Pieces Of The Past

This section is dedicated to random photos and items from the past. This page is filled with photos from the past century along with brief descriptions. Some photos have been grouped into sections and other miscellaneous items are just randomly displayed.
If you have similar photos that you would like to submit, please contact us at [email protected] .

The items below are miscellaneous photos, items and short articles associated with Carter County's history.

This is a photo of an eating establishment which located on West Elk Avenue. It was called the Rainbow Restaurant and was popular in the 60's and early 70's. In the beginning it had walk-up windows as well as an awning in the back where you could drive your car up a phone mounted on a pole and "call in your order". There was also seating inside. In its later years, the Rainbow was a popular location for meeting for lunch after Sunday church. There was a room in the back with several tables where groups of families would eat together. Rainbow offered an extensive menu and had "broasted chicken" which still arguably holds the title of the best broasted chicken in Elizabethton. This facility is now the home to the Hunan's Restaurant.

1963 Oral Polio Vaccinations

In 1963 Elizabethton offered Polio vaccinations to city residents. Oral vaccinations could be picked up on the side of Elk Avenue. As you drove through town, you could pull over to the curb and a nurse would give you a sugar cube that contained the polio vaccination. You would get one cube for each person in the vehicle.

(Photo from the Sam and Vickie Shipley Collection)

A 25 year anniversary "Silver Platter" that was presented to Clyde F.Love by the American Bemberg Company. This example was purchased at a local estate auction. Photo supplied by Dawn Peters.

An invitation to attend the Watauga Academy reunion scheduled for August 21,1966. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

Here is an envelope post marked APR 27, 1898 from Hopson TENN. The letter was sent to James Bradley of Elizabethton. Notice the lack of a zipcode which did not exist at that time. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

Below is one of my favorite additions to our digital collection. This pay stub is form the North American Rayon Corporation and is dated October 28th, 1939. According to the information provided, the plant employee worked for 36 and a half cents per hour. The employee also received a $7.36 bonus. There was a 22 cent Federal Old Age Benefit Tax (now know as social security tax) and the employee took out $5 a week for Credit Union stock. The take home pay for the week was a whopping $16.74. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

A 1935 Tennessee Public Schools Certificate.(Johnny Blankenship Collection)

Here is the front view of 100 shares of American Glanzstoff Corporation Prefered Stock. This certificate is dated 1932.

The back of the Preferred Stock Certificate. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

A pin that commemorated the 100th anniversary of Elizabethton's primer landmark "The Covered Bridge. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

A 1927 Christmas Card that was sent to the customers of the First National Bank of Elizabethton. The bottom of the card brags of paying 4% interest on time certificates. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

The Lucky Store was located in the original (Old) Butler, Tn. This sale flyer was for mid February of 1911.(Johnny Blankenship Collection)

A receipt for $1 from the office of the Mayor. This receipt was written on April 6th, 1912. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

This is a key chain that was given away by the Beaunit Fibers corporation (later known as N.A.R.C). Although the exact year is not known, it is estimated that this key chain was probably from the 1970's. For those that can remember these types of key chains, they were also coin holders. There were 4 slots of various sizes that would hold 2 pennies, 2 nickles, 3 dimes, and 2 quarters. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

Here is a photo of the building of the American Glanzstoff Corporation which would later be named Beaunit and then North American Rayon Corporation. This photo was taken on May 23, 1926.
(Johnny Blankenship Collection)

This is a photo taken on August 22, 1947, of the beginning construction of the Watauga Dam. If you will notice, there is a crane on the side of the cliff that was use to prep the site. You may also notice a tram system installed which was used to transport personnel and supplies to the site. For a size reference, you may notice a military type truck parked at the base of the tram track. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)

This is a photo of the construction of the large pipeline which is part of the Watauga Dam. This pipe runs under the dam and is part of the overflow system. Since the dam is made of dirt and rock, if the water ever crested over the dam, the erosion would quickly destroy the dam. The overflow is on the lake side and as you can see, could carry a large amount of water under the dam and would empty into the Little Wilbur reservoir. It was equipped with a flat bottom to allow trucks to drive through it during construction.

Here is a complimentary entry ticket from 1952 to admit one to the Capitol-Betsy Theatre which was located in Downtown Elizabethton. (Johnny Blankenship Collection)