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History &
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Photo of Ray's
Lake Tavern on Marrowbone Lake, Circa
1950
Graciously shared by H. Lee Swain,
grandson of the proprietor
Did
You Ever Dance at Ray's Lake?
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By Tracy V. Robb
Somewhere in Middle Tennessee
about 1951...
About this time several of us from
Ridgetop led by Earl Mitchell began
frequenting Ray's Lake Tavern located on
Lake Louise just down stream from
Marrowbone Lake in Davidson County.
To get there we would drive south
on Dickerson Pike and take Old Hickory
Boulevard though Whites Creek to the
Clarksville Highway. We would turn
north, go by St. Lawrence Catholic
Church, and then turn off on the road to
Morney which led into Gray's Point Road.
About a mile beyond Morney we would
turn north onto a road which, for all
practical purposes, ended at Ray's Lake.
The dance floor at Ray's Lake was at
ground level on the road side, but was on
the second level on the lake side.
There was an outside porch with a
diving board on the dance floor level.
Inside the there were tables around
the edge of the dance floor. The room was
dimly lighted except for the gayly
colored jukebox which played the popular
music of the day. Nothing stronger
than beer was served because liquor by
the drink was still illegal.
Patrons were however permitted to
bring their own bottle. Ray's Lake was
consided a good place to "carry
girls" because even though there was
drinking, seldom did any
"trouble" break out.
Patti Page had just recorded the
Tennessee Waltz and I'll bet the bunch
from Ridgetop must have worn out twenty
copies of the record on Ray's jukebox,
and about as many pairs of shoes dancing
to it on that dance floor.
I believe that wonderful tune became the
Tennessee state song and was written by
Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski from
Wisconsin. We always knew
him as "Pee Wee
King."
Tracy
V. Robb, who now resides in
Moberly, Missouri, is a proud descendant
of some of the oldest families on the
Ridge. His love for his ancestral home
has led him to spend years compiling a
"sentimental historical geography of
the Sycamore Creek Basin."
Thanks for the memories of Ray's Lake,
Tracy!
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Copyright
2006 Mauna Crabtree
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