Articles

Hurst Home in Sad Shape

September 19, 2007

I first saw the home of Colonel Fielding Hurst while working on my family history about 17 years ago. I believe the Dodds sisters were still living there at that time and it seemed to be a well-kept home despite being almost 140 years old. It was all that was left of what was once the thriving town of Purdy, Tennessee, the county seat of McNairy County.

Fast forward 16 years later to early November 2006. I returned to take pictures of the house for inclusion in Hurst's Wurst and was surprised to see what terrible shape it was in. The front door had been broken and was halfway open. I couldn't help but peek inside to see the home of Colonel Hurst.

The house was a mansion when it was first built, yet in modern times it seems rather small. There was trash, broken appliances, and other household items scattered about the first floor and a large, ominous hole in the floor between the foyer and kitchen that dropped down to the cellar.

 Many of the windows in the front of the home had also been broken.

 The one thing I wanted to find was on the staircase, a mark that according to legend was made when an enemy fired at Hurst as he ran upstairs and the bullet track etched into the wood. It was still there.

I took two or three steps up the foyer staircase, then decided against the notion of walking around upstairs and possibly falling through the floor.

Instead I walked around the house to see the back of it.

The cellar door was open.

Below is  an old storage shed. Could it have been used by the Hurst family? 

After spending a few more minutes walking around the perimeter back to the front, I left the old house that saw so much of McNairy County's history sadder than when I first arrived.

There was talk two years ago about it being restored for a county museum, which I thought would be a great way to utilize what is probably McNairy County's oldest structure. But from what I gather talking with a former county commissioner and a few residents, the county wasn't able (or perhaps willing) to match the state grant funds and get the job done. Now the historic home sits and deteriorates, exposed to the elements through rotting wood, busted glass windows, disintegrating shingles, and a large hole at the center of the house.

There may be a potential owner that will restore the home for private use. Ideally it would be better that it be open to the public, but at this point it may be the only option left.

I'm sure there are many people in the county less than enthusiastic about restoring the home of one of the most hated men in its history. Regardless, it is still part of McNairy County's history and it deserves to be restored for future generations before it's too late. 

But is it already too late?

UPDATE

Recently I learned that the home has been purchased by a private owner, who intends to eventually restore it. Unfortunately, not only is he battling time and Mother Nature, but vandals and trespassers are slowly destroying the old house. He says he may have to have it moved elsewhere to save it.

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