Center for Historic Preservation

       In Tennessee and many other parts of the nation, tourism based on a community's cultural and historic resources is a significant factor in the economy. In places where traditional economic bases, such as agriculture or industry, no longer dominate, tourism is often a partial answer. Inventory, partnership planning, and sensitive management and promotion of resources are keys to successful heritage tourism programs.

       The Center's primary objectives of identification, preservation, and interpretation of historic resources includes assistance to communities and heritage organizations to develop strategies for effective promotion and appropriate protection of these resources.

       The Center partnered with the National Trust and the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to implement the National Heritage Tourism Program, of which Tennessee was one of four model states, in 1989. Since that time, the CHP has worked with the Backroads Heritage Area in south central Middle Tennessee and the Overmountain Heritage area in southeast Tennessee.

Some heritage tourism projects in which the CHP has partnered include:

  • Rippa Villa (Maury County)
  • Covington (Tipton County)
  • Cumberland Gap (Claibome County)
  • Dyersburg (Dyer County)
  • Union City (Obion County)
  • Expansion of Stones River National Battlefield (Fortress Rosecrans, Redoubt Brannan, Stones River and Lytle Creek Greenways (Rutherford County)
  • Rutherford County Heritage Tourism Plan (including the County Courthouse, Public Square, Children's Discovery House, Bradley Academy, and Cannonsburgh)
  • Walking tour brochures on history and architecture were developed for Pulaski, Murfreesboro and Winchester.

       For further information on heritage tourism and the Center's efforts, see the following articles in special issues of Tennessee's Business, published by the Business and Economic Research Center at MTSU

Carroll Van West, "Building Blocks for New Economic Opportunities: National Projects at the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation," Tennessee's Business, Preserving and Promoting Cultural Resources, Vol. 6, No.1,1995

Caneta S. Hankins, "Agritourism: Profit and Preservation for Tennessee's Rural Landscape," Tennessee's Business, Economic Revitalization through Tourism, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1997.
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Modified June 2002 Copyright Center for Historic Preservation
Middle Tennessee State University | Box 80 | Murfreesboro, TN 37132