May 12, 2025 • 32 mins
🎙️
Loretta Lynn’s rise to fame is nothing short of legendary, and in this episode, we dive into her incredible journey from a coal miner's daughter to the queen of country music. We chat about her humble beginnings in Butcher Holler and how a guitar gift from her husband, Doolittle, kicked off her musical career. Our visit to her home at Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, adds a personal touch as we explore how she transformed that space into a thriving tourist destination. From unforgettable hits to empowering songs about women, Loretta’s impact on country music is undeniable. Join us as we celebrate her legacy and share some fun stories from our time at Hurricane Mills!
📍 Google Maps to Hurricane Mills
🎥 Video version of this podcast
💬 Comment on this episode here
-------------------------------------------------------
⬇️ Help us keep the show going and explore history with us! ⬇️
☕️ Say thanks with a cup of coffee 😁
🧳 Get free travel resources in your inbox.
-------------------------------------------------------
📧 contact: talkwithhistory@gmail.com
Talk with History is a global Top 50 History podcast on Feedspot!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Like, no, no joke. He was acousin of Loretta Lynn's.
Mac Butcher hollers about herroots, how she grew up being a coal
miner's daughter. Thatpoverty, what that looked like. She's
always going to be the girlwho didn't have a pair of shoes.
I'm about fixing to die like Ilove because that's how I would feel
too. Like she writes a songabout the pill and she writes about
(00:21):
women empowerment and don'tcome home a drinking with lovin on
your mind. She is stillconsidered the queen of country music.
She has not been dethroned.
Welcome to Talk with History.I'm your host Scott, here with my
(00:44):
wife and historian, Jen.
Hello.
On this podcast, we give youinsights to our history Inspired
World Travels YouTube channelJourney and examine history through
deeper conversations with thecurious, the explorers and the history
lovers out there. Now, Jen,before we get into our main topic,
I do want to give one shoutout and that is I'm going to give
a shout out to one of thebiggest history podcasts on the planet
(01:08):
right now. And that is historythat doesn't Suck. So we actually,
I had reached out to the, tothe show to see if they'd be interested
in Jen going on there. I'mtrying to get Jen onto other other
podcasts in front of otherpodcast audience for a chat with
Greg the host to chat aboutpotentially like the Hatfields McCoys
because that's a popular topicand Jen knows a lot about that. So
(01:29):
they didn't bite on my attemptto get Jen on the show, but they
were kind enough to send us alittle note with the, with a coin.
So I thought it was pretty cool.
Yeah. So Professor GregJackson from History Doesn't Suck
sent us this challenge coin.So Scott and I are both military.
I'm a veteran, Scott's activeduty. And these challenge coins are
usually what they hand out toother military members after you've
(01:53):
completed an assignment oryou've met somebody of high rank.
And he sent us this letterthanking us for our military service.
And it has a Latin term onthere, bendi vidi da Vinci, which
I came, I saw, I learned,which I thought was pretty cool.
And it says, I'd like to tellyou a story because that's how he
(02:13):
starts out his podcast. So Iwould like to tell you a story, Professor
Jackson. So if you would everlike to be a guest on our podcast,
if we could be a guest on yourpodcast, we did come see you live
in Norfolk and you actuallygave us a shout out to the crowd
Which I really appreciated,but. And we met you after and we
(02:33):
took pictures with you. Youwere really great and very nice to
talk to, but it's a podcast. Ilisten to you even now, so thank
you for the coin. We reallyappreciate it.
Yeah, pretty cool. In 1932, ayoung girl named Loretta Webb was
(02:56):
born into poverty near ButcherHoller, Kentucky. She grew up in
a small cabin over in ButcherHoller with seven siblings, where
her father worked as a coalMiner. At just 15 years old, she
married Oliver Doolittle Lynn,who believed in her musical talent
so much that he bought her herfirst guitar for $17. This coal miner's
(03:19):
daughter started singing inlocal venues, raising her children
at the same time. Her uniquevoice and honest songwriting about
real life experiencesresonated with audiences. Her first
hit, I'm a Honky Tonk girl,came in 1960, followed by a string
of successful singles thatspoke to everyday people. As her
(03:40):
star rose in country music,Loretta's dreams grew bigger. In
1966, with the money earnedfrom her hit records and touring,
she and Doolittle purchasedthe entire town of Hurricane Mills,
Tennessee, a sprawling estatethat included a plantation home,
post office, and generalstore. That purchase was more than
just a simple preferenceproperty acquisition. It was Loretta's
(04:01):
way to show how far coalminer's daughter had come through
determination and raw talent.All right, Jen. So we, during our
spring break, went to kind ofone of the more interesting tourist
(04:23):
attractions of Tennessee. It'sabout halfway between Memphis and
Nashville. And that was. Thatwas Hurricane Mills. And we had done
some Loretta Lynn contentbefore. We'd actually been to Butcher
Hauler. We talked to, like, acousin of hers, which was really
interesting. I will link that,that video because we like. No, no
joke. He was a cousin ofLoretta Lynn's, and he was super
(04:46):
country. Great guy. Mac, ofcourse, it was Mack. But we went
to Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Yeah.
And we made a video fromButcherHauler, and we made a corresponding
podcast with that. And if youlook up Talk with History, you'll
see. You might see one of ourcritiques is about that podcast where
(05:09):
the person's like, you didn'ttalk about Loretta Lynn's career.
You didn't talk about LorettaLynn, what she did for country music.
You just talked about ButcherHoller. And this person was, like,
very upset that we didn't gointo Loretta Lynn's career. So this
is the answer to thatcritique. Okay, we're going to talk
more about the star, thecountry, the queen of country music,
(05:31):
the woman who is. Who BecameLoretta Lynn. Butcher Holler is more
about Loretta Webb. It's moreabout her before she even marries
Due and goes off to become thecountry music star that she eventually
will become. This is about herroot. The Butcher Hollers about her
roots, how she grew up being acoal miner's daughter, that poverty,
(05:54):
what that looked like, and howthat kind of eventually formed her
whole career. Hurricane Mills.And I actually think I get it wrong
when I talk about ButcherHollow. I think I say Hurricane Hills
because it just is rhymy. Butthis is Hurricane Mills. Like, she
doesn't rename it. She buysthe town. And it was named Hurricane
(06:16):
Mill. Now, this is alreadyafter she has a career. She's living
in Nashville with Due, herhusband, and their children. And
she's already had all of herchildren by then. And they go out
driving one night to get awayfrom the city. Right. And if you
even been to Nashville, it'snot even that big of a city, but
(06:38):
if you imagine a girl fromButcher Holler, it's a big city.
Yeah.
And so she wants to get away.So they go driving through the hills
of Tennessee. Hurricane Millsis about a good hour from Nashville.
So they were probably drivingfor a while.
They were going for a while.And it's not like. It's not necessarily
one of those places that youcan kind of just stumble into. I
(06:58):
mean, they must have just beengoing out and driving through the
hills and. And kind of tryingto get lost, right?
