Let me introduce you to little Rugby. This is a tiny town over in the eastern part of Tennessee. It was founded in 1880 by British author, Thomas Hughes. Hughes was an English lawyer, judge, and politician as well. The town was named after the place where Hughes went to school, Rugby in Warwickshire, England. Rugby, Tennessee was an experimental utopian colony modeled after Victorian England. This is why so many of the homes and buildings here have that influence. They weren’t just inspired by that architecture, the founder actually brought it with him!
By 1881, a typhoid epidemic set in and several residents died. The town experienced financial troubles, and by 1887 most of the original colonists had either died or moved away. And by 1900 the town was nearly deserted with only a few residents remaining.
In the 1960s, preservationists formed a group called Historic Rugby to preserve the historic town. Since then, many buildings have been restored or rebuilt to reflect what it once looked like in Rugby.
The home pictured here is the Newbury House. It was built in 1880 by colonist Ross Brown. It has been welcoming guests almost continuously since the town was founded. The parlor’s sideboard is original to the home and it’s furnished with period Victorian furniture throughout. Check out the historic photo courtesy of Historic Rugby!
