Why The Loretta Lynn Ranch Should Be On Every Country Music Lover’s Bucket List
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Country music legend Loretta Lynn’s estate, the Loretta Lynn Ranch, also known as “The Seventh Largest Attraction in Tennessee,” is a hidden gem in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, that has been converted into a tourist park and we’re going to tell you all about it.
The 3,500-acre property is only 75 miles outside Nashville and was purchased by Loretta and her husband Doolittle Lynn in 1966.
While the property came with its own area code and was the entirety of the unincorporated settlement of Hurricane Mills, the couple discovered that the property was in disrepair. So, Doolittle renovated the place while Loretta was on tour, and it was only in 1967 that the family finally moved in.
The family later started a rodeo series at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in 1969, which ran from May to September and included weekly concerts by Loretta.
The estate was featured in scenes from Coal Miner’s Daughter, and by the 80s, it had grown into a popular tourist attraction. Loretta said the property’s growth was due to Doolittle’s efforts, who purchased hundreds of acres whenever Loretta was on tour.
“I’d come home, and he’d have 300 or 400 more acres bought,” Loretta said, according to Yahoo. “Now somebody’s gotta pay for that, right?”
The estate includes a one-room schoolhouse, a post office and general store, a 19th-century stone mill along Hurricane Creek, a dam, and two bridges. It was even listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1999.
In addition to the historic buildings, there’s a detailed re-creation of Loretta’s childhood home from Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, and a replica of a coal mine like the one her father worked in.
There’s an 18,000-square-foot museum, an Old West town that features horseback riding, and a Native American Artifact Museum dedicated to her Cherokee heritage. Visitors can also enjoy several gift shops and a restaurant on the property.
The ranch hosts several annual music festivals, the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, and has 300 powered campsites that allow visitors to spend the night close to Loretta’s one-window bedroom.
However, the ranch has a spooky past. The land was the scene of a battle during the Civil War, and reportedly, 19 Confederate soldiers are buried on the property. Loretta claims that their spirits still haunt the place.
Her late son Jack even said he woke up one morning to find a ghost of a soldier pulling at his boots.
“He saw someone pulling at his boots. And he could feel it trying to take his boots off,” ranch manager Will Rourke told WKRN.
Other apparitions have been spotted on the balcony, including the ghost of a woman who lived there more than 100 years ago and lost one of her children at a young age.
“[Loretta] said when she started seeing the woman in white on a regular basis, she knew it was time to leave,” her grandson, Anthony Brutto, joked. “The house wasn’t big enough for two women!”
Loretta held a seance and came into contact with the ghost of James Anderson, who built the estate. The ranch became so well-known for these hauntings that the Travel Channel even sent a TV crew to investigate.
Unfortunately, the ranch was affected by the flooding in August 2021 that hit the surrounding Humphreys County area, causing heavy floods that killed 22 people, including 70-year-old ranch foreman Wayne Spears and an 18-year employee of Loretta’s who was swept away.
Despite its eerie past, the Loretta Lynn Ranch remains a delightfully quirky destination that’s a bucket list destination and a must-see for country music fans.
