| The Standing Stone |
The area what is now called Monterey, TN was called Standing Stone because of the
huge stone monolith that originally set on the western end of what is now Monterey,
said by early white pioneer settlers to resemble a large grey dog in a sitting position,
looking west with its head hand ear up, originally standing about 10 ft. high.
No one knows what the Standing Stone was erected for by the Indians of long ago.
Some guess it was a marker set to mark hunting grounds between the tribes, others
say it could have been used is tribal ceremonial worship.
By the time the railroad came through in 1893 and blasted it into bits and pieces, the
Stone had been whittled by weather and souvenir seekers down to about three feet, six
inches above the ground. With its height of just over three feet, settlers in the late
1800s used the stone as a hitching post just in front of the J.J. Whittaker home.
Whittaker was the earliest postmaster at “Standing Stone.”
Two of the larger pieces of the stone were pushed over to one side after the railroad
blasted it from their path in Aug., 1893. The Narragansett Tribe No. 25 of the
Improved Order of the Redmen loaded the smaller of the two large pieces on a railroad
flat car and took it to Cookeville.
“Nee Yah Kah Tah Kee,” meaning “Standing Stone” and a tomahawk were inscribed
on the stone.
A dedication of the Standing Stone monument was held on Oct. 17, 1895. The crowd
was said to be around 3,000. The stone had been brought back and placed on a
pedestal for all to see on land donated by the Cumberland Coal Company. The
monument still stands today in downtown Monterey, next to the Monterey Branch
Library.
The town began celebrating Standing Stone Day in 1979. While it dwindled in the last
few years, Oct. 11, 2008 promises to be one to remember, with an excursion train
filled with 500+ passengers, a huge car show, and the idea of bringing the celebration
moslty back to the downtown area.
huge stone monolith that originally set on the western end of what is now Monterey,
said by early white pioneer settlers to resemble a large grey dog in a sitting position,
looking west with its head hand ear up, originally standing about 10 ft. high.
No one knows what the Standing Stone was erected for by the Indians of long ago.
Some guess it was a marker set to mark hunting grounds between the tribes, others
say it could have been used is tribal ceremonial worship.
By the time the railroad came through in 1893 and blasted it into bits and pieces, the
Stone had been whittled by weather and souvenir seekers down to about three feet, six
inches above the ground. With its height of just over three feet, settlers in the late
1800s used the stone as a hitching post just in front of the J.J. Whittaker home.
Whittaker was the earliest postmaster at “Standing Stone.”
Two of the larger pieces of the stone were pushed over to one side after the railroad
blasted it from their path in Aug., 1893. The Narragansett Tribe No. 25 of the
Improved Order of the Redmen loaded the smaller of the two large pieces on a railroad
flat car and took it to Cookeville.
“Nee Yah Kah Tah Kee,” meaning “Standing Stone” and a tomahawk were inscribed
on the stone.
A dedication of the Standing Stone monument was held on Oct. 17, 1895. The crowd
was said to be around 3,000. The stone had been brought back and placed on a
pedestal for all to see on land donated by the Cumberland Coal Company. The
monument still stands today in downtown Monterey, next to the Monterey Branch
Library.
The town began celebrating Standing Stone Day in 1979. While it dwindled in the last
few years, Oct. 11, 2008 promises to be one to remember, with an excursion train
filled with 500+ passengers, a huge car show, and the idea of bringing the celebration
moslty back to the downtown area.
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