by Cindy Phiffer

When Gloria Shacklett Christy and Katie Blankenship heard about the imminent demolition of the Red Rose, they joined forces in hopes of saving the building for the arts. Christy, president of Uncle Dave Macon Days, and Blankenship, satellite music director of YEAH! (Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities) are both music preservationists of sorts—Christy, through her tireless efforts to keep roots music alive, and Katie, through her work to teach rock music to the next generation of musicians.

Sadly, neither anticipated the state of disrepair the building was in. Known to locals as “the Rose,” it had stood vacant and unmaintained for several years before the City of Murfreesboro finally took action.

According to a petition circulating since January by Josh Bright to Save the Rose, the City of Murfreesboro issued a letter to Red Rose owners at the end of last year, warning them that they have 90 days to repair the building or it will be demolished.

Blankenship and Christy tried to halt what some consider progress.

“We talked to realtor Larry Sims,” said Katie, “who explained many of the issues to us, including the dilapidated state of the café area and the lack of parking for future tenants.”

The well-traveled Murfreesboro native went on to explain the importance of the history surrounding the Red Rose, and she didn’t mention The Features even once.

“This road,” Katie said, drawing on a napkin a rough sketch of the Y intersection of West Lytle St. and West College St., “was Gasoline Alley in the 1920s because of the gas station that is also part of the property.” According to Gloria, also of Shacklett’s Photography, their business has a photograph from the time Gasoline Alley stopped just past the gas station connected to the café that was home to area artists and musicians in the 1980s and 1990s.

Pointing to the other arm of the Y, Blankenship said, “And this was the Old Dixie Highway, making this even more historically significant.”

While many think that Broad St. was the Dixie Highway, it was not the original, which was actually West College St. or what was once known as the Old Nashville Hwy. As West College breaks at Broad St. and continues on the other side, this was the only part of Broad St. involved in the Old Dixie Hwy. until you got to the south side of town.

The original Dixie Hwy. was a major vacation and tourist route from the North to Florida in the ’20s and ’30s, bringing people through Murfreesboro to gamble at the casinos on the Square and enjoy what we now call roots music performed by the known and unknown.

That is one thing that never changed when the Rose was a thriving business during the ’80s and ’90s. Bands of local and national renown have played this small venue off and on over the years. When leasers changed, the theme remained basically the same; it was a café with a coffee shop vibe, featuring the work of local artists and the sounds of local musicians.

The fact that a locally owned business couldn’t make it past the age of Starbucks expansion follows a similar trend to the closing of pharmacies due to the explosive growth of Walgreen’s and CVS, and the availability of cheap prescriptions at megastores such as Walmart and grocery store chains.

The building’s original use was as a creamery built to use the milk produced on the Red Rose dairy farm located in Walter Hill. According to Dr. Bill Shacklett—the oldest living physician in Murfreesboro—the Red Rose Creamery once sold ice cream for a nickel. Brothers John (Gloria and “young” Bill’s dad) and a young Dr. Shacklett worked at the popular creamery. Their sister, Sarah Shacklett Tinsley, who moved from Murfreesboro in the ’50s with her husband to Marietta, Ga., says, “They had the most wonderful ice cream in the world. They made cheese and cottage cheese too, but everybody made their own cottage cheese back then.”

When asked whether or not it was a meat and three, Tinsley answered that it was more like a sandwich shop with a soda fountain. The dairy products were made in the back and sold out front.

The popularity of the products might have been because of the fresh milk from which it was made. Once a booming dairy community, Murfreesboro was home to the Carnation plant, located at the corner of what is now Old Fort Pkwy. and Broad St. where its smokestack still stands.

“Gloria might not know this,” Tinsley giggled, “but when he was eight years old, her dad used to ride a horse and buggy into town with the milk from the farm on Sulpher Springs Rd. to the Carnation plant.”

More than just land use has changed since the Red Rose was built. Its architecture alone has made the Rose a favorite of art deco fans, as few businesses remain in the popular style of the 1920s. This prime example was once a showpiece of our community—a tourist destination for those who travel the Old Dixie Hwy. for fun and recreation. Another large tourist draw in our community—Stones River National Battlefield—is also located on the Old Dixie Hwy. less than five miles from the Red Rose.

Larry Sims, the realtor representing the property, was contacted for this article. He was hoping to have news about the status of the property by the time we went to press, but was awaiting word from one of the four property owners.

When Blankenship and Christy realized the amount of money that would be required to buy the property and bring it up to codes level—estimated at $2.5 million—they saw the handwriting on the wall.

Fortunately, all is not lost. Gloria said, “I had to decide whether I was going to put my efforts toward preserving the music or preserving this building.” Both she and Katie have chosen the music. Meanwhile, although part of the building may be demolished by the time this is published, the gas station is hoped to be preserved, representing many of those who came before us and made Murfreesboro what it is today.