Church house, gin house – Tina’s school house to be saved! (updated)

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Tina Turner’s primary school in Nutbush, Flagg Grove School, is to be saved and restored. The one-room school will be moved to the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, TN. There the building will function as an exhbition room, including an exhibit on Tina herself, and African-American education in that era. The school was originally located on land bought from Benjamin Flagg in 1889, who was the brother to Tina’s (Anna Mae Bullock’s) great grandfather George Flagg. Tina attended the school in the 1940’s while she was growing up in Nutbush. The school was closed in 1960’s and after this has been used as a barn. For more information, visit the website of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center.

Update June 3:Ā Last Friday, June 1, Tina’s former school house, Flagg Grove School, was moved to its new location in Brownsville, TN, where it will be renovated and opened as an exhibition space. Via this link, you can follow this wonderful project. Thanks to Sonia Outlaw-Clark of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center for keeping us informed. See the photo below of the school being moved to Brownsville, via Highway 19 (a.k.a. Tina Turner Highway) – a wonderful sight!

Published by Ben

Teacher - Traveller - Blogger - Founder of Tina Turner Blog (2010)

21 Replies to “Church house, gin house – Tina’s school house to be saved! (updated)”

  1. Me parece bien que hagan tal cosa, con la escuela a que asistĆ­a Tina. En el video de Nutbush city creo haber visto esa imagen y si no, es muy parecida. “Muy bien que hagan ese homenaje a Tina”

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  2. Thanks Ben and Sjef, this is a great read! I never knew the school was still around. I wonder if the Tina fans who’ve been to Nutbush have found it? I’ve seen several pictures taken but never have seen the school. Fantastic and wonderful it is being preserved for History. “THEY CALL IT NUTBUSH CITY LIMITS!!!”

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    1. You’re welcome Hank! Maybe the problem is that it wasn’t used as a school house since the 1960’s, but that it was now in use as a barn. So it could be that the fans who went there just didn’t recognize it as Tina’s school! I’m very curious what it will look like once it is restored: one day I’ll have to make a pilgrimage to this region!

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  3. Esta matĆ©ria Ć© magnifica, pois isso vem nos mostrar que nĆ£o Ć© uma grande escola que cria uma grande estrela, pois ela Ć© nata,com tudo que conseguiu nĆ£o se sucumbiu ao estrelato e se dedica para construĆ§Ć£o de um mundo melhor, Obrigado Tina Turner por vocĆŖ existir!

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  4. I visited Nutbush about 5 years ago with my partner Dave and we saw the school house. I’m glad it is being saved.
    25 is not the speed limit any more, I’m not sure if motorcycles are allowed in it! It sure is ‘a little old town in Tennesse, quite a little community!’

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  5. We are so excited about the preservation of this school and the opportunity to highlight Tina even more! Thanks for all the positive comments. We’ll certainly be keeping all Tina fans posted about the progress of the move and restoration.

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    1. Thanks a lot for keeping us informed, Sonia! This is certainly a wonderful sight, and a very exciting project. We’ve updated the post, and linked to your blog post. We wish you all the best with the project’s continuation and we hope you will keep us informed!

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