Proposed rock quarry leaves residents stone-faced

Click here for original article.

The Portland Leader
By Bonnie Fussell, Contributing Writer

Published:

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Sumner County Board of Zoning and Appeals voted unanimously to deny the request made by Hoover, Inc. to build a rock quarry and additional supportive plants in the historical Castalian Springs area. A large crowd of concerned citizens from all areas of the county attended the Thursday night (July 14) meeting at the Sumner County Administration Building.

Recently, Rutherford County's Hoover, Inc. purchased over 350 acres of land and several additional parcels in Castalian Springs for this purpose.

Tennessee's State Historian Weighs In...

Lines Drawn over Castalian Springs Quarry

Published in the TennesseanBy Walter T. Durham

Tennessee State Historian

July 13, 2011

The announced intention of Hoover Inc. Crushed Stone to open a rock quarry, crusher, ready-mix concrete plant and hot-mix asphalt operation in Castalian Springs has met a hostile reception from the community and historical organizations.

Neighbors to the 350-acre pastoral farmland on Corum Hill Road at State Highway 25 in Sumner County are incensed because Hoover acquired the land by setting up a front company called Western Farm Products LLC so that local people would not suspect that a rock quarry was about to settle among them. Many in the community were further incensed when Hoover posted no-trespassing signs along the property line in what appeared to be an effort to deter opponents from investigating the property for Indian burials and artifacts.

People with homes and farms surrounding the proposed quarry believe that their
property values will plummet. They ask, “Who will want to buy homes on land near a
rock crusher and asphalt plant?”

Neighbors and outdoorsmen object because of the impact of the quarry on the
natural resources of the area — fields, forests, streams and clean air. How will air
pollution affect lives of the young and the elderly? They question the effects of the
Hoover operation on Bledsoe Creek State Park, a popular camping facility.

And the quarry could have an adverse impact on a long-range plan by the Tennessee State Historical Commission to develop Castalian Springs into a historical park. 

Wealth of historic homes

Marveling at the tenure and scope of the Castalian Springs story, historians deplore the location of a rock crusher near so many historic sites and structures. The first known humans in the area were American Indians of the Mississippian Period, Stone Age mound builders, about 1500 A.D. Although resisted by Indians, colonial settlers and African slaves (1795) prevailed, and their men participated in the War of 1812, the Seminole War of 1836, and the 1846 Mexican War. During the Civil War, Union and Confederate armies visited the town periodically.

William Brimage Bate enlisted local Confederate companies that fought throughout the war. He rose to the rank of major general. H.L. Hunley left Castalian Springs to build the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. The CSS H.L. Hunley sank the Housatonic, a 1,240-ton steamship, in Charleston Harbor in 1864.

Several historic houses stand today. Cragfont, built 1798-1802, was the home of James Winchester, a brigadier general in the War of 1812. The largest historic log house in the state, Wynnewood, was built in 1828-1830 to be a stagecoach inn. Hawthorne Hill is the birthplace of General/Governor/Senator Bate; his cousin, who became the Italian countess Eugenia Bate Bertinatti, and Dr. Humphrey Bate, whose string band performed on the first WSM Grand Ole Opry broadcast.

These houses are all owned by the state. Nearby on Rock Springs Road are the residences of early settler Francis Weatherred and Governor Bate, both privately owned.

In Bledsoe’s Fort Park are three houses built by pioneers: the 1795 stone cottage of Hugh Rogan, the log house of the same vintage of Nathanial Parker, and the 1812 log house birthplace of H.L. Hunley.

Today the pleasant, tranquil community of Castalian Springs with its American Indian roots in the Stone Age faces a distasteful intrusion of the 21st century. The citizens are resisting even as the Indians and Confederates did. But this time, the resisters plan to win.

Opponents look to crush rock quarry plans in Sumner County

Click here for video.   A second video includes a short segment shown on 5pm news prior to the meeting.

WKRN News Channel 2
July 14, 2011

 SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. – Residents, neighbors, and historical associations in Sumner County are fighting to keep a rock quarry from breaking ground on a section of Hwy 25 in Castalian Springs.

Voting at a Thursday meeting could start the process of getting the quarry up and running.  Nearby residents are fuming, and plan to do everything in their power to stop it.

According to John Simmons, a resident in the community, "My home value is going to go down to practically nothing.  Can they say something to placate me on that?  No."

In May, Hoover Incorporated purchased more than three hundred acres in the community east of Gallatin for the quarry; that land, is close to multiple historic attractions.

The Wynnewood Mansion, Cragfont Estates, and the Ancient Native American Burial Grounds are all located near the site, which caused historical associations to get involved in the battle.

"We will fight ... night and day..."

Find the story online here.

By Marjorie Lloyd

The Gallatin News
Thursday, July 7, 2011 

"We’re proud of this community; we’re proud of this land. And I want you to take this message back to Mr. Hoover: We will take this fight. We will fight, we will fight ... we will go night and day. We will not give up.  You have stepped onto a hornet’s nest here."

        –Tom Neal     

Tom Neal ended the open meeting at The Bethel Brown Chamber of the County Administration Building last Thursday night with his spur-of-the-moment remarks (above) in response to all that he had heard during the question-and-answer session hosted by representatives from Hoover, Inc.

The company plans to mine a quarry on more than 350 acres of land in the Castalian Springs area, dependent upon approval of a “conditional use permit” by the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals.  That hearing is scheduled for July 14, at 6 p.m., again at the Brown Chamber of the CAB.

There was standing-room only, with people lining the walls and another line extending into the lobby, even a few sitting on the floor. The occasion was the open meeting hosted by Tom White, the attorney for Hoover Inc., “the company behind the company” created in April, Western Farm Products, LLC in order to purchase four parcels of land off Old Highway 25 in Castalian Springs. (See “Quarry buys land in Castalian Springs” in the June 15 edition of The Gallatin Newspaper.)

White stated at the beginning of the meeting that this was a “voluntary” meeting that Hoover, Inc. was hosting and that even though they “disagreed on many things,” at least the company was attempting to keep the residents informed about exactly what they were proposing for the site.