Still Standing

Grandmother Hurst's House

Still Standing in Union County

 

John, Reid, Grandmother Hurst,
Wendy, David and me
Christmas Season, 1978

     The above photo is a fairly recent image of my Great-Grandmother Hurst's house in Union County, Tennessee.  This was my grandfather's childhood home. I found this photo by using the "street view" icon on Google maps.  I also took a virtual drive up and down the road leading to the house and it seems that not much has changed since I actually took a drive to see it over twenty years ago.  We used to visit Grandmother Hurst several times a year and what stands out in my memory about those visits were the stern warnings that my cousins and I received to stay away from the cistern that was in the side yard (for obvious reasons, none of our parents wanted us falling down a deep dark well) and the fact that there was no indoor plumbing. There was an outhouse on the hill up behind the house, but that never really appealed to me.

     As for the history of this house, I'm not really sure (date built, date purchased).  What I do know is that my great-grandfather, Attie Hugh Hurst, had two wives (not at the same time) and twelve children and they all lived here.  He and his first wife, Nancy Butcher, had three daughters (Stella, Retha and Leta) and when Nancy died he married my great-grandmother, Mary Williams, and they had nine more children (Fred, Nora, Jessie, Troy, Glenn, Harlan, L.J., Lou and H.C.).  It's amazing to me that this house is still standing there. I'd like to take a drive out to see it again, just wondering who I need to contact to make sure that would be okay. 

Attie Hugh Hurst's Children
Not sure about the back row, but the front row is
Jessie, Troy, Glenn, Harlan, LJ, Louella and HC.
Aunt Lou didn't like being called "Louella".