Cannonsburgh Village is full of unique and rare finds, but our most popular attraction is the World’s Largest Cedar Bucket. The bucket is full of history and stories. In 1866, Tennessee red Cedar Woodworks Company, located on Park Avenue, was the only industry in Murfreesboro, and the only company in the nation that built cedar buckets. Construction of the giant cedar bucket began in 1887, and took almost a year to complete. The bucket was built as a marketing / promotional tool.
After its construction, the bucket traveled from fair to fair winning blue ribbons in the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. A leading beer producer leased the bucket, took it to the St. Louis World’s Fair, built a catwalk around the top, and filled it with beer (1,566 gallons). The catwalk enabled fair goers to dip a cup of beer.
Around 1950, as more homes were being built with indoor plumbing and cedar buckets were no longer in demand, a fire damaged the factory. The remaining equipment and bucket were sold to a local grocer. For several years the bucket was displayed on Southeast Broad Street next to Crigger’s Grocery. Around 1965 the bucket was purchased at auction by Charles White, owner of Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park near Rossville, GA. In 1976 the bucket was donated to Cannonsburgh Village by the White family.
The bucket was partially destroyed by fire in 2005, then rebuilt by members of the Rutherford County Blacksmith Association, and returned to the village in 2011.