Hotel Halbrook

 

Dickson began as a railroad town that was not in existence at the outbreak of the Civil War.  The railroad extended only as far West from Nashville as Kingston Springs - 23 miles away from where you stand now.  During the war, however, the Union army extended the railroad to the Tennessee River in order to facilitate transportation between Nashville and the river.  This enabled a community to grow around the Mile Post 42 watering stop for the trains.

 

In 1912 Joel T. Halbrook, a prominent local businessman, purchased the frame hotel that had been on this site, tore it down, and constructed a larger brick hotel with all of the modern conveniences.  The hotel was completed in 1913 and boasted steam radiator heat, electric lights, running water, and indoor bathrooms for patrons. 

 

Robert and Maybelle Clement were the hotel managers in 1920, and living in the Manager's Suite on the first floor when their first son, Frank Goad Clement, was born.  Frank G. Clement went on to become the longest-serving Governor in Tennessee's modern history.