Harrison Smith and Sherman Hughes on a Soddy coal car – circa 1915
The Soddy Daisy & Montlake Historical Association (SDMHA) will host a History Fair at the Soddy Daisy High School on Saturday, January 16th from 9 am until 4 pm. The association encourages area residents and all interested parties to attend this inaugural event and to participate in its efforts to preserve the history of its local communities.
The History Fair will consist of 68 display tables on which local families from the Soddy, Daisy, Montlake, Mowbray and Flattop Mountain communities will share pictures, genealogies, maps, letters, newsletter articles and relics relating to their individual histories.
There will also be displays of Civil War items and military uniforms by local collectors.
A list of families included in this display and other organizational information about the association can be found on the Facebook page of the “Soddy, Daisy & Montlake Historical Association”.
The History Fair is the first public event sponsored by the recently formed association. It is intended to demonstrate the wealth of historical information already being preserved by individual families and to engage the broader community in collecting additional histories and community information.
Association President, Steve Smith said “As our older generations pass on, so too does much of the knowledge and documentation of the important history of these communities. We feel a real sense of urgency to preserve these written and oral histories as well as the many associated relics and artifacts”.
The association is actively planning to build a museum to house and display this collection of local histories and artifacts encompassing the American Indian, early settler, Civil War and pottery and coal mining industry phases of the local area’s past. Through events such as the History Fair, the group seeks to increase engagement, participation and contribution by other local families and interested parties.
The association requests that all inquiries and questions be directed to its Facebook page “Soddy, Daisy & Montlake Historical Association”.
The Soddy, Daisy & Montlake Historical Association was organized in September, 2015. The purpose of the association is to preserve and display the rich histories of the Soddy, Daisy, Montlake, Mowbray and Flattop Mountain communities.