by Kristin Luna – camelsandchocolates.com
Steeped in Amish history and bisected by waterways and state parks, Lawrence County bustles with outdoor activities and historical destinations. The Natchez Trace Parkway cuts through the western corner of the county, making Lawrenceburg an easy, amenity-filled stop if you’re traveling the 444-mile scenic byway. Heading through Middle Tennessee for a visit? Here’s a rundown of all the things to do in Lawrenceburg and a play-by-play guide to the area.
Day 1 in Lawrence County
To gain a greater understanding of present-day Lawrence County, start your trip in Ethridge, also known as Tennessee’s Amish Country. Seeking farmland, the Amish settled in Lawrence County in the early 1940’s; today, nearly 2,200 of them call the region home. As you drive around, you’ll see many community members of all ages working the fields, sawmills and driving around in classic, horse-drawn buggies. In Amish culture, children attend their own community schools through the age of 14, then begin practicing the craft they’ll go on to specialize in for life.
Explore Amish Country
Your first stop in Ethridge is at the Amish Welcome Center where its proprietor Diann Pollock can give you the lay of the land. This Welcome Center doubles as an antiques store that stocks handmade Amish wares like birdhouses, cutting boards and edible goods ranging from fresh produce to peanut brittle.
Grab a map from Diann to adventure on your own self-guided tour through the community. Hand-painted signs announce what goods—like wooden chairs, pickled goods, woven baskets—are available at which house. Drive up to the home, and you’ll either be greeted by one of its residents or invited to make your purchases via an honor box. Be sure and take cash and have small bills on hand.
Note: This is a culturally sensitive area, so photographs are prohibited on Amish property, of their structures and its inhabitants.
Have lunch in Ethridge
Though the Amish don’t operate any restaurants that are open to the public, the Amish Country Smoke House whips up classic barbeque like ribs and pulled pork, while Bob’s Café is a casual burger joint right across from the Amish Welcome Center. Five minutes north along Highway 43, the famed Shaffer Farms Texas Bar-B-Q and Meat Market in Summertown dishes out authentic Texas cuisine (think: ribs, brisket, smoked sausage) alongside a butcher shop. Other Ethridge lunch spots include Marshall’s Grocery, a restaurant, market and gas station that features a deli with homemade pies.
Before heading into Lawrenceburg, pay a visit to Ike’s Amish Depot and General Store, a second-generation family business that originated in the 1940s. It sells canned goods and preserves aplenty, plus classic soda pops and old-fashioned candy by the pound. Ike’s formerly was a stop on the Greyhound line and, today, still serves as a booking agent for the Amish who need to take the bus. The interior is awash with memorabilia from a bygone era and worth a visit just to gaze at the collections.
Shop around the Lawrenceburg square
Spend your afternoon browsing the shops of downtown Lawrenceburg. Tennessee lays claim to many downtown squares, but few are as lively and well populated as this one, the storefronts of which are all occupied and brim with antiques and small businesses like Holland’s Drugs. Looking to spice up your wardrobe? Boutiques ALYco, Resplendent and Roo + Co. Boutique specialize in women’s fashion while novelty shops like Paper & Thread, Miss Millie’s, and pet boutique Paisley’s Paws & Prints round out unique shopping options. Along the square, you’ll find murals and public art installations by Tennessee artists Whitney Herrington, Megan Lingerfelt and Bernice Davidson.
Dine in downtown Lawrenceburg
The dining scene in Lawrenceburg is thriving with casual concepts like the Pie Factory drawing crowds daily for their New York-style pizza and beer taps. Lawrenceburg’s newest fine-dining restaurant, 1819 pays homage to the year the city was founded and boasts a menu of Italian-Southern fusion that pairs well with its carefully curated interior. The dual-level building is a restaurant downstairs and a private event space with a bar and stage upstairs.
For a more casual dinner in Lawrenceburg, Society American Nosherie is a lively sports bar that serves a deep well of salads, sandwiches, soups and burgers, in addition to heartier entrees like ribeye, parmesan mushroom chicken, and Cajun shrimp and grits. Stick around for the live music, which takes place on the restaurant’s two stages three nights a week. Depending on the night, you may be able to continue the fun across the street at the historic Crockett Theatre, which brings live performances to Lawrenceburg regularly.
