From the moment the Boones Creek Historical Trust opened a museum and opry in a small space on Oakland Avenue in June of 2018, the plan was always to find a permanent location.
That dream will become a reality on Saturday, June 20 when the group hosts its first Saturday night opry on the grounds of Keefauver Farm. Zac McNabb & the Tennessee Esquires will be the featured band at the show, which will start at 6 p.m. inside a large tent next to the Keefauver house. Social distancing will be practiced, hand sanitizer will be available and the price of admission will be $2.
According to representatives from the Boones Creek Historical Trust, the opry will eventually be held inside the barn on the Keefauver property, which is being leased to the group for $100 per year by the City of Johnson City. The barn must be renovated before shows can be held inside the structure, and money is being raised to cover those expenses.
In the meantime, the group has been granted the use of a 20-foot by 40-foot tent courtesy of Kimball Sterling. Kelly Wolfe and his crew recently installed the tent. The Boones Creek Historical Trust has also been granted the deed to the historic farmhouse on the property and plans to open the museum inside the house.
Keefauver Farm, which is owned by Johnson City, was designated as a recreational facility in late 2017 when a request by the city to designate the property for outdoor recreation was approved by the National Park Service. The historical trust has long eyed the land for a permanent home for the museum and opry, but those plans didn’t fall into place until this spring.