Yeah, like, just.
Just wanting to get out andjust get out of town.
It's off the beaten path.
Yeah.
And so she drives by this.This house that's already been built.
Right. It's built in the1930s, and it looks like Tara. It
reminds her of Tara. Right.And if you think of Tara from Gone
(07:21):
with the Wind with the bigpillars and the big house, it's a
beautiful.
It's huge.
It's huge. So she did. Theydidn't build the house. It was there,
and they loved it. And so theygo up and knock on the door, and
nobody's there becauseHurricane Mills had been deserted
for about 20 years. It was atonce a town, and it was a grist mill
(07:41):
where, you know, they grainflour and stuff, and. And it had
a post office and had ageneral store. And so it was once
a. A town of people, but itkind of had gone under, and the people
had moved away, and the ownershad basically had children who inherited
it, and they didn't live inthe area either.
Yeah. And if you guys want,you know, kind of some of the more
(08:03):
details about Hurricane Millsproper, we go into a decent amount
of depth in the video, right,Obviously. So I'll link that down
below. But yes, when theyfound it, right, they. They found
this abandoned town ofHurricane Mills because there was
a grist mill. It's right onthe river. It's a gorgeous spot.
Right. If you're going to wantto buy a place, like, I can absolutely
see why she saw that. Saw thegrist mill and the river right there.
(08:27):
Like, oh my gosh, this isamazing. It was. It's a beautiful
area.
Oh, it says the house wasbuilt in 1876. So not even the 1930s.
1876. So it's. What's that, 11years after the Civil War. So it
is very reminiscent.
It's. It's almost. It's analmost 100-year-old home by the time
she sees it.
By the time she sees it. Sothey knock on the door, no one's
there. They sleep on the porchbecause they want to buy the house,
(08:49):
right? They want. They wantthe house. Like we want to live here.
This is a great. This will begreat place to raise our kids. We
want to kind of raise them outof the city. This will be perfect.
And a couple towns over,people hear about squatters sleeping
on the porch of the big house.
Some local probably saw themand then probably told their neighbor
and then eventually made it tothe police.
(09:10):
Made it to the police. So thepolice go about a day later and find
them on the porch. And who dothey meet but Loretta Lynn, right?
Super famous.
Super famous at the time. Andshe wants to buy the house. Well,
they get in touch with thefamily, the family meets them. But
you just can't buy the housebecause this is part of a old town
pound so she buys the 3,500acres in 1966. So we'll talk more
(09:34):
about Hurricane Mills afterthis. But let's talk about the rise
of Loretta Lynn. People wantto critique me for not talking about
it.
Well, and. And that's what,like, to be fair, right? In the movie,
right? Co Miner's daughter,you know, that was the big focus,
right? The biggest big focuswas kind of the rise of her career
(09:55):
and her relationship with Dewand everything like that.
So I want people to know. Asof 2022, Loretta Lynn is the most
awarded female countryrecording artist of all time. She's
the only female a CM Americacountry music artist of the decade.
And she scored 21 number onehits and 11 number one albums. She.
(10:18):
She toured a lot 57 years oftouring. Her tour bus is there at
Hurricane Mills too if youwant to see it. But I want people
to realize Loretta Lynn wasnot famous early. She became famous
after having four of herchildren already. So she marries,
(10:39):
she meets, she, we talk allabout Butcher Holler, her growing
up as a coal miner's daughter.She's the second of I think like
seven kids. Seven kids. AndCrystal Gale is her younger sister.
Another lesser known fact,lesser known fact that people like
to argue about online. Butshe's the second born now. Her mother
is married at 17, so LorettaLynn gets married at 16, not or 15.
(11:03):
Not crazy for the time in thatarea too. And yeah, so kind of more
the norm. And Dew is 21, sothat's kind of weird do is. But again
not crazy for the time peoplegot married young back then. People
were considered adult youngerthen. And so she marries due in January
(11:27):
of 1948. She's 15, he's 21.She turns 16 in April and, and he,
he right away gets a job inthe state of Washington, the lumberyard.
And they have their firstchild in, in November. So right away
(11:47):
basically. And she's 16 yearsold when she gives birth to her first
child. Then she'll haveanother child the next year at 17,
she misses a year. She hasanother child at 19 and then right
before she turns 20, she has afourth child. So she has four children
by the time she's 19.
So. So you said Washington,like Washington State.
Washington State.
So they go all the way toPacific Northwest.
Pacific Northwest.
(12:08):
I did not know that.
And I love Coal Miner'sDaughter because it reminds me so
much of what that hardshipwould be like. She's raised, she's
a child. She's 19, she mighthave been 20 raising four kids herself
while Dew is working. And hisname is not, it's Oliver Lynn, but
she calls him Do. And so sheloses the last name Web Lynn, Loretta
(12:30):
Lynn. And she's named forLoretta Young, the movie star. That's
what her mom names her after.And he's gone all day working. And
I remember an important partof the movie. He comes home and he's
like, how was your day? Andshe goes, I'm about fixing to die
like I love because that's howI would feel too. I did not even
have my first child till I was33. Loretta Lynn has all of her children.
(12:55):
Her, she has her last, she hasher twins at 32. I did not even have
my first. I was 33. And Iremember raising my three and I was
fixing to die. Like, it's.It's a lot to raise children when
they're that young. And youimagine he's working all day. They
don't really have familysupport there like they're used to.
And she's. She is a substancefarmer. She learned that from her
(13:18):
family. So they're growingfood to, you know, subsidize their
diet and raising children andclothes and all those sort of things.
So she does sing to the kids,and do really loves her voice. And
he buys her a guitar as aanniversary present, and she doesn't
even know how to play guitar.So she gets kind of upset at first
(13:41):
because, why would you buy mea guitar if I don't even know how
to play it? And he goes,because I like the way you sing and
you can learn. And I think itkind of gives her something to do
and to focus on as she'sraising the kids. And she does teach
herself how to play guitar,and she does learn these songs. And
(14:01):
if you watch Coal Miner'sDaughter, I think it gives a very
good representation of theirmarriage because it is.
It's very much a partnership.
It was a partnership. It wasabusive, right? He does a. There
is, like, verbal abuse.There's physical abuse. The Redolin
said, for every time he hitme, I hit him twice. So she didn't
(14:23):
back down. Down from thephysical abuse. But it is there.
And. But the one thing that Ithink it depicts well is do believes
in her. And it's due thatpushes her to sing first on stage,
in public. She doesn't want todo it. He pushes her to do it. She
gets great feedback. He's theone who first records an album for
(14:45):
her. Her very first song,Honky Tonk Girl. I'm a Honky ton
Girl, is the album. He raisesthe money and cuts himself. And she's
so nervous about recording itthat he makes her turn around and
sing to the kids, since she'sso used to that.