Overnight: Where to stay in Lawrenceburg
Lawrenceburg hotels include big-brand names like Best Western, but if you want something with a bit more local flavor, check into Winnie’s Bed & Breakfast one of Lawrenceburg’s top vacation rentals.
The area was home to the “king of the wild frontier,” soldier and pioneer Davy Crockett, and his eponymous state park that drives much of Lawrenceburg’s outdoors tourism. Just a mile outside of downtown Lawrenceburg, David Crockett State Park has two-bedroom cabins for rent, as well as RV and tented camping sites.
Day 2 in Lawrence County
Your history lesson of Lawrenceburg continues today by diving into the town’s musical heritage. But first, fuel up with caffeine and breakfast at Espresso Revival, Cozy Cabin Coffee or Co-Work Coffee, all of which are locally owned.
Learn about Lawrenceburg’s history
Composer and musician James D. Vaughan, the father of Southern gospel music, hailed from the Lawrenceburg area, and the square bears a Tennessee Music Pathways marker in his memory. Vaughan ran a business selling gospel songbooks in the early 1900’s and, seeing musical performances as a great place to market his product, had more than 16 traveling quartets fan out across the country. He started the Vaughan School of Music in 1911 and, in 1922, established one of the first radio stations in Tennessee, WOAN. The James D. Vaughan Southern Gospel Music Museum is open weekdays for self-guided tours and highlights the life of the inventor of the male quartet.
Each summer, James D. Vaughan Music Festival kicks off for four days in July at the Art Deco-era Crockett Theatre, built in 1950 in the heart of downtown. After visiting the Crockett Theatre, continue your history tour at the Old Jail Museum, which houses the Lawrence County Historical Society. Constructed in 1893, this building contains historical relics from a range of eras. It’s open by appointment only in winter and from 10am to 2pm on weekdays in the warmer months.
Spend the afternoon outdoors at David Crockett State Park
The Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole first called this land home, and Lawrenceburg was on the path of the Trail of Tears during the forced removal of native people to Oklahoma in the 1830’s. The 1,319-acre David Crockett State Park still contains sections of the trail and bears monuments and markers related to it.
The park also is equipped with a restaurant, Olympic-sized swimming pool, bicycle trail, 10 miles of hiking trails, 107 campsites, a modern bathhouse, and Lindsey Lake, a large body of water that offers fishing, kayaking and paddleboarding activities. A map of the facilities can be found here.
Shoal Creek empties into the Tennessee River and draws dozens of floaters a day during the warmer months of summer, as well as hikers who take advantage of its variety of trails, like the 1.5-mile Shoal Creek Trail, the 2.7-mile Crawfish Valley Trail, the Trail of Tears Trail and the Turkey Ridge Trail, which can all be linked together in one long loop hike around the perimeter of David Crockett State Park. Scout Park in Lawrenceburg and city parks in St. Joseph and Loretto all have 18-hole disc golf courses that comprise the Lawrence County Disc Golf Trail. For traditional golf, the Lawrenceburg Golf and Country Club offers play to the public while Dixie Oaks Golf Club in Summertown is another option for visiting golfers.
Outside of town, Laurel Hill Lake has 30 miles of horseback trails, 325 acres of fishing, birdwatching opportunities year-round and 15,000 acres of hunting grounds within the Laurel Hill Wildlife Management Area. Stillhouse Hollow Falls, about 20 miles north of Lawrenceburg toward Columbia, is an easy stop for waterfall viewing, with the 75-foot drop viewable after hiking a third of a mile from the parking lot.
Extend your trip to Lawrenceburg
If you decide to stick around Lawrenceburg for longer, there are even more outdoors activities to fill your days: from kayaking with Sycamore River Run to adrenaline-filled dirt track racing at Thunder Hill Raceway in nearby Summertown to burnt-rubber drag-racing at Ethridge Motorsports Park. Wheelin in the Country also offers up more than 700 acres of 4×4 and motorcycle trails designed for all levels of difficulty.
To explore the area’s agritourism, drop into 25-year-old dairy farm Flowers Creamery to tour the facilities and stock up on gourmet cheese, milk and other fresh goods. On the edge of Lawrence County, The Farm is another local landmark, formed in 1971 when a group of 200 hippies settled 1,750 acres of farmland just outside of Summertown. The welcome center at the entrance has a small museum dedicated to the Farm’s history.
