Charles S. Parrish Papers

Collection

Identifier: 2019.010

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Charles S. Parrish Papers include business papers of Charles S. Parrish, Sr. This collection, which dates from 1957 to 1967, consists of correspondence, contracts, maps, and notes pertaining to Charles S. Parrish, Sr.’s work with the Tennessee Central Railway Company. This collection also includes two reports prepared for the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association, Inc. and the Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Commission with data about population and infrastructure of interest to businesses. Researchers interested in the development of railway infrastructure during the 1960s in Montgomery County, and industrial development more generally, will find this collection useful.

Dates

1957 - 1967

Creator

Parrish, Charles S., Sr. (Charles Spencer), 1894-1971 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

While the Montgomery County Archives houses an item, it does not necessarily hold the copyright on the item, nor may it be able to determine if the item is still protected under current copyright law. It is the user’s obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Spencer Parrish, Sr. was born on August 11, 1894 in Kingston Springs, Tennessee. He was employed with the Tennessee Central Railway Company as early as 1919, and it appears that he remained employed with them throughout his entire career. Records indicate that he held several different positions with the Tennessee Central Railway over the years, including as a stenographer, clerk, and a communications agent. Sometime around 1921 he married Bertha Brumley. Their son, Charles S. Parrish, Jr., was born in 1924. Charles Sr. died in 1971 in Ashland City, and is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee.

The Tennessee Central Railroad was chartered in 1893 by Jere Baxter with the goal of running a line from the Tennessee River through Nashville and to Knoxville, Tennessee. Following a foreclosure, in 1897 the line was renamed the Tennessee Central Railway, and the effort to connect Nashville and Knoxville continued. The company faced financial difficulties throughout its existence, and underwent several reorganizations and name changes, finally settling on the Tennessee Central Railway Company in 1922. Despite borrowing funds from the U.S. Federal Government’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the mid-1950s for right-of-way improvements and new equipment, the company was not able to overcome the financial challenges. It was dissolved in 1968.

Extent

.084 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Business papers of Charles S. Parrish, Sr. related to his work as an agent for the Tennessee Central Railway Company, covering the time period 1957 to 1967.

Arrangement

The materials in this collection are arranged by Tennessee Central Railway Company project or business names, followed by completed reports of the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association, Inc. and the Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Commission, and finally oversized materials.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The materials in this collection were donated by Walter Pitt, 2019.

Processing Information

During processing it was observed that the collection materials were grouped by planned or proposed projects of the Tennessee Central Railway Company. This order was retained, and each project was placed in its own folder, with unassociated materials and correspondence placed in a separate folder. The complete reports of the two industrial development associations were placed at the end of the collection as they did not pertain to any single project. The oversized materials were separated for permanent storage and also do not appear to pertain to any single project. Both the reports and the oversized items have been digitized. Light cleaning was completed during the arrangement process.