PHOTO ID: Rutherford County Historian Greg Tucker (right) presents a copy of Rutherford Patchwork
MURFREESBORO, TN (WGNS) - Rutherford County Historian Greg Tucker has once again stitched together the county’s past in a way only he can. His newly released book, Rutherford Patchwork, brings fresh life to familiar landmarks, forgotten stories, and the people who shaped Murfreesboro long before it became the bustling community we know today.
Tucker, who has served as county historian since 2013, has built a reputation for digging past the myths and polishing the facts. His conversational, “rest of the story” style makes history feel less like a textbook and more like sitting across from a neighbor who knows every family tree in town.
One of the standout tales in Rutherford Patchwork follows a young James K. Polk, long before he became America’s 11th president. Tucker traces Polk’s teenage years at Bradley Academy on East Main Street, where he became smitten with Sarah Childress, the Murfreesboro girl who would later become First Lady. Their 1824 wedding, officiated by Rev. Robert Henderson, is just the beginning—Tucker uncovers an unusual twist in the records that adds a new layer to Polk’s Murfreesboro chapter.
The book also revisits the rise and fall of the historic Boy Scout House on Ewing Boulevard. Built during the WPA era after First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt pushed for better opportunities for young people, the log cabin later became home to Boy Scout Troop 359. Tucker recounts how Scoutmaster Percy Dempsey transformed the building in the 1960s, and how generations of local leaders—Bob Corlew, Ewing Sellers, Larry Tolbert, Jim Garner—climbed those stairs as young Scouts. Eventually it became the home of Murfreesboro Little Theatre. City officials grew increasingly worried that the aging, all‑wood structure posed a serious fire risk for the large crowds who routinely packed into the little log‑cabin theatre. After 57-years of live theatre, the log cabin's end came swiftly in September 2019 when city bulldozers arrived at dawn.
Tucker doesn’t shy away from harder chapters either. Rutherford Patchwork includes stories of lynchings, Civil War hospital trains, and the curious chain of events that brought the Carnation Milk Plant to Murfreesboro. Today, only the towering brick smokestack remains, a landmark you pass every time you cross the MTSU bridge over Broad Street.
He even chronicles the loss of the oldest living thing on the Murfreesboro square—a 175‑year‑old sycamore tree that once shaded the southeast corner of the courthouse.
Rutherford Patchwork is available Saturday mornings during the Rutherford County Historical Society's "Coffee and Conversation" at the Historic Ransom Schoolhouse, 717 N. Academy Street, drop-in anytime between 9:00AM to noon. You can also find the book at Country Gourmet at 107 East Main, or at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Visitor’s Bureau at 3050 Medical Center Parkway--weekdays between 8:00AM and 4:30PM.
Bart talks with Rutherford County Historian Greg Tucker about his new book "Rutherford Patchwork"...
