Dandridge, TN

 For our 33rd Anniversary we wanted to go out and have some fun so we decided to check out the town of Dandridge, TN. Dandridge is known as the second oldest city in Tennessee; Jonesborough is the oldest city in Tennessee.  Dandridge was founded in 1783 and became the county seat for Jefferson County in 1793.  The town was named after Martha Dandridge Washington, the wife of George Washington the first President of the United States.  There was a Civil War skirmish that occurred in Dandridge on December 24, 1863 between  Confederate General James Longstreet and Union General Ambrose Burnside both trying to gain control of Knoxville.  A detachment of Longstreet's army intercepted the Union brigade just north of Dandridge and forced them to fall back to New Market. 
In 1942 Douglas Dam was constructed and some of the best farmland was flooded.  The historic town of Dandridge was going to be lost because it sits below the water level of Douglas Lake but the city petitioned then-First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to save Dandridge especially since it was the only city in the United States named for Martha Dandridge Washington.  A saddle dam was built between Dandridge and the lake.  The dam rises almost directly behind the Town Hall and run roughly parallel to Main Street; it is known as the Million Dollar Dike.
There is an American Revolutionary War cemetery that is interesting to walk through.  The buildings in downtown Dandridge are well maintained and is a great downtown historic area.  There was a farmer's market going on so we checked it out.  Fresh bread, produce, honey and some local made crafts were some of the items at the farmer's market.  There is an old drug store, the Tinsley-Bible Drug store, was established in 1911 and has been a drug store ever since.  It also has a lunch counter, like many drugstores did back then and when I was a little girl, and so we had to have some ice cream.  Tim, Lisa and I had rootbeer floats and George had a banana split.
The town of Dandridge is really below Douglas lake and when you cross the lake and look at the million dollar dike all you can see of the town of Dandridge are the church steeples.  It was a nice town to visit and when walking around it you could sense it's history and having some ice cream in the drugstore you kind of felt like you were walking around a "Mayberry".