Prepare to Meet God, Barn, LaFollette, TN (non-extant)

Prepare to Meet God, Barn, LaFollette, TN (non-extant)

We have documented a lot of signs of various sizes and kinds. Many pictures are in our research materials. But the only large barn-size sign that we had actually seen was located in LaFollette, Tennessee. This particular sign no longer exists. There is one barn sign that I am aware of, and it is located in and…

The Cross Bench – Ford’s Woods Park, Middlesboro, KY

The Cross Bench – Ford’s Woods Park, Middlesboro, KY

From “A Coal Miner’s Simple Message” The cross bench is a very special sign that lots of people have enjoyed. This particular one-of-a-kind sign (bench) weighs two thousand pounds and is built in the shape of a cross. This shows the cross bench as it was first cast at Harrison’s homeplace. Later, it was moved to downtown. Presently, it is placed at…

Marker in the National Geographic Magazine, 1971

Marker in the National Geographic Magazine, 1971

The concrete heart at Totz, KY, appeared in an article in the National Geographic Magazine. In a demanding land that offers few rewards, religion provides sustaining comfort. This concrete sign, built to withstand the years—and, paradox­ically, the bullets that regularly pock it—issues its prediction near the town of Cumberland in Harlan County.Similar messages adorn barns…

Sounds of Middlesboro, KY and around

Only a Miner by Cadle, Tillman The Great Judgement Morning by Congregation of the Church of Ten Elders Around the same times, Henry Harrison Mayes was active, Alan Lomax traveled through Appalachia and recorded the music of the people there and the people themselves. Some recordings were released on Folkways, like When Kentucky Had No Union…

Get Right With God – Happy Ending (Sign, Speedwell, TN)

Get Right With God – Happy Ending (Sign, Speedwell, TN)

Sign by Henry Harrison Mayes in near Old-Hwy 63, Speedwell, TN Location: 36.52185783000347, -83.74941173203882 According to “A Coal Miner’s Simple Message” Book, a cross was relocated from Middlesborro to Speedwell, TN to Bill Hatfields property. I wasn’t able to find it via street view or satellite images, but I found a painted Mayes sign. Hatfield…

Mayes’ display near Middlesboro, KY, his hometown, in a short documentary about a snake handling church.
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Mayes’ display near Middlesboro, KY, his hometown, in a short documentary about a snake handling church.

Mayes’ display near Middlesboro, KY, his hometown, in a short documentary about a snake handling church. Documentary about ‘snake-handling’ Kentucky church fails to grasp tradition, expert says

About the Mayes, and their message in a bottle.

About the Mayes, and their message in a bottle.

The Mayeses have mailed their bottle-contained messages all over the world, but so far, they said, they have not been able to break through the Iron Curtain. “I guess w e w ill have to float them in,” Mayes remarked. They m ailed four to the postmaster at Istanbul. asking him to throw them into…

The Legend of Harrison Mayes by Just Off The Wilderness Road

The Legend of Harrison Mayes Liner Notes | Just Off The Wilderness Road It all began a hundred years agoWhen he painted a pig ‘cause the good Lord told him soGet right with God was what it had to sayThis is the legend of Harrison Mayes Up Mingo holler, down in a mineA broken rail…