park to see the lights at the stone building. It would be the first time for many of these families to see electricity in use.
One of the benefits of the creation of the Norris Lake was the electricity created from the water flowing through the dam. Big Ridge, being a TVA demonstration park, also brought electricity to the area though parts of Union County still did not get access to electricity until decades later. For many people this was like magic.
It is amazing to think about how in just a few generations we have gone from first use of electricity to personal computers that we carry with us in our pockets that we call smart phones. Within a century we have seen times where electricity was a luxury to now it’s a necessity for most.
In 1949, Big Ridge was turned over to the state to run as a Tennessee State Park. When it became a state park the access changed to be free for day use and the use of the stone building changed to a park office. One of the park’s first clerks was Fontella Suffrage. Fontella told the story of how Jim Rob (park superintendent) visited her house just above the park to offer her a job. She said that she served him some tea and they spoke for some time.
She started work the very next day answering phone calls and taking reservations for the cabins by mail. Fontella worked as the park’s clerk for nearly 30 years, and most of that time she worked in that little stone building.
The State built a new office in the 70’s and the old stone building just became storage for many years. It has since been cleaned out and now serves as a historic CCC building.
The building is solid limestone rock that was harvested on site. The rock was blasted from the side of the hill that created a road access through the park. The rock was then hand chiseled and laid to make perfect level walls and chimney for the whole structure. The originally roof was cedar shake shingles. The CCC boys that built the structure incorporated a grist mill stone into the chimney above the fireplace.
If on your next visit to Big Ridge State Park you would like to take a closer look at the inside of the Old CCC Stone Building, stop by the park office during open hours and we would love to open the building and let folks appreciate the building’s architecture.