STAFF REPORTS | Courtesy of The Grundy County Herald

MONTEAGLE, Tenn. — In 1882 a group of Tennessee Sunday school workers organized an assembly patterned after that in Chautauqua, New York, which had been founded in 1873 to train Sunday School teachers during the summer. That fall, a site selection committee accepted an offer from Monteagle, Tennessee, and the Tennessee Coal and Railroad Company to establish an assembly on the Cumberland Plateau. The railroad and John Moffatt, the town’s founder, each gave the assembly five-thousand-dollar grants. The railroad also donated approximately eleven hundred acres of land. Today, Monteagle Sunday School Assembly has 161 cottages, most built before 1930.

The Woman’s Association of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly will host its 61st annual Cottage Tour & Bazaar on Friday, July 18, an event designed to spotlight the Assembly’s unique history and mission, showcase its representative turn-of-the-century cottages and structures, and to highlight the Chautauqua Movement and Assembly’s association with the Chautauqua Network. Cottages to be featured this year are: Chautauqua House, Robin’s Nest, At Long Last, By the Way, and Peace on Earth.

{Editor’s Note: This article is brought to thanks to an editorial partnership between The Lynchburg Times and The Grundy County Herald. To read more of their articles, click here.}

The Bazaar, open 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., welcomes more than 40 selected local and regional artisans and at least 15 new vendors who will bring arts and crafts and splurge-worthy fine art and jewelry as well as paper, ceramics, clothes, plants, leather and more. The nearby Butterfly Boutique sale of donated items from members and friends is a bargain-lover’s dream held in the Writers’ Grove located near the Woman’s Association Winfield House.

The Corner Market will offer box lunches ($26.31, including taxes and fees) available for pre-order only – grilled chicken breast over Mediterranean orzo, creamy cucumber salad and a chess tart. Attendees may also dine in and enjoy the buffet and salad bar ($20) or a la carte burgers and hot dogs. Dining Hall hours on tour day are 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Guests will also enjoy the annual bake sale where the Assembly’s best cooks bring their sweet and savory specialties, and the Snack Shop will be open for popcorn, chilled candy bars, bottled water and souvenir T-shirts.

Attendees should plan a stop at cottage #9A, Little Lexington, the new location of The Gallery (take the first circular driveway as you enter the front gate). In addition to art and gifts, the Gallery is one of a select few to carry award-winning McCarty’s Pottery. Created by Assembly members, the late Lee and Pup McCarty, Mississippi-based McCarty’s has earned international recognition and is now owned by a new generation of Assembly members, Jamie and Stephen Smith. 

Schedule of events: Bazaar: 9 a.m.–3 p.m.; Butterfly Boutique and bake sale: 9 a.m.–3 p.m.; McCarty’s at Cottage 9A: 9 a.m.–3 p.m.; Cottage tours: 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; Prepaid Box lunch pickup 11 a.m.–1 p.m.; and Harton Dining Hall: Corner Market Catering Buffet available 11:15 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

Parking is free for this year’s event.  

Tickets ($26.31 including processing fee) and box lunches ($26.31 including processing fee) can be ordered here: Woman’s Association Cottage Tour and paid via GooglePay, Cashapp, or credit card.•

About The Lynchburg Times
The Lynchburg Times is an independent, woman-owned newspaper rooted in the heart of southern middle Tennessee. Led by a Tulane-educated journalist with over two decades of experience covering this region, we shine a light on the people, politics, and cultural pulse of a changing South. From breaking news to slow storytelling, we believe local journalism should inform, empower, and preserve what makes this place unique. Supported by readers and community partners, we’re proud to be part of the new Southern narrative – one story at a time. [Support us here.]