Our Red Cedar Bucket

In 1904, for the Chicago World's Fair Louisiana sent Napoleon's china cabinet, Pennsylvania sent the Liberty Bell, Connecticut sent George Washington's Chair. Murfreesboro sent a six-foot red cedar bucket.

Weighing in at 800 pounds, with a capacity of 1,566-gallons, and attracting visitors from all over the world the bucket still holds its world title. Challenged by Mary McPhail on Highway 6 West, between Oxford and Batesville, Mississippi, whose bucket at 10 feet tall and holding 1,124 gallons fell short of the Tennessee red cedar bucket.

The bucket was built to be seen, to be gawked at, to be whistled at and to amuse. It was built to get people talking about red cedar buckets - Tennessee red cedar buckets. The Tennessee Red Cedar Wooden Ware Company was founded in 1866 and eventually owned by W. L. Patterson, his company built the bucket in 1887. The company stood about two blocks from where the bucket now stands. The wooden ware company was located on Old Salem Pike. Other companies operated on the old site include the Ribbon Mill and Hodge Manufacturing.

In 1893, the bucket was presented at the Chicago World's Fair and won a blue ribbon. In 1904, a brewery leased the bucket, took it to the St Louis World's Fair, built a catwalk around the top and filled it with beer. The walkway enabled people at the fair to dip them up a cup-of-beer, and was said to be the most popular walkway at the fair. The bucket now stands under a moss-covered gazebo in Cannonsburgh Village.

Products of Murfreesboro's red cedar were used in every state in the United States and in practically all-foreign countries. Hewn cedar logs in large quantities were shipped to large pencil manufacturing centers in Europe and the Orient. Murfreesboro was the largest red cedar pencil slat-manufacturing company of its kind in the United States and the only red cedar churn factory in the world.

Four wholesale and retail lumber companies of Murfreesboro were engaged in shipping large quantities of ash, oak and hickory. The texture of the hardwoods in this virgin territory was recognized as being superior to that of all others.

As more and more homes were equipped with indoor plumbing, red cedar buckets, once so popular and durable, became obsolete. The cedar bucket company eventually closed and the factory destroyed by fire. The red cedar bucket was sold to an amusement park in Georgia and used as a miniature railroad water tank, it was returned to the City of Murfreesboro in 1975.

Unfortunately, vandals set fire the bucket earlier in 2005 but the local blacksmithing association has pledged to help rebuild it. An electric grindstone from the cedar bucket company are currently on display at Cannonsburgh Village.