#36 Union City TN, week of 9-29 thru 10-8-2008

While we were in TN, we stayed at AAA RV Park in Union City. There weren't any parks closer to Martin. Boy, did we luck out! The owner of the park is Bill Autry (he says he's cousin to Gene Autry, and he is sticking to that story!), and his wife Shirley. Together with their daughter Beth and son Billy, they run the park and have a dirt business. I think he just likes to play with his track hoe and tractor and dump truck! The second night we were there we were invited to a old fashioned bar-b-que, along with the rest of the park residents. There are only 21 spaces in the park and lots of the spaces are people who stay for weeks at a time before moving on to another job. Bill really took us under his wing and showed us the sights of Union City. He grew up in Union City and has so many stories to tell about the people and their successes. The morning after the Bar-B-Que (which was cooked by a competition bar-b-que cook), Bill stopped by the RV and took us out to breakfast. We were regaled by stories about the folks who frequent the cafe, and then Bill drove us around the area and gave us a history lesson on different businesses that have been started and became successful right there in Union City. We found out about the man who invented the "stone washed" process for jeans. He holds the patent on the process and any of the major blue jean manufactures that want to use that process have to send their jeans to Union City. This man started out as a linen supplier for uniforms. He is now a multimillionaire.
Then on another day we took Bill to the "Snappy Tomato" pizza place for lunch. He had told us about this place that makes unusual pizza. And boy are they unusual. Ever heard of a cheese burger pizza?, how about a hot wing pizza, and to top it off he makes a killer chocolate pizza with Bavarian cream filling and chocolate chips, as well as a apple cream pizza and a cherry cream pizza. And boy are they good! We met the owner/operator and he is just a country boy, and any friend of Bill's is a friend of his.

Above is a picture of part of the collection of autos-mostly Fords, that the owner of the Dixie Gun Works has in his museum. For a nominal charge of $2.00 each we could spend as much time as we wanted looking at his collection. Not only were there cars, but there was a carnival popcorn wagon that was powered by a steam engine, an old Whippet car, which is the forerunner of the Jeep, canoes, and the old time bicycles with the big front wheels.

The picture above is a replica of an old gun shop. All the tools and grinders and old barrels are in there. A person who knew what he was doing could walk right in and start repairing old guns and even manufacturing some. It was really cool, with labels on the equipment so you could see what they were used for.

I was fascinated by this mail delivery truck. For traveling in the hilly country when there was snow on the road, the truck had tracks onthe rear tires. Looks to me like it would be mighty cold work!

Ahh, I remember the Edsel. This car was supposed to really boost the sales at Ford. I remember when it first came out. It was really cool looking.

If you look on the walls above the Edsel you will see all kinds of parts hanging, both from the ceiling and from the walls. The entire room is just covered with all kinds of parts. Wheels, hub caps, fenders in their original boxes and all kinds of hood ornaments. The owners of the Dixie Gun Works put up discriptions of the cars, where they acquired, how much the paid for them and when they were aquired. This was all very interesting.

Out in the main store is where the guns and accessories are sold. Most of their business is mail order and they have a huge catalogue and are known world wide. If you would like to by a suit of armor, they have a couple for sale. There are some cannons, and lots of Civil War replicas. This was another Union City business I'd never heard of.

We were both unaware that Goodyear tires are made in Union City. The plant here employes almost 3,000 people. It is a hugh operation.

Another business in this area is "Kirklands," which is a big import business in home decorations. It was started by a couple of brothers that grew up in Union City. All their imports are personally selected by one of the brothers, who goes to China and other foreign countries to pick out their products. Bill Autry hung out with their younger brother when he was in grade school.

Who would have thought that the little town of Union City could hide such stories?

We were ready to hit the road after all our visiting, but sad to say good by.

Next stop-Branson, MO.