Well, and I love one of thescenes from the movie where she's
like. Because they show a lotof this. They do a good job of showing
it. And so it's like her kidssitting in the living room. She's
(15:07):
sitting there with a guitar,and she basically tells me this.
Now, y' all sit down and bequiet. Listen to me sing. You know,
so she's. That's where shepracticed. That's where she was comfortable.
It's so great because it showsher the reality of her becoming the
star and that she's alreadyimmersed in her personal Life. She
(15:29):
already has these fourchildren, and the learning to sing
and play guitar was her outletas being a mother, as raising these
kids. And cuts that firstalbum and do. Does kind of what a
great supportive husband woulddo. He gets a list of all these radio
stations, country music radiostations, and he starts sending them
(15:52):
a. A cover letter of who sheis, a copy of that album and a picture.
And a picture they just takein their house and of. Of her. And
Male starts to cross off allthese radio stations as he mails
them out. So what happens thenis her father dies. He eventually
will develop black lungdisease, of course, from working
in the coal mines and diesrelatively young. They go back to
(16:17):
the east coast to the funeral.And Dew says, while we're here, we
have family who can watch thekids. Let's drive to these radio
stations.
So that's. That's how theystarted doing that and.
See if they can play your record.
Cool.
Introduce them. And it's. It'sreally a rags to riches story because
(16:39):
it is that personal connectionwhen she meets the disc jockeys who
haven't even opened herrecord. But that personality comes
out, that real country, youknow, rooted personality comes out
that is authentic Loretta Lynn.
Well, and. And one of thethings that was that we learned when
we visited Butcher Haller andwe talked to her cousin Mac, one
(17:01):
of the questions you asked herwas like, oh, was she. Was she a
tall person? Because you kindof can't tell when someone's on camera
and stuff like that. And hewas like, oh, no. He's like, she
might have been five, two withheels on. And so they, again, I think
in the movie, they do a goodjob of like, here's this, you know,
this, this tiny, tiny woman,but with this ton of personality
and this big voice, you know,with these. With these lyrics that
(17:24):
speak to the everyday person.
Yes. And like larger than lifewoman, but very small stature.
Yeah.
And. And, but, but the bighair and Loretta Lynn also in. There's
country music singers thatkind of embody that glam. Like, they
want to be this glam. Think ofDolly Parton. That was Loretta Lynn.
(17:47):
She wanted to wear these verysequiny dresses. It's very big over
the top dresses. Like, theyhave some of those at Butcher Holler.
They have some of those at thedrugstore at Butcher Hauler. And
then they have some of thoseat Hurricane Mills. So you can see
they like this big hair, thesebig dresses. It was kind of part
of that motif of being acountry music western singer. And
(18:11):
so I love that rag to Richesstory. Once her album started to
get played, her music startedto get played. She became bigger
and bigger. They relocate toNashville, bring the children with
them. She'll have twin girlsin 1964. She's 32 years old, and
that's 12 years after her lastchild. And that's two years before
(18:33):
they get Hurricane Mills. Butduring this time, she's making these
crazy great songs, and she'swriting these great storytelling
songs, and she's doing somegreat collaborations. Conway Twitty.
And you'll see those albumsand things in her house. And so Co
(18:53):
Miner's Daughter is one ofthose storytelling songs. It really
is. She writes it herself.It's a story of her roots and how
she grew up and how she'llalways be this girl. No matter the
glamorous girl you see singingon the stage with the beautiful dress
and the big hair, she's alwaysgoing to be the girl who didn't have
(19:15):
a pair of shoes.
And it's. And it's notsurprising that that spoke to so
many people, because that'swhat people hear. Right. When you
listen to those songs, you.You kind of picture yourself in that
scene. You picture yourself inthat story. And when you're someone
like Loretta Lynn, who'sgrowing up and talking about how
she grew up in Butcher Hollerand her father made $2.50 for a ton
(19:41):
of coal, there's so manypeople that can identify with that.
That. And she was a goodsinger. She had the talent, and she
had this boost kind of fromher husband. So it was really just
a cool story. And going toHurricane Mills, you get to see a
lot of that memorabilia. Youget to see inside of her house, they
(20:03):
have a recreation of theButcher Holler home. It's really
cool.
Yeah. And she joins the GrandOld Opry relatively early. And I
think it was because they justlove this authentic country girl
coming up with the cowboy hat.And she had the twang and the talk
and her storytelling songs.She really just embodied everything
(20:26):
the Grand Old Opry was. Andshe was a great accompaniment to
the men who are already upthere singing. So they welcomed her
with open arms. Of course,Patsy Cline was a mentor of hers.
She sang a Patsy Cline song.Patsy Cline loved it. Patsy Cline
helped her with her career. Sodid Tammy Wynette. And so you get
these. These early countrymusic women who really lean on each
(20:51):
other and support each other,which is really great, too. So. And
she's consistent. I will sayshe's consistent in her career. As
she makes these number onehits and these number one albums.
And you can, you know, thereare people who love different songs
from her, different albumsfrom her, different times from her.
And she kind of moves alongwith the times. Like she writes a
(21:13):
song about the pill and shewrites about women empowerment and
don't come home a drinkingwith loving on your mind. Like she
talks about things that womenhave the power in their relationships
as well. So I like that shedoes a lot for women's liberation
and things along that nature.That was her second number one hit,
(21:34):
that don't come home adrinking with love it on your mind
in 1967. So that's after shebuys the house at Hurricane Mills.
So if you can imagineHurricane Mills will become so much
a part of her career, thenthat's where she's coming.
Back to after she's touring.
And so she's very open withher fans. She loves her fans. So
(21:56):
when people stop by the house,she's very welcoming to people coming
in and meeting her. And sothat just became kind of a tradition
of Hurricane Mills. So much sothat they open the general store
and they open. The post officeis always there. But they do her
story with like the. They havea recreation of her Van Lear coal
(22:19):
mine where her father worked.They eventually would make a recreation
of the butcher holler cabin.They put a recording studio there.
So Hurricane Mills reallybecomes a tourist stop as well. And
she's always very welcoming tothat. And I have seen footage of
people walking through herhouse as she's sitting on her couch
doing interviews and saying hito people. And when we did the tour
(22:44):
of Hurricane Mills and you cando the. The bottom floor of her main
house, she used to do theseCrisco commercials. And it's her
actual kitchen is what theyuse for those Crisco commercials.
Orange, burnt orange, Crisco classic.
70S, 70s.
And she did it with herdaughter. And so they have like a
little mannequin of her, whichshe would have looked like standing
(23:05):
in that kitchen. And they usea lot of the house for the movie
Coal miner's Daughter. So Ioriginally. I just watched it again.
