Historical walking tour set for Saturday

Published 9:48 am Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The Lawrence County Museum and Historical Society invites local and area residents to put on their walking shoes and hit the streets for a tour of the Rankin Historical District Saturday.

The event will start in front of the museum at 6 p.m. and is expected to last for about two hours. The tour will consist of 19 landmark buildings from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

Historical society member Debbie Rogers said last year the tour drew about 40 people and the society hopes to match or exceed that number this year.

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“We are in dire need of members and workers for the society and thought this would be a great way to get people into the museum and spark interest,” Rogers said. “We will have refreshments, oldtime music and guest speakers Jim Hale and Chris Saunders.”

A couple key stops will be 504 S. Fifth St., a house lived in by female ironmaster Nannie Kelly Wright and the Caryle Family; Immanuel United Methodist Church, formally known as the German Methodist Episcopal Church; and The Roosevelt Hospital.

The Rankin Historical District was established in 1979. It is loosely bound by Vernon to Monroe streets and Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh streets.