Yeah I know, its Georgia on My Mind... but for now, lets just leave it Nashville ok? In case you aren't familiar with Country music, the guy in the photo is Alan Jackson, who has to be without a doubt one of my favorites artists when it comes to Country music. This photo is from a concert of his we attended several years ago.
Well, our time here in Nashville is almost at an end. Hard to believe eh? We came here knowing we were going to spend some serious time at the Nashville State Library & Archives - doing what we enjoy doing - family history research.
A bit about the library & archives - they are located on 7th Ave. North, right across the street from the Tennessee state capitol building and next door to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Talk about friends in high places! You do have to fill out a form, and have your briefcase/bag checked to get in. BUT once you get in, if you are doing Tennessee research, you'll think you've just stepped into heaven!
With plenty of microfilm readers & printers, quite a few helpful staff members at your beck & call and a mountain of microfilmed vital records - including but not limited to death, marriage, land deeds, newspapers and MUCHO more, what more could a body ask for? Copies are a quarter and microfilm is all self serve. No waiting in lines, no question too small or too dumb. No wifi in this library/archives, but some internet is available in the "home" computers. There is electricity and room on most reader stations for a laptop. Not all readers have powerstrips so if you plan on bringing your laptap check under the station first. Remember to bring a lock for your computer as well.
The records are pretty self explanatory and if there is something you can not find there is no shortage of assistance available and they are happy to help as well! The staff seems very knowledgeable, both about the records on hand & the equipment in the room.
We went with four rolls of quarters ($40) and maybe $5-$8 in loose quarters. We used them all up and used their change machine to get $3 more. I wouldn't count on them for large amounts of quarters, so if you plan on making mega copies as we did, stock up at home & bring with you. Their machines take quarters, no dimes, no nickels ONLY QUARTERS.
We figure all total for two days we ended with about 180 copies. This is primarily death certificates & obituaries. I did get one estate file. Yesterday we counted about 45 headstone photo's. Not bad for two days. That doesn't include the many photo's taken at last night's Grand Ole Opry show. Did I mention we even squeezed in a movie yesterday - Dance Flick. Interesting. I was more entertained by the Library & Archives.
I must say Nashville is indeed a beautiful city - the people were friendly, many offering to take photo's of two goofy lovebirds siteseeing. Staying in the Brentwood area of Nashville, I thought traffic would be a nightmare, we managed to avoid any traffic issues at all. Even the cops with the blue lights in your rear view mirrow are friendly when they approach your drivers window.... Oh yeah, when you come to Tennessee, remember to use your turn signals. :-)
So tomorrow we say good bye to Music City USA and head for the land of our ancestors... Ohio...
Ready or not here we come!
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