But. But Tommy Lee Jones, whoplays do, will be with the twins
in the living room watchingtv. That's the actual living room
from the house. So you cansee. And they have some of those
same costumes, clothing thatthey wore there. So you can see that
(23:26):
as well. So it was really coolto walk around. Now Dew is going
to die in that house in. In1996. So Dew dies at 69 years old
from diabetes and drinking,liver, alcoholism. And she doesn't
want to live in the houseanymore. By that time the kids are
(23:47):
older and they have movedaway. It's a big house. So she builds
a house behind the main house.Three bedrooms, three baths. That's
the house that she willactually live in after due passes
and uses the main house forinterviews, for tours, for people
to come to visit. Because theyalways keep the house open for visitors.
(24:09):
Yeah. And even now like whenyou come in and you do the basic
tour and I highly recommend,if you're in the area and you're
curious, just go. I wassurprised at how nice it was. It's
not like some little rundownthing, it's very well maintained.
There's lots of stuff for thekids to do. Like our boys were out
(24:30):
like skipping rocks on theriver and like the grist mill with
the little waterfall kind ofthe dam that they built with the
waterfall. It's a beautifulspot. Just spend kind of like an
afternoon there and you payfor the tour. And so they'll kind
of take you through, let yougo through the Butcher Holler Home
recreation and then throughthat bottom floor. And I was even
(24:50):
telling Jen it reminded me ofmy grandparents home because it had
like that classic 70s look andfeel to it. That kind of the beginning
of like the open kitchen feelera. And there's lots of memorabilia
there. So if you're a hardcoreLoretta Lynn fan, you can go in there
and take a look at that stuff.She had this whole wall of like these
perfumes that she likecollected or something like that.
(25:13):
It's like Avon bottles.
Yeah. And then they have abunch of her old like dresses that
both that she would performin. They had portraits of the whole
family tree. They had one gownthat I think a fan of hers had made
and sent. It was somethinglike that.
So she wore this pink gown anda fan painted her in it.
(25:35):
That's right.
And so she put the bigpainting up in her bedroom.
Yeah.
And so somebody had said tome, wow, this, she really loved herself.
There's a lot of pictures ofher. And I said, well she's putting
up a lot of fan art. Like it'sfan art all over her house. And then
I have some people saying,well she didn't live there. And I
want to remind people shelived there until dew passes in 1996.
(25:55):
So. So co miner's daughter,the autobiography is written in 1976
and then the movie's made in1980. So they're still living in
the house all this time. Andthey live into the house, in the
house another 16 years. Soit's not until due past as she moves
into the second house that isnot allowed to be toured. It's still
(26:17):
her children don't live thereanymore. But if when they do come
and visit, they stay in thathouse and it's right behind the main
house. So I have some peopletoo who are. I had made a video where
I'm like over my shoulder, yousee the house where Loretta Lynn
lives. And I sentence youeventually pass there. People get
upset because she didn't passin the main house, she passes in
the other house, what isbehind the main house. And she passes
(26:41):
in 20, 22. So relativelyrecently, just a couple of years
ago. But what's interestingtoo is I wanted to visit her grave
when I was there. And she'sburied on property with her husband
and with some of her childrenthat have passed. And it's private.
And I asked the tour guide andno, they won't, they won't even tell
you where it's located on theproperty. From looking at find a
(27:05):
grave, you can see picturesand I saw like tree line. So I'm
not quite sure where it is onthe property. There are some cemeteries
on the property. One for likethe family that had owned Hurricane
Mills before they bought it.And then there's a, a main one further
down, I think more kind oflike the city of Hurricane Mills.
You'll see those, those lookmore public. You'll drive by and
(27:26):
you can see those. That's notwhere she's buried. It's in a family
cemetery that's private andyou can't get to. So I actually wanted
to leave a flag there andthey, they said no. So if you're
looking for her grave, it isprivate and you're not allowed to
go there. But There's a big1800 square foot museum and they
have the tour bus. They have abig Cherokee Indian because Loretta
(27:52):
Lynn has Cherokee heritage.And they have a general store. And
there was like a general storewith a lot more things in it. And
then the general store whereyou can buy your ticket for the tours,
then you can tour the coalmine. They had a lot of outdoor picnic
areas.
It was, I was, I was surprisedand impressed, you know, at how nice
(28:17):
it was. And it's, it'sabsolutely worth taking the time
to drive out there.
It's absolutely worth it. Sothey claim it's the seventh biggest
tourist attraction inTennessee and it has five. No, 50
RV hookups, 300 campsites and18 cabins.
Yeah, yeah. So you can stillgo out there and kind of do some
(28:37):
summer activities and stufflike that. You had told me, and I
confirmed it online. Like,they've been doing like a. Like a
motocross, dirt bike typething every year since, like, 1982.
Like some big competitionevent there.
Yes. And they have a bunch ofthat stuff, too, in the gift shops
if you want some motocrossthings. But I guess people come out
and do this every. So when youdrive up to it, you'll see huge motocross
(29:00):
tracks and bleachers for them.Because think of all the acreage
now. I don't think they saidit's not 3,3500 acres now, that they've
actually made sure that theland went back to a lot of the original
farmers and they farm theland, but they do maintain a lot
of the acres still. But it'sstill a working farm and you'll see
(29:20):
horses there and things likethat. So it was really, really neat.
And it's. It's quite thesetting. Right. I can see why when
she got out there, she wouldhave fallen in love with it right
away. Not only because thehome is beautiful, but just because
of where it's set. And so Iencourage folks to. To check out
our video because we try tokind of show a little bit of the
area. But it's. It's abeautiful spot.
Yeah. And we were. We werepleasantly surprised going there.
(29:42):
There's a lot of great pictureareas. And if I had people ask me,
well, I can't afford it. Youdon't have to pay for the tour. Just
to visit Hurricane Mills isfree. Just to walk around the area
is free. To go into the storesis free. They do charge to see the
recreation of Butcher Holler.They do charge to go into the first
(30:03):
floor of the house, and theydo charge for the museum, but everything
else is free. If you just wantto walk around and stop and eat and
have a picnic, let the kidsrun around, that is all free. So
we were pleasantly surprisedby it. Definitely head out to Hurricane
Mills. I hope I talked moreabout Loretta Lynn, school career
and what she's meant tocountry music. She is still considered
the queen of country music.She has not been dethroned, and she's
(30:28):
meant a lot to our channel.People are very interested in Loretta
Lynn. People love Loretta Lynnand we love her too. So thank you.
So Loretta and Doolittletransformed Hurricane Mills into
what would become one ofTennessee's most unique tourist attractions.
(30:50):
They began hosting concerts onthe grounds, drawing country music
fans from across the nationwho wanted to experience the magic
of Loretta's music in her ownbackyard. What started as informal
gatherings evolved into a fullfledged dude ranch experience. The
Lens added campgrounds andmuseums showcasing her career and
even replica buildings of herButcher Holler childhood home and
(31:12):
yes, a replica coal mine forthe now famous coal miner's daughter.
