‘American Pickers’ host supports move to rural Tennessee with new campaign – Columbia Daily Herald

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“American Pickers” star Mike Wolfe is joining leaders from 13 rural Middle Tennessee and Northwest Alabama communities to launch a new regional movement dubbed “Nashville’s Big Back Yard,” encouraging people to move to the state’s rural small towns or at least pay them a visit.

“This global pandemic is making folks rethink how and where they want to live and work,” said Wolfe, a resident of rural Williamson County who has traveled tens of thousands of miles and gained millions of fans as the star and creator of HISTORY’s “American Pickers” series. “I know first-hand how much rural communities have to offer. Now is the perfect time to think about getting out of the cities, and back to small town Main Streets and open spaces. I’m honored to help shine a light on the communities in ‘Nashville’s Big Back Yard.’”

He is also the owner of Antique Archeology, which has a brick and mortar location the historic Marathon Village complex near downtown Nashville as well as another site in Le Claire, Iowa.

The initiative led by Wolfe in front of the camera and by the participating communities behind it, emphasizes that in the age of an ongoing coronavirus pandemic, small communities are seeing a surge of interest from people who are drawn to rural living, the possibilities of working remotely and living an affordable lifestyle.

A spring 2020 Harris Poll survey found nearly 40% of U.S. adults living in urban areas said they would consider moving “out of populated areas and toward rural areas.”

According to data from the National Association of Realtors, median home prices in Nashville’s Big Back Yard averaged less than $170,000 vs. the national median home price of $241,300.

As reported earlier this week by The Daily Herald news partner The Tennessean, the ongoing pandemic has spurred a move from big cities to the greater Nashville area.

A USA Today report publishing the findings showed urbanites (43%) were twice as likely than suburban (26%) and rural (21%) dwellers to have recently browsed a real estate website for homes and apartments to rent or buy, the survey showed, which was conducted among 2,050 U.S adults from April 25-27.

“‘Nashville’s Big Back Yard”‘ is a powerful solution to today’s economic crisis,” Wolfe said in a video posted on social media introducing the initiative Wednesday morning.

He described the initiative as a “virtual showroom of small towns outside of Nashville where people looking for a different way of life will have the opportunity to consider Tennessee,” as he walked through downtown Centerville in Hickman County.

“People have a real chance to live the simpler life they are longing for, affordably” Wolfe said. “For some, it might be opening that shop they have always dreamed of on Main Street, for another it might be buying that homestead near town and growing your own food, or just knowing that you can let your kid ride their bike into town without worrying. That’s community.”

“Nashville’s Big Back Yard” describes a region anchored by 100 miles of the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway that connects communities with populations under 5,000 — from Leiper’s Fork southbound to The Shoals of Alabama.

To launch the campaign, Wolfe produced content focused for social media to promote the Middle Tennessee communities of Centerville, Clifton, Collinwood, Hampshire, Hohenwald, Leiper’s Fork, Linden, Loretto, Mt. Pleasant, Santa Fe, Summertown, and Waynesboro— as well as The Shoals area of Northwest Alabama.

“We appreciate Mike’s support of our movement to engage people who may be looking for a change of pace, including a more affordable lifestyle,” said Lewis County Mayor Jonah Keltner in a public statement shared with The Daily Herald.

Kevin Jackson, executive director of The Shoals Economic Development Authority, added, “The Shoals area is uniquely positioned for growth as people move from densely populated cities in search of a better quality of life.”

“Nashville’s Big Back Yard” is described as the product of lengthy conversations during COVID-19 spearheaded by Leiper’s Fork philanthropist Aubrey Preston and led by community leaders.

“While COVID has dealt a devastating blow to our nation’s public health and economy, it also has led people and communities to think about who we are and what we do,” said Preston, who has spent more than 25 years working on rural preservation efforts including the popular Americana Music Triangle. “The land is calling people back, and Nashville’s Big Back Yard has an abundance of land, water and world-class music. We’re inviting folks to come and play in our big back yard.”

