Springer's Journey

I’ve been spending some time getting acquainted with Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, home of Loretta Lynn’s Ranch.

Of course, I knew about Loretta Lynn. What I didn’t know was how much history was waiting here before she ever arrived.

There’s an old mill, a dam, and water that has been flowing through this landscape for a very long time.

And you know me.

I can’t look at something like that without asking questions.

Why here?

Why would somebody choose this particular stretch of creek to build a mill? What made this location useful? And how did the people who lived here turn moving water into something that could grind grain—or eventually help produce electricity?

As it turns out, Hurricane Mills was a working community long before it became famous as Loretta Lynn’s home.

In the nineteenth century, the area had a gristmill, a general store, and a post office. Later, the mill and dam became part of an early effort to bring electricity to the surrounding community.

And here’s where my curiosity really took off.

I learned that the old mill contains evidence of water turbines.

Turbines!

Now, I’ve been picturing a great big waterwheel turning beside the mill. But a turbine is another way of extracting energy from moving water.

That changes the questions I want to ask.

How did the water reach those turbines? What did they drive? How much of the original machinery remains? And can I learn to recognize the evidence when I look at the building and the creek?

I don’t have all those answers yet.

Isn’t that wonderful?

Because I’m beginning to realize that one of the great pleasures of this journey is discovering how much I don’t know about the places I visit.

A building isn’t simply a building anymore.

A creek isn’t simply a creek.

And an old mill isn’t merely something pretty to photograph.

It’s a collection of decisions made by people who understood something about the land and water around them.

I’m learning to ask a different question when I encounter these places:

What happened here?

And then another:

How would I know?

Loretta Lynn’s Ranch has already given me a great deal to think about. And I suspect that old mill has quite a few stories left to tell.

I’ll be going back.

After all, we’re only beginning to read the landscape.

And I have a feeling the next question is already waiting around the corner.

Slow and easy sets the pace.

❤️