Today, Hurricane Mills remainsa thriving tourist destination welcoming
over 100,000 visitorsannually. The ranch hosts major events
including motorcycle raceslike we mentioned, concerts and holiday
celebrations. Now whileLoretta passed away in 2022, her
(31:32):
legacy lives on through thisunique piece of co country music
history managed by her familywho would continue to share her remarkable
story with new generations offans. Talk with History is created
and hosted.
By me, Scott Bennett.
(31:53):
Episode researched by JenniferBenny. Check out the show notes for
links and references mentionedin this episode. Talk with History
is supported by our fans atthe History Road Trip. Call him up.
(32:14):
Make sure you hit follow.
Like, no, no joke. He was acousin of Loretta Lynn's.
Mac Butcher hollers about herroots, how she grew up being a coal
miner's daughter. Thatpoverty, what that looked like. She's
always going to be the girlwho didn't have a pair of shoes.
I'm about fixing to die like Ilove because that's how I would feel
too. Like she writes a songabout the pill and she writes about
(00:21):
women empowerment and don'tcome home a drinking with lovin on
your mind. She is stillconsidered the queen of country music.
She has not been dethroned.
Welcome to Talk with History.I'm your host Scott, here with my
(00:44):
wife and historian, Jen.
Hello.
On this podcast, we give youinsights to our history Inspired
World Travels YouTube channelJourney and examine history through
deeper conversations with thecurious, the explorers and the history
lovers out there. Now, Jen,before we get into our main topic,
I do want to give one shoutout and that is I'm going to give
a shout out to one of thebiggest history podcasts on the planet
(01:08):
right now. And that is historythat doesn't Suck. So we actually,
I had reached out to the, tothe show to see if they'd be interested
in Jen going on there. I'mtrying to get Jen onto other other
podcasts in front of otherpodcast audience for a chat with
Greg the host to chat aboutpotentially like the Hatfields McCoys
because that's a popular topicand Jen knows a lot about that. So
(01:29):
they didn't bite on my attemptto get Jen on the show, but they
were kind enough to send us alittle note with the, with a coin.
So I thought it was pretty cool.
Yeah. So Professor GregJackson from History Doesn't Suck
sent us this challenge coin.So Scott and I are both military.
I'm a veteran, Scott's activeduty. And these challenge coins are
usually what they hand out toother military members after you've
(01:53):
completed an assignment oryou've met somebody of high rank.
And he sent us this letterthanking us for our military service.
And it has a Latin term onthere, bendi vidi da Vinci, which
I came, I saw, I learned,which I thought was pretty cool.
And it says, I'd like to tellyou a story because that's how he
(02:13):
starts out his podcast. So Iwould like to tell you a story, Professor
Jackson. So if you would everlike to be a guest on our podcast,
if we could be a guest on yourpodcast, we did come see you live
in Norfolk and you actuallygave us a shout out to the crowd
Which I really appreciated,but. And we met you after and we
(02:33):
took pictures with you. Youwere really great and very nice to
talk to, but it's a podcast. Ilisten to you even now, so thank
you for the coin. We reallyappreciate it.
Yeah, pretty cool. In 1932, ayoung girl named Loretta Webb was
(02:56):
born into poverty near ButcherHoller, Kentucky. She grew up in
a small cabin over in ButcherHoller with seven siblings, where
her father worked as a coalMiner. At just 15 years old, she
married Oliver Doolittle Lynn,who believed in her musical talent
so much that he bought her herfirst guitar for $17. This coal miner's
(03:19):
daughter started singing inlocal venues, raising her children
at the same time. Her uniquevoice and honest songwriting about
real life experiencesresonated with audiences. Her first
hit, I'm a Honky Tonk girl,came in 1960, followed by a string
of successful singles thatspoke to everyday people. As her
(03:40):
star rose in country music,Loretta's dreams grew bigger. In
1966, with the money earnedfrom her hit records and touring,
she and Doolittle purchasedthe entire town of Hurricane Mills,
Tennessee, a sprawling estatethat included a plantation home,
post office, and generalstore. That purchase was more than
just a simple preferenceproperty acquisition. It was Loretta's
(04:01):
way to show how far coalminer's daughter had come through
determination and raw talent.All right, Jen. So we, during our
spring break, went to kind ofone of the more interesting tourist
(04:23):
attractions of Tennessee. It'sabout halfway between Memphis and
Nashville. And that was. Thatwas Hurricane Mills. And we had done
some Loretta Lynn contentbefore. We'd actually been to Butcher
Hauler. We talked to, like, acousin of hers, which was really
interesting. I will link that,that video because we like. No, no
joke. He was a cousin ofLoretta Lynn's, and he was super
(04:46):
country. Great guy. Mac, ofcourse, it was Mack. But we went
to Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Yeah.
And we made a video fromButcherHauler, and we made a corresponding
podcast with that. And if youlook up Talk with History, you'll
see. You might see one of ourcritiques is about that podcast where
(05:09):
the person's like, you didn'ttalk about Loretta Lynn's career.
You didn't talk about LorettaLynn, what she did for country music.
You just talked about ButcherHoller. And this person was, like,
very upset that we didn't gointo Loretta Lynn's career. So this
is the answer to thatcritique. Okay, we're going to talk
more about the star, thecountry, the queen of country music,
(05:31):
the woman who is. Who BecameLoretta Lynn. Butcher Holler is more
about Loretta Webb. It's moreabout her before she even marries
Due and goes off to become thecountry music star that she eventually
will become. This is about herroot. The Butcher Hollers about her
roots, how she grew up being acoal miner's daughter, that poverty,
(05:54):
what that looked like, and howthat kind of eventually formed her
whole career. Hurricane Mills.And I actually think I get it wrong
when I talk about ButcherHollow. I think I say Hurricane Hills
because it just is rhymy. Butthis is Hurricane Mills. Like, she
doesn't rename it. She buysthe town. And it was named Hurricane
(06:16):
Mill. Now, this is alreadyafter she has a career. She's living
in Nashville with Due, herhusband, and their children. And
she's already had all of herchildren by then. And they go out
driving one night to get awayfrom the city. Right. And if you
even been to Nashville, it'snot even that big of a city, but
(06:38):
if you imagine a girl fromButcher Holler, it's a big city.
Yeah.
And so she wants to get away.So they go driving through the hills
of Tennessee. Hurricane Millsis about a good hour from Nashville.
So they were probably drivingfor a while.
They were going for a while.And it's not like. It's not necessarily
one of those places that youcan kind of just stumble into. I
(06:58):
mean, they must have just beengoing out and driving through the
hills and. And kind of tryingto get lost, right?
Yeah, like, just.
Just wanting to get out andjust get out of town.
It's off the beaten path.
Yeah.
And so she drives by this.This house that's already been built.
Right. It's built in the1930s, and it looks like Tara. It
reminds her of Tara. Right.And if you think of Tara from Gone
(07:21):
with the Wind with the bigpillars and the big house, it's a
beautiful.
It's huge.
