Forrest Forrest's Boyhood Home

Bonedaddy

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Jan 2, 2020
August of 2018, my wife and I stayed in Columbia, TN. for several days and took in all the historic sites around that city, Springhill, Thompson's Station, and Franklin. One day, we found Forrest's boyhood home site outside of Chapel Hill. For those of you who know the area, there is a marker off the road and a large iron gate to get inside the property. The gate happened to be open that date, so I drove (to my wife's objections) right in and after a short distance, came upon the site. There was a gentleman working in the yard and I drove up and contacted him. Turned out he was Mr. Gene Andrews, the caretaker of the property and a prominent member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. You never know how someone will react upon driving up on them and I kind of expected to be told to leave. I introduced myself and my wife to Mr. Andrews and asked, with a sheepish grin, what would it take to get inside that house. Mr. Andrews smiled and asked if I had $10.00. I told him that I did and he said to drive on up to the front of the house and he would be there shortly. We could not have asked for a nicer and more cordial host than Mr. Andrews. He stopped his work and gave us the rock star tour of the complete inside of the house and the out buildings. I bought a few items for sale in the small gift shop and made a donation to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It was my birthday that date and my wife told Mr. Andrews that I could not have received a better present. I seconded that statement to him. I have been a Forrest fan for years and I think that I have read every book written about him except for maybe one or two. For those of you who know Mr. Andrews, this is not new information. He is a class act and I will always cherish the visit.
 
Welcome! I'm very glad you had a great experience at the Boyhood Home. We have several members here who are very much acquainted with the Boyhood Home - I think you'll enjoy discovering this board's history with it. Did you see Larry's spot? :D

 
No, I'm sorry to say that I did not see the plaque. I really didn't spend a lot of time looking around the outbuildings and didn't get very close to them. We spent most of the time there inside the different rooms of the residence enjoying Mr. Andrews's stories.
 
August of 2018, my wife and I stayed in Columbia, TN. for several days and took in all the historic sites around that city, Springhill, Thompson's Station, and Franklin. One day, we found Forrest's boyhood home site outside of Chapel Hill. For those of you who know the area, there is a marker off the road and a large iron gate to get inside the property. The gate happened to be open that date, so I drove (to my wife's objections) right in and after a short distance, came upon the site. There was a gentleman working in the yard and I drove up and contacted him. Turned out he was Mr. Gene Andrews, the caretaker of the property and a prominent member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. You never know how someone will react upon driving up on them and I kind of expected to be told to leave. I introduced myself and my wife to Mr. Andrews and asked, with a sheepish grin, what would it take to get inside that house. Mr. Andrews smiled and asked if I had $10.00. I told him that I did and he said to drive on up to the front of the house and he would be there shortly. We could not have asked for a nicer and more cordial host than Mr. Andrews. He stopped his work and gave us the rock star tour of the complete inside of the house and the out buildings. I bought a few items for sale in the small gift shop and made a donation to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It was my birthday that date and my wife told Mr. Andrews that I could not have received a better present. I seconded that statement to him. I have been a Forrest fan for years and I think that I have read every book written about him except for maybe one or two. For those of you who know Mr. Andrews, this is not new information. He is a class act and I will always cherish the visit.
 
No, I'm sorry to say that I did not see the plaque. I really didn't spend a lot of time looking around the outbuildings and didn't get very close to them. We spent most of the time there inside the different rooms of the residence enjoying Mr. Andrews's stories.

There's always plenty to see there! Here is another thread on Larry - the new portion of the home is the part he worked hard on.


Let me give a holler: @Nathanb1 , @7th Mississippi Infantry
 
There's always plenty to see there! Here is another thread on Larry - the new portion of the home is the part he worked hard on.


Let me give a holler: @Nathanb1 , @7th Mississippi Infantry

Larry was THE BEST !

I doubt any one can ever match his intricate knowledge of Forrest.
(except @diane )
 
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August of 2018, my wife and I stayed in Columbia, TN. for several days and took in all the historic sites around that city, Springhill, Thompson's Station, and Franklin. One day, we found Forrest's boyhood home site outside of Chapel Hill. For those of you who know the area, there is a marker off the road and a large iron gate to get inside the property. The gate happened to be open that date, so I drove (to my wife's objections) right in and after a short distance, came upon the site. There was a gentleman working in the yard and I drove up and contacted him. Turned out he was Mr. Gene Andrews, the caretaker of the property and a prominent member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. You never know how someone will react upon driving up on them and I kind of expected to be told to leave. I introduced myself and my wife to Mr. Andrews and asked, with a sheepish grin, what would it take to get inside that house. Mr. Andrews smiled and asked if I had $10.00. I told him that I did and he said to drive on up to the front of the house and he would be there shortly. We could not have asked for a nicer and more cordial host than Mr. Andrews. He stopped his work and gave us the rock star tour of the complete inside of the house and the out buildings. I bought a few items for sale in the small gift shop and made a donation to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It was my birthday that date and my wife told Mr. Andrews that I could not have received a better present. I seconded that statement to him. I have been a Forrest fan for years and I think that I have read every book written about him except for maybe one or two. For those of you who know Mr. Andrews, this is not new information. He is a class act and I will always cherish the visit.

I forgot to say, welcome to CivilWarTalk.

I think you'll enjoy all of the information that's available about Forrest in his forum !
 
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I forgot to say, welcome to CivilWarTalk.

I think you'll enjoy all of the information that's available about Forrest in his forum !

August of 2018, my wife and I stayed in Columbia, TN. for several days and took in all the historic sites around that city, Springhill, Thompson's Station, and Franklin. One day, we found Forrest's boyhood home site outside of Chapel Hill. For those of you who know the area, there is a marker off the road and a large iron gate to get inside the property. The gate happened to be open that date, so I drove (to my wife's objections) right in and after a short distance, came upon the site. There was a gentleman working in the yard and I drove up and contacted him. Turned out he was Mr. Gene Andrews, the caretaker of the property and a prominent member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. You never know how someone will react upon driving up on them and I kind of expected to be told to leave. I introduced myself and my wife to Mr. Andrews and asked, with a sheepish grin, what would it take to get inside that house. Mr. Andrews smiled and asked if I had $10.00. I told him that I did and he said to drive on up to the front of the house and he would be there shortly. We could not have asked for a nicer and more cordial host than Mr. Andrews. He stopped his work and gave us the rock star tour of the complete inside of the house and the out buildings. I bought a few items for sale in the small gift shop and made a donation to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It was my birthday that date and my wife told Mr. Andrews that I could not have received a better present. I seconded that statement to him. I have been a Forrest fan for years and I think that I have read every book written about him except for maybe one or two. For those of you who know Mr. Andrews, this is not new information. He is a class act and I will always cherish the visit.

I have no idea how I missed this thread...but YAY! It's a special place. Gene Andrews was instrumental in getting our little group there and in arranging for the plaque on the barn all those years ago. I think there's an entire thread about Larry and our trip, with lots of photos, some incriminating. :bounce: I'll see if I can find it!
 
I have no idea how I missed this thread...but YAY! It's a special place. Gene Andrews was instrumental in getting our little group there and in arranging for the plaque on the barn all those years ago. I think there's an entire thread about Larry and our trip, with lots of photos, some incriminating. :bounce: I'll see if I can find it!

I think it's included our sub forum about Larry.

:smoke:

 
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I think it's included our sub forum about Larry.

:smoke:


Bingo...they start on this page...and the Flickr link still works.

 
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