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| The Man in Black’s Hideaway Farm in Bon Aqua, Tenn. (Storytellers Museum) |
Country legend Johnny Cash once called his 107-acre farm in Bon Aqua, Tenn., “the center of my universe.” The old ‘dog trot’ house and property were acquired by Cash and June Carter Cash in 1972, five years after they married.
“It was love at first sight,” Cash wrote in his 1997 autobiography. (The farm was) “a place that moved into my heart immediately, a place I knew I could
belong.”
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| Johnny Cash & June Carter (Look 1969) |
His daughter Cindy Cash was quoted as saying: “As soon as he’d come off the road he’d say, ‘I’m going to the farm,’ and he’d go spend three or four days there. … It had a lot to do with his spirituality, his love of nature, and the solitude he found here. This is where he found his serenity.”
Built before the Civil War, Johnny and June retained the farm until their deaths: June Carter Cash in May 2003, complications from heart surgery; Johnny Cash in September 2003, complications from diabetes.
In 2015, Brian and Sally Oxley bought the farm and then renovated a general store down the road for the Storytellers Museum.
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| The restored Storytellers Museum in Bon Aqua, Tenn. (Storytellers Museum) |
On July 12, 2016, both the Cash farm and the Storytellers Museum were opened to the public. “Johnny Cash used (the old general store) as a place for local concerts. Visitors can see the historic ‘Little Stage’ where the ‘Saturday Night in Hickman County’ guitar pulls once took place,” according to the museum’s web site.
If you go:
The Storytellers Museum
9676 Old Highway 46
Bon Aqua, Tenn.
storytellersmuseum.com
Hours:
Museum: Tuesday-Friday. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday: 9:30 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Farm: Tuesday-Saturday. 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission:
Museum: $16; museum/tour of farm: $22.
Senior citizens, students 10 and older, and residents of Hickman and Dickson counties: $6 for museum; $7 for the museum/farm tour.
Free for active duty military and children 9 and younger.
All tickets are available at the Storytellers Museum only.
Directions: Take I-40 to TN-46 S (Exit 172), turn south at light, proceed 5 miles to Church St. (Dollar General on left), turn right. Continue about 1.5 miles. Museum on the left.
To read more articles about the RV lifestyle by Julianne G Crane, go to RVWheelLife.com.
wonderful place to visit, the staff treated us like family, as well as the Oxley's. Had the privilege of meeting Dallas Frazier & his sweet wife also. Mark Cash singing was great too. The Hideaway farm is a must see, took our time & toured it, along with the sweet Lady that was our guide. Enjoyed it & plan to go back some day.