It's huge. So she did. Theydidn't build the house. It was there,
and they loved it. And so theygo up and knock on the door, and
nobody's there becauseHurricane Mills had been deserted
for about 20 years. It was atonce a town, and it was a grist mill
(07:41):
where, you know, they grainflour and stuff, and. And it had
a post office and had ageneral store. And so it was once
a. A town of people, but itkind of had gone under, and the people
had moved away, and the ownershad basically had children who inherited
it, and they didn't live inthe area either.
Yeah. And if you guys want,you know, kind of some of the more
(08:03):
details about Hurricane Millsproper, we go into a decent amount
of depth in the video, right,Obviously. So I'll link that down
below. But yes, when theyfound it, right, they. They found
this abandoned town ofHurricane Mills because there was
a grist mill. It's right onthe river. It's a gorgeous spot.
Right. If you're going to wantto buy a place, like, I can absolutely
see why she saw that. Saw thegrist mill and the river right there.
(08:27):
Like, oh my gosh, this isamazing. It was. It's a beautiful
area.
Oh, it says the house wasbuilt in 1876. So not even the 1930s.
1876. So it's. What's that, 11years after the Civil War. So it
is very reminiscent.
It's. It's almost. It's analmost 100-year-old home by the time
she sees it.
By the time she sees it. Sothey knock on the door, no one's
there. They sleep on the porchbecause they want to buy the house,
(08:49):
right? They want. They wantthe house. Like we want to live here.
This is a great. This will begreat place to raise our kids. We
want to kind of raise them outof the city. This will be perfect.
And a couple towns over,people hear about squatters sleeping
on the porch of the big house.
Some local probably saw themand then probably told their neighbor
and then eventually made it tothe police.
(09:10):
Made it to the police. So thepolice go about a day later and find
them on the porch. And who dothey meet but Loretta Lynn, right?
Super famous.
Super famous at the time. Andshe wants to buy the house. Well,
they get in touch with thefamily, the family meets them. But
you just can't buy the housebecause this is part of a old town
pound so she buys the 3,500acres in 1966. So we'll talk more
(09:34):
about Hurricane Mills afterthis. But let's talk about the rise
of Loretta Lynn. People wantto critique me for not talking about
it.
Well, and. And that's what,like, to be fair, right? In the movie,
right? Co Miner's daughter,you know, that was the big focus,
right? The biggest big focuswas kind of the rise of her career
(09:55):
and her relationship with Dewand everything like that.
So I want people to know. Asof 2022, Loretta Lynn is the most
awarded female countryrecording artist of all time. She's
the only female a CM Americacountry music artist of the decade.
And she scored 21 number onehits and 11 number one albums. She.
(10:18):
She toured a lot 57 years oftouring. Her tour bus is there at
Hurricane Mills too if youwant to see it. But I want people
to realize Loretta Lynn wasnot famous early. She became famous
after having four of herchildren already. So she marries,
(10:39):
she meets, she, we talk allabout Butcher Holler, her growing
up as a coal miner's daughter.She's the second of I think like
seven kids. Seven kids. AndCrystal Gale is her younger sister.
Another lesser known fact,lesser known fact that people like
to argue about online. Butshe's the second born now. Her mother
is married at 17, so LorettaLynn gets married at 16, not or 15.
(11:03):
Not crazy for the time in thatarea too. And yeah, so kind of more
the norm. And Dew is 21, sothat's kind of weird do is. But again
not crazy for the time peoplegot married young back then. People
were considered adult youngerthen. And so she marries due in January
(11:27):
of 1948. She's 15, he's 21.She turns 16 in April and, and he,
he right away gets a job inthe state of Washington, the lumberyard.
And they have their firstchild in, in November. So right away
(11:47):
basically. And she's 16 yearsold when she gives birth to her first
child. Then she'll haveanother child the next year at 17,
she misses a year. She hasanother child at 19 and then right
before she turns 20, she has afourth child. So she has four children
by the time she's 19.
So. So you said Washington,like Washington State.
Washington State.
So they go all the way toPacific Northwest.
Pacific Northwest.
(12:08):
I did not know that.
And I love Coal Miner'sDaughter because it reminds me so
much of what that hardshipwould be like. She's raised, she's
a child. She's 19, she mighthave been 20 raising four kids herself
while Dew is working. And hisname is not, it's Oliver Lynn, but
she calls him Do. And so sheloses the last name Web Lynn, Loretta
(12:30):
Lynn. And she's named forLoretta Young, the movie star. That's
what her mom names her after.And he's gone all day working. And
I remember an important partof the movie. He comes home and he's
like, how was your day? Andshe goes, I'm about fixing to die
like I love because that's howI would feel too. I did not even
have my first child till I was33. Loretta Lynn has all of her children.
(12:55):
Her, she has her last, she hasher twins at 32. I did not even have
my first. I was 33. And Iremember raising my three and I was
fixing to die. Like, it's.It's a lot to raise children when
they're that young. And youimagine he's working all day. They
don't really have familysupport there like they're used to.
And she's. She is a substancefarmer. She learned that from her
(13:18):
family. So they're growingfood to, you know, subsidize their
diet and raising children andclothes and all those sort of things.
So she does sing to the kids,and do really loves her voice. And
he buys her a guitar as aanniversary present, and she doesn't
even know how to play guitar.So she gets kind of upset at first
(13:41):
because, why would you buy mea guitar if I don't even know how
to play it? And he goes,because I like the way you sing and
you can learn. And I think itkind of gives her something to do
and to focus on as she'sraising the kids. And she does teach
herself how to play guitar,and she does learn these songs. And
(14:01):
if you watch Coal Miner'sDaughter, I think it gives a very
good representation of theirmarriage because it is.
It's very much a partnership.
It was a partnership. It wasabusive, right? He does a. There
is, like, verbal abuse.There's physical abuse. The Redolin
said, for every time he hitme, I hit him twice. So she didn't
(14:23):
back down. Down from thephysical abuse. But it is there.
And. But the one thing that Ithink it depicts well is do believes
in her. And it's due thatpushes her to sing first on stage,
in public. She doesn't want todo it. He pushes her to do it. She
gets great feedback. He's theone who first records an album for
(14:45):
her. Her very first song,Honky Tonk Girl. I'm a Honky ton
Girl, is the album. He raisesthe money and cuts himself. And she's
so nervous about recording itthat he makes her turn around and
sing to the kids, since she'sso used to that.
Well, and I love one of thescenes from the movie where she's
like. Because they show a lotof this. They do a good job of showing
it. And so it's like her kidssitting in the living room. She's
(15:07):
sitting there with a guitar,and she basically tells me this.
Now, y' all sit down and bequiet. Listen to me sing. You know,
so she's. That's where shepracticed. That's where she was comfortable.
It's so great because it showsher the reality of her becoming the
star and that she's alreadyimmersed in her personal Life. She
(15:29):
already has these fourchildren, and the learning to sing
and play guitar was her outletas being a mother, as raising these
kids. And cuts that firstalbum and do. Does kind of what a
great supportive husband woulddo. He gets a list of all these radio
stations, country music radiostations, and he starts sending them
(15:52):
a. A cover letter of who sheis, a copy of that album and a picture.
