Hortense is north of Dickson and I had never heard of it until my colleague Leigh Ann Gardner brought it to my attention and we went looking for the place last week. Leigh Ann’s research found that it was originally a planned segregated community for blacks. In its day it had a depot, school, churches.

The Missionary Baptist church remains to mark the Hortense name.
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But the primary marker is the huge black cemetery behind the church, which the congregation is patiently clearing. Hortense is a neglected place in history but with a story worth exploring and a place and story worth celebrating.
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This one room school from the Great Depression era once stood on a country road near Nutbush. It served a generation of students, including a young girl who would become the Queen of Rock-n-Roll, Tina Turner. The Delta Heritage Center is now restoring this valuable building.