THOMAS AMIS HOUSE

This entry is titled Thomas Amis House but it has nothing to do with any house.  Thomas Amis was a pioneer in this area and he built a home in Hawkins County, Tennessee back in 1780 on Big Creek.  Of course there was no Hawkins county back then - just a territory.  Anyhow, Mr. Amis built his house, lived in it and also rented out rooms to travelers on an overnight basis.  Later on he built a store, tavern, distillery, saw and grist mills and surrounded the whole thing with a palisade fort to protect his holdings from Indian attack.

 What a cold, cold morning.  Stopped at the boat ramp at Quarryville to visit the graveyard of the old church there and shot these pics of the mountain side.  Burrr!

The grave yard at this church is on the historical places records and contains many very old tombstones.  The markers are left to their own devices for the most part and the hand of man remains void where the stones are concerned.  The grass is cut occasionally but its a weedy place and a rustic memory of past times.

 I invited Clarissa Sharp to ride with me today and photograph the Amis waterfall where the old grist mill used to reside.  She was really interested in this old cemetery and I'm looking forward to seeing her photos.

I'm always looking for old cabins and houses to photograph.

The Thomas Amis place is just outside of Rogersville near Beech Creek so the ride there didn't take long.  We stopped the truck at a pull off that paralleled the Amis Park and gathered up tripods and all the accessories needed to take photos of water on an overcast, cold day.  Did I say it was cold?

 If you look closely at the shot below you will see the water has an edge to it center picture.  That is the edge of an impressive waterfall.  Here,  I'll show you next photo.

 This waterfall is addicting.  The place has all the charm of yesteryear - the times when things were right with the country.

 The photo below is one of my all time favorites.  The light was soft and everything went as expected for once with the result being a lovely creation that is pleasing to the eye.  Or, at least pleasing to my eye.

Below is what is left of the original grist mill.  Even in its destruction the old stones make one stare in awe at the fact they still lay where Mr Amis put them 235 years ago.

 I just happened to look up toward the sky for whatever reason and noticed a dot dangling from a tree.  Its in the picture above. Look closely to see it.  I guarantee its there and can be found.  I put the telephoto on it and the result is below:

 What a pretty picture the old hay rake makes.

The hawk just appeared and I took a wild shot at it.  Badly back lighted as usual but the images are usable, I guess.  

Just a nice old building below:

 Here's the front view

 The door has that old antique look as it displays progressive ruination

Last but not least is a shot of a building that I photographed earlier in the week.  We went past again today on the way back from the park and I stopped to investigate it further.

 All this stuff just seems to be sitting on shelves exposed to the elements.  Why doesn't the wind and rain carry them away or at least knock them off the shelving?  Wonder if the stuff is nailed down.

 Here's more of the story.  This is the city garbage drop off point.  Yep.  This building is right next to the shack where the old guy sits who watches the garbage bags being crushed.  I'm betting he picks all this stuff up out of the garbage and sells it.  Just a guess.  Anyhow, he has a really diverse collection of, well, a, useful junk.  The place is a conversation piece for sure.

Clarissa was great company and we had a super time talking about photography all day.  Time flew and we were on our way home too soon.  I'm really looking forward to seeing her pictures as she has a knack of putting that museum (brownish gray) color onto her pictures.  Hard to explain.  So check her out on face book (Clarissa Sharp) and I guess you can find me there also if you like, at least for awhile.  See ya.