And a picture they just takein their house and of. Of her. And
Male starts to cross off allthese radio stations as he mails
them out. So what happens thenis her father dies. He eventually
will develop black lungdisease, of course, from working
in the coal mines and diesrelatively young. They go back to
(16:17):
the east coast to the funeral.And Dew says, while we're here, we
have family who can watch thekids. Let's drive to these radio
stations.
So that's. That's how theystarted doing that and.
See if they can play your record.
Cool.
Introduce them. And it's. It'sreally a rags to riches story because
(16:39):
it is that personal connectionwhen she meets the disc jockeys who
haven't even opened herrecord. But that personality comes
out, that real country, youknow, rooted personality comes out
that is authentic Loretta Lynn.
Well, and. And one of thethings that was that we learned when
we visited Butcher Haller andwe talked to her cousin Mac, one
(17:01):
of the questions you asked herwas like, oh, was she. Was she a
tall person? Because you kindof can't tell when someone's on camera
and stuff like that. And hewas like, oh, no. He's like, she
might have been five, two withheels on. And so they, again, I think
in the movie, they do a goodjob of like, here's this, you know,
this, this tiny, tiny woman,but with this ton of personality
and this big voice, you know,with these. With these lyrics that
(17:24):
speak to the everyday person.
Yes. And like larger than lifewoman, but very small stature.
Yeah.
And. And, but, but the bighair and Loretta Lynn also in. There's
country music singers thatkind of embody that glam. Like, they
want to be this glam. Think ofDolly Parton. That was Loretta Lynn.
(17:47):
She wanted to wear these verysequiny dresses. It's very big over
the top dresses. Like, theyhave some of those at Butcher Holler.
They have some of those at thedrugstore at Butcher Hauler. And
then they have some of thoseat Hurricane Mills. So you can see
they like this big hair, thesebig dresses. It was kind of part
of that motif of being acountry music western singer. And
(18:11):
so I love that rag to Richesstory. Once her album started to
get played, her music startedto get played. She became bigger
and bigger. They relocate toNashville, bring the children with
them. She'll have twin girlsin 1964. She's 32 years old, and
that's 12 years after her lastchild. And that's two years before
(18:33):
they get Hurricane Mills. Butduring this time, she's making these
crazy great songs, and she'swriting these great storytelling
songs, and she's doing somegreat collaborations. Conway Twitty.
And you'll see those albumsand things in her house. And so Co
(18:53):
Miner's Daughter is one ofthose storytelling songs. It really
is. She writes it herself.It's a story of her roots and how
she grew up and how she'llalways be this girl. No matter the
glamorous girl you see singingon the stage with the beautiful dress
and the big hair, she's alwaysgoing to be the girl who didn't have
(19:15):
a pair of shoes.
And it's. And it's notsurprising that that spoke to so
many people, because that'swhat people hear. Right. When you
listen to those songs, you.You kind of picture yourself in that
scene. You picture yourself inthat story. And when you're someone
like Loretta Lynn, who'sgrowing up and talking about how
she grew up in Butcher Hollerand her father made $2.50 for a ton
(19:41):
of coal, there's so manypeople that can identify with that.
That. And she was a goodsinger. She had the talent, and she
had this boost kind of fromher husband. So it was really just
a cool story. And going toHurricane Mills, you get to see a
lot of that memorabilia. Youget to see inside of her house, they
(20:03):
have a recreation of theButcher Holler home. It's really
cool.
Yeah. And she joins the GrandOld Opry relatively early. And I
think it was because they justlove this authentic country girl
coming up with the cowboy hat.And she had the twang and the talk
and her storytelling songs.She really just embodied everything
(20:26):
the Grand Old Opry was. Andshe was a great accompaniment to
the men who are already upthere singing. So they welcomed her
with open arms. Of course,Patsy Cline was a mentor of hers.
She sang a Patsy Cline song.Patsy Cline loved it. Patsy Cline
helped her with her career. Sodid Tammy Wynette. And so you get
these. These early countrymusic women who really lean on each
(20:51):
other and support each other,which is really great, too. So. And
she's consistent. I will sayshe's consistent in her career. As
she makes these number onehits and these number one albums.
And you can, you know, thereare people who love different songs
from her, different albumsfrom her, different times from her.
And she kind of moves alongwith the times. Like she writes a
(21:13):
song about the pill and shewrites about women empowerment and
don't come home a drinkingwith loving on your mind. Like she
talks about things that womenhave the power in their relationships
as well. So I like that shedoes a lot for women's liberation
and things along that nature.That was her second number one hit,
(21:34):
that don't come home adrinking with love it on your mind
in 1967. So that's after shebuys the house at Hurricane Mills.
So if you can imagineHurricane Mills will become so much
a part of her career, thenthat's where she's coming.
Back to after she's touring.
And so she's very open withher fans. She loves her fans. So
(21:56):
when people stop by the house,she's very welcoming to people coming
in and meeting her. And sothat just became kind of a tradition
of Hurricane Mills. So much sothat they open the general store
and they open. The post officeis always there. But they do her
story with like the. They havea recreation of her Van Lear coal
(22:19):
mine where her father worked.They eventually would make a recreation
of the butcher holler cabin.They put a recording studio there.
So Hurricane Mills reallybecomes a tourist stop as well. And
she's always very welcoming tothat. And I have seen footage of
people walking through herhouse as she's sitting on her couch
doing interviews and saying hito people. And when we did the tour
(22:44):
of Hurricane Mills and you cando the. The bottom floor of her main
house, she used to do theseCrisco commercials. And it's her
actual kitchen is what theyuse for those Crisco commercials.
Orange, burnt orange, Crisco classic.
70S, 70s.
And she did it with herdaughter. And so they have like a
little mannequin of her, whichshe would have looked like standing
(23:05):
in that kitchen. And they usea lot of the house for the movie
Coal miner's Daughter. So Ioriginally. I just watched it again.
But. But Tommy Lee Jones, whoplays do, will be with the twins
in the living room watchingtv. That's the actual living room
from the house. So you cansee. And they have some of those
same costumes, clothing thatthey wore there. So you can see that
(23:26):
as well. So it was really coolto walk around. Now Dew is going
to die in that house in. In1996. So Dew dies at 69 years old
from diabetes and drinking,liver, alcoholism. And she doesn't
want to live in the houseanymore. By that time the kids are
(23:47):
older and they have movedaway. It's a big house. So she builds
a house behind the main house.Three bedrooms, three baths. That's
the house that she willactually live in after due passes
and uses the main house forinterviews, for tours, for people
to come to visit. Because theyalways keep the house open for visitors.