Participating communities Mt. Pleasant, Santa Fe and Hampshire are all located in Maury County.

As the campaign launched on Wednesday, Maury County’s leaders also weighed in on the initiative. 

“Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee is on the map,” said Ryan Jackson, the principal of the local high school and the chief executive of the city’s three schools and leader of the school system’s career-focused technical education model emphasizing science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the arts at the three interconnected campuses.

“Now is the perfect time to make a move out of the city, and back to small town Main Streets and open spaces,” Jackson said. “Come play in our Big Back Yard.”

He described the campaign as a “really exciting opportunity” for Mt. Pleasant and its neighboring communities.

For Mt. Pleasant, the new campaign continues the city’s ongoing effort to revitalize the rural community located a short drive south of Columbia.

Known as the former “Phosphate Capital of World,” the city rebranded itself in 2017 as the “Hub of Reinvention.”

The new identity was created using feedback from local folks during a 2016 town hall when residents, business owners and city officials all gathered at the Mt. Pleasant Community Center to voice their thoughts and hopes of what a major revitalization effort would bring.

Since 2016, the revitalization project has been a joint effort between Maury County Investments, the City of Mt. Pleasant, the Chamber of Commerce and the Community Development Corporation to breathe new life into the city’s downtown.

Ongoing projects include an incentive program for new businesses to open along Main Street and renovations to its historic storefronts and interiors located along the main thoroughfare. Through the partnership, each participating organization has been able to funnel in potential business and find the location that is most suitable to their needs.

Smelter Services C.E.O. and Board Chairman Jim Barrier is Maury County Investment Group’s main contributor. He is joined by a number of local groups and contributors.

The group currently owns more than a dozen buildings in downtown Mt. Pleasant and is working to renovate each structure and find commercial tenants for those buildings in an effort to revitalize the city’s downtown economy and atmosphere.

A growing list of businesses have opened since the formal launch of the effort, including the 1824 General Store and the Buckhead Coffee House.

Earlier this year, Mt. Pleasant Mayor Bill White said the revitalization is being funded by a $1.5 million grant.

Donna Morency,  the executive director of the Mt. Pleasant Community Development Corporation leads the local organization that works to support local businesses and uplift the community of about 6,000 in southern Maury County.

The corporation serves as a leading organizer in some of the city’s largest gatherings and has played a key role in the recent revitalization initiative and is now participating in the new campaign.

“This is probably the best that we have ever done to highlight our community,” Morency said. I have been waiting a long time to have a marketing presence. It is a great opportunity for Mt. Pleasant and the other small towns. These small communities can team up and have a larger voice.”

Morency said the campaign’s launch follows about six months of planning and development between the participating communities.

“These 12 small communities are working together to make us as a a voice in the region,” Morency said. “ We really wanted to be proactive. It is going to be great for Mt. Pleasant and our partners. We are looking for this type of market. It is tourism and economic development tied together and rolled into one.”

Wolfe is no stranger to southern Middle Tennessee. He owns property in downtown Columbia and has been known to frequent the Maury County Archives and has handed out some of his own personal collection of American relics to local business owners.

Last year Wolfe welcomed CBS Sunday Morning to his garage in Columbia. 

A former Chevrolet dealership built in 1947, he is converting the building into retail space.

“This was a huge asset, a flagship for the community,” Wolfe said in the piece that aired in late 2019. “That is what, to be honest with you, what I want it to be again. I always tell people if you want to see small town America get in your car and drive because it is disappearing rapidly.

“These aren’t just buildings and these aren’t just small town corridors,” Wolfe continued. “All of these places matter for some reason or another and some can survive and some can’t. But if we don’t try as individuals then who are we as a society.” 

The late Maury County Archives Director Bob Duncan described the recognizable television host as so: “He is just like you see him on television. He has a passion for history, especially local history.”

Mike Christen is the multimedia editor for The Daily Herald. Reach him at mchristen@c-dh.net and follow him on Twitter @MikeChristenCDH and @Michaelmarco on Instagram.

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