John Shearer: Examining The McDonald Farm Property

  • Tuesday, October 6, 2020
  • John Shearer

On Tuesday morning, since it was a nice fall day with the leaves seemingly turning a little earlier than in recent years, I decided to drive past the old McDonald Farm in Sale Creek.

As has been in the news since the weekend, the 2,100-acre parcel that is in North Hamilton County and partly in Rhea County is being eyed by Hamilton County for possible purchase as a needed industrial park.

Some leaders are hinting that maybe the tract could even draw another major employer like an automobile company.

As a former employee of the Chattanooga Free Press when the paper was owned by the Roy McDonald family, I have been to the McDonald Farm a few times. The paper at least once a year during the summer would have a Sunday afternoon gathering there for employees to enjoy some food, fellowship and even tennis and swimming and farm gazing.

The property primarily straddles Coulterville Road just west of U.S. Highway 27. It is located a few hundred yards north of the main Sale Creek commercial district and is easy to find. No fenced off areas exist here, and probably at least 75 percent of the property or more can be seen from Coulterville Road.

The expansive tract features some nice, relatively flat farmland against the aesthetically pleasing backdrop of the long Waldens Ridge mountain that continues running toward the Kentucky line and has countless names along the way.

The farm land is certainly a feast for the eyes of a lover of rural countryside.

The farm also has a few manmade scenes of beauty, too, in the form of the old colonnaded McDonald family home, a very handsome barn, a water tower and other outlying farm buildings. This collection all seems worthy of inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, if it is not already.

Roy McDonald, I understand, lived there for a period in his busy adult life that included running the Free Press and the Home Stores (which no doubt used farm products from there), and his chairmanship of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Erlanger Hospital and other boards.

He is buried in an old family cemetery around the property. I visited it once a year or two after his death in 1990, and I remember his grave had a large tombstone listing some of his accomplishments and contributions. Other family members are also buried there, including from the extended Exum family.

Unfortunately, I could not find the cemetery Tuesday after driving up and down Coulterville Road a few times.

A creek called – yes – Sale Creek also flows through the property just north of the homestead.

Some people believe the fall is about the neatest time of year to view a farm due to mowed fields, mild temperatures and other factors, and that seemed true here. The planted crops from summer had been cut down, and easy and panoramic views across fields were accessible.

While this property is idyllic now, it might change somewhat. Roads would be put in and sites would no doubt be cleared and razed for industrial buildings, if it does become an industrial park.

It is all part of progress in a slightly growing county at a time when plants are locating more on large tracts away from urban centers, and residences are going up closer to downtown – the opposite of the trend a century ago.

Of course, the community at large will likely offer at least their opinions into what the land should become, since the McDonald heirs are in agreement about selling it and might consider other purchasers.

Economic and political leaders and good job seekers see the industrial park opportunity as good for Hamilton County for several reasons.

A few residents of the Sale Creek area might not like their pristine part of the county being invaded, however.

Some will also hope the historic buildings can be saved and restored and put to some worthwhile use, as has been done with the historic Dent House and chapel from the former orphanage at the Bonny Oaks industrial and business park.

And some – probably even the government administrators – will be calling for at least some of the land to be preserved into maybe a greenway, park or walking path. After all, the only real county park in that part of Hamilton County – other than school ballfields – is the small Bakewell Park that consists of one ballfield and a small walking track.

That is all to be worked out, but I am glad I was able to take another glance at the handsome land while it was all still pristine and on such a nice day.

Jcshearer2@comcast.net

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