(24:09):
Yeah. And even now like whenyou come in and you do the basic
tour and I highly recommend,if you're in the area and you're
curious, just go. I wassurprised at how nice it was. It's
not like some little rundownthing, it's very well maintained.
There's lots of stuff for thekids to do. Like our boys were out
(24:30):
like skipping rocks on theriver and like the grist mill with
the little waterfall kind ofthe dam that they built with the
waterfall. It's a beautifulspot. Just spend kind of like an
afternoon there and you payfor the tour. And so they'll kind
of take you through, let yougo through the Butcher Holler Home
recreation and then throughthat bottom floor. And I was even
(24:50):
telling Jen it reminded me ofmy grandparents home because it had
like that classic 70s look andfeel to it. That kind of the beginning
of like the open kitchen feelera. And there's lots of memorabilia
there. So if you're a hardcoreLoretta Lynn fan, you can go in there
and take a look at that stuff.She had this whole wall of like these
perfumes that she likecollected or something like that.
(25:13):
It's like Avon bottles.
Yeah. And then they have abunch of her old like dresses that
both that she would performin. They had portraits of the whole
family tree. They had one gownthat I think a fan of hers had made
and sent. It was somethinglike that.
So she wore this pink gown anda fan painted her in it.
(25:35):
That's right.
And so she put the bigpainting up in her bedroom.
Yeah.
And so somebody had said tome, wow, this, she really loved herself.
There's a lot of pictures ofher. And I said, well she's putting
up a lot of fan art. Like it'sfan art all over her house. And then
I have some people saying,well she didn't live there. And I
want to remind people shelived there until dew passes in 1996.
(25:55):
So. So co miner's daughter,the autobiography is written in 1976
and then the movie's made in1980. So they're still living in
the house all this time. Andthey live into the house, in the
house another 16 years. Soit's not until due past as she moves
into the second house that isnot allowed to be toured. It's still
(26:17):
her children don't live thereanymore. But if when they do come
and visit, they stay in thathouse and it's right behind the main
house. So I have some peopletoo who are. I had made a video where
I'm like over my shoulder, yousee the house where Loretta Lynn
lives. And I sentence youeventually pass there. People get
upset because she didn't passin the main house, she passes in
the other house, what isbehind the main house. And she passes
(26:41):
in 20, 22. So relativelyrecently, just a couple of years
ago. But what's interestingtoo is I wanted to visit her grave
when I was there. And she'sburied on property with her husband
and with some of her childrenthat have passed. And it's private.
And I asked the tour guide andno, they won't, they won't even tell
you where it's located on theproperty. From looking at find a
(27:05):
grave, you can see picturesand I saw like tree line. So I'm
not quite sure where it is onthe property. There are some cemeteries
on the property. One for likethe family that had owned Hurricane
Mills before they bought it.And then there's a, a main one further
down, I think more kind oflike the city of Hurricane Mills.
You'll see those, those lookmore public. You'll drive by and
(27:26):
you can see those. That's notwhere she's buried. It's in a family
cemetery that's private andyou can't get to. So I actually wanted
to leave a flag there andthey, they said no. So if you're
looking for her grave, it isprivate and you're not allowed to
go there. But There's a big1800 square foot museum and they
have the tour bus. They have abig Cherokee Indian because Loretta
(27:52):
Lynn has Cherokee heritage.And they have a general store. And
there was like a general storewith a lot more things in it. And
then the general store whereyou can buy your ticket for the tours,
then you can tour the coalmine. They had a lot of outdoor picnic
areas.
It was, I was, I was surprisedand impressed, you know, at how nice
(28:17):
it was. And it's, it'sabsolutely worth taking the time
to drive out there.
It's absolutely worth it. Sothey claim it's the seventh biggest
tourist attraction inTennessee and it has five. No, 50
RV hookups, 300 campsites and18 cabins.
Yeah, yeah. So you can stillgo out there and kind of do some
(28:37):
summer activities and stufflike that. You had told me, and I
confirmed it online. Like,they've been doing like a. Like a
motocross, dirt bike typething every year since, like, 1982.
Like some big competitionevent there.
Yes. And they have a bunch ofthat stuff, too, in the gift shops
if you want some motocrossthings. But I guess people come out
and do this every. So when youdrive up to it, you'll see huge motocross
(29:00):
tracks and bleachers for them.Because think of all the acreage
now. I don't think they saidit's not 3,3500 acres now, that they've
actually made sure that theland went back to a lot of the original
farmers and they farm theland, but they do maintain a lot
of the acres still. But it'sstill a working farm and you'll see
(29:20):
horses there and things likethat. So it was really, really neat.
And it's. It's quite thesetting. Right. I can see why when
she got out there, she wouldhave fallen in love with it right
away. Not only because thehome is beautiful, but just because
of where it's set. And so Iencourage folks to. To check out
our video because we try tokind of show a little bit of the
area. But it's. It's abeautiful spot.
Yeah. And we were. We werepleasantly surprised going there.
(29:42):
There's a lot of great pictureareas. And if I had people ask me,
well, I can't afford it. Youdon't have to pay for the tour. Just
to visit Hurricane Mills isfree. Just to walk around the area
is free. To go into the storesis free. They do charge to see the
recreation of Butcher Holler.They do charge to go into the first
(30:03):
floor of the house, and theydo charge for the museum, but everything
else is free. If you just wantto walk around and stop and eat and
have a picnic, let the kidsrun around, that is all free. So
we were pleasantly surprisedby it. Definitely head out to Hurricane
Mills. I hope I talked moreabout Loretta Lynn, school career
and what she's meant tocountry music. She is still considered
the queen of country music.She has not been dethroned, and she's
(30:28):
meant a lot to our channel.People are very interested in Loretta
Lynn. People love Loretta Lynnand we love her too. So thank you.
So Loretta and Doolittletransformed Hurricane Mills into
what would become one ofTennessee's most unique tourist attractions.
(30:50):
They began hosting concerts onthe grounds, drawing country music
fans from across the nationwho wanted to experience the magic
of Loretta's music in her ownbackyard. What started as informal
gatherings evolved into a fullfledged dude ranch experience. The
Lens added campgrounds andmuseums showcasing her career and
even replica buildings of herButcher Holler childhood home and
(31:12):
yes, a replica coal mine forthe now famous coal miner's daughter.
Today, Hurricane Mills remainsa thriving tourist destination welcoming
over 100,000 visitorsannually. The ranch hosts major events
including motorcycle raceslike we mentioned, concerts and holiday
celebrations. Now whileLoretta passed away in 2022, her
(31:32):
legacy lives on through thisunique piece of co country music
history managed by her familywho would continue to share her remarkable
story with new generations offans. Talk with History is created
and hosted.
By me, Scott Bennett.
(31:53):
Episode researched by JenniferBenny. Check out the show notes for
links and references mentionedin this episode. Talk with History
is supported by our fans atthe History Road Trip. Call him up.
(32:14):
Make sure you hit follow.
Popular Podcasts
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.