I was only joking (April Fool)
This week my work takes me to Columbia, TN, the seat of Maury County. Although I am a local, I find myself pronouncing the county name like Maury Povich's name, and I think I do that because of the former pastor of Cornerstone Nashville, Maury Davis. Now I could write about him because he's quite a character, but I would prefer not to right now. I have plenty to write about otherwise.
You see, this week is the big one here in Columbia, the week leading up to Mule Day. There's a town about 35 miles east of here named Shelbyville where they celebrate the Tennessee Walking Horse. In Columbia, the horse's lowly cousin the mule is celebrated. I'll write more about Mule Day tomorrow. Tonight, my focus is on a celebrated native of Maury County. It is April 1, and on this day in 1900, James Percy Priest was born near Columbia, TN.
Now if you have never been to Nashville, you may never have heard of this man. However, if you have been on I-40 just east of the airport, you have probably seen the J. Percy Priest Dam. South of the dam is a large lake on the Stones River named Percy Priest Lake, often just called Priest Lake. You may wonder, just who was this J. Percy Priest, and why is a dam named after him?
When I was a kid, I pictured J. Percy looking kind of like this...
Amazon.com
Now, I know this isn't Percy Priest. It's William Conrad, known for playing Frank Cannon (after years of playing Matt Dillon on radio's "Gunsmoke" and being the announcer for "Rocky and Bullwinkle"). While Conrad was, indeed, a fisherman, I got this picture in my head from reading the Tennessean and seeing pictures of this man, sometimes on the same page as sporting news from Percy Priest Lake...
So, when I learned that J. Percy Priest actually looked like this...
(By Harris & Ewing - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3c34335. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, Link)
I was a little surprised. Did Percy Priest like fishing? I don't know. He did not know he got a lake named after him. Mr. Priest was born on this day in 1900, and died on October 12, 1956, at the relatively young age of 56. That's not much older than I am now!
So, why is the dam named after him?
Out in the country on Carter's Creek Pike (not far from the home of another Maury County legend, my favorite NASCAR driver of all time, Sterling Marlin) across from the intersection of B. Dodson Road, stands a historical marker honoring the memory of this man. The marker displays a brief biography:
You see, this week is the big one here in Columbia, the week leading up to Mule Day. There's a town about 35 miles east of here named Shelbyville where they celebrate the Tennessee Walking Horse. In Columbia, the horse's lowly cousin the mule is celebrated. I'll write more about Mule Day tomorrow. Tonight, my focus is on a celebrated native of Maury County. It is April 1, and on this day in 1900, James Percy Priest was born near Columbia, TN.
Now if you have never been to Nashville, you may never have heard of this man. However, if you have been on I-40 just east of the airport, you have probably seen the J. Percy Priest Dam. South of the dam is a large lake on the Stones River named Percy Priest Lake, often just called Priest Lake. You may wonder, just who was this J. Percy Priest, and why is a dam named after him?
When I was a kid, I pictured J. Percy looking kind of like this...
Amazon.com
Now, I know this isn't Percy Priest. It's William Conrad, known for playing Frank Cannon (after years of playing Matt Dillon on radio's "Gunsmoke" and being the announcer for "Rocky and Bullwinkle"). While Conrad was, indeed, a fisherman, I got this picture in my head from reading the Tennessean and seeing pictures of this man, sometimes on the same page as sporting news from Percy Priest Lake...
clipped from the Tennessean, 1957
So, when I learned that J. Percy Priest actually looked like this...
(By Harris & Ewing - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3c34335. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, Link)
I was a little surprised. Did Percy Priest like fishing? I don't know. He did not know he got a lake named after him. Mr. Priest was born on this day in 1900, and died on October 12, 1956, at the relatively young age of 56. That's not much older than I am now!
So, why is the dam named after him?
Out in the country on Carter's Creek Pike (not far from the home of another Maury County legend, my favorite NASCAR driver of all time, Sterling Marlin) across from the intersection of B. Dodson Road, stands a historical marker honoring the memory of this man. The marker displays a brief biography:
Photo by Marisa Bush
I enjoyed my drive out in the country and maybe another day this week I can talk about my days as a Marlinite. Oh, my wild, misspent youth.
Approximately a mile from the sign, running between B. Dodson Road and Les Robinson Road, is Percy Priest Road. I'm assuming this short road is in the approximate location of the birthplace.
Photos by Marisa Bush
There's a water recreation area at Priest Lake called Nashville Shores. It opened in the 1970s under the name of Hermitage Landing. I honestly don't remember when the name changed, but I remember going there in the summer before my senior year of high school with my church youth group, including two sophomore boys, one of whom is now a doctor here in Columbia. Not naming names, he knows who he is. I got so sunburned that day I could barely move my arms the next day when I had to go back to work.
Mr. Priest died in 1956 and shortly thereafter, plans were announced that a Nashville elementary school being constructed would be named Percy Priest School. The school on Otter Creek Road is still in use today. In 1958, J. Carlton Loser (pronounced Low-ser), Priest's successor in Congress, asked the Corps of Engineers to change the name of the proposed Stewart's Ferry Dam to honor J. Percy Priest, and the rest is history.
In the interest of brevity, I'll stop here with the story of Percy Priest, but I thought readers and students of Nashville would like to know more about this person whose namesake dam and lake have provided fun and entertainment for generations of future Nashvillians.
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