Forrest City

We went to Tennessee last weekend for a wedding, and along the way got stuck in the construction traffic along I-40. I exited off the freeway and started driving east on Hwy. 70. Along the way, I drove through Forrest City, the county seat of St. Francis County. Like Forrest Gump, the city is named after Confederate Civil War General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The city got that name because Forrest, after the Civil War ended, somehow became involved in helping build the railroad between Memphis and Little Rock. He helped fund a commissary in a settlement that was being formed along the rail route, which was later incorporated as Forrest City in 1870.

Forrest City sits along the low hills of Crowley's Ridge, and has a population around 14,000 people. I drove through town and got some pictures of these old buildings, just off of Hwy. 70.