The last of the 150 challenge coins for the 2025 Challenge was given out on Friday, April 11th. Thank you all for participating!
This Geocache is part of an annual Geocache Challenge put on by the Heritage Program at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area as part of our outreach to the public, to get people to explore their forest and their history, and to share the unique heritage of the families from Between the Rivers.
This Geocache is part of the “2025 Land Between the Lakes Heritage Geocache Challenge: General Stores Between the Rivers”. There are 7 geocaches placed across Land Between the Lakes related to the history of the Community General Stores between the rivers. If you locate each geocache, and collect a numbered aluminum tree tag from each cache, you can turn them in at the Golden Pond Visitor Center for one of 150 Challenge Coins created for this event.
The Geocache is a 6” x 6” orange watertight plastic box marked “Heritage Geocache” on the top. The geocache is placed in a fallen tree.
The “2025 Land Between the Lakes Heritage Geocache Challenge: General Stores Between the Rivers” was researched, written, and placed by archaeologist Lacy Risner. Please thank Lacy for her hard work and dedication.
This Geocache requires a hike of about 0.7 miles (each way) with some steep slopes.
A Dill Family Legacy
This is where the legacy of the Dill general stores first began, with JD “Papa” Dill at his Pine Bluff store. You are stand-ing on the ridge above the location where JD Dills store once stood. Just behind the tree line along the shore is a concrete slab and upturned steps, which may have been his store house.
If you look out toward the lake now, maybe you can im-agine how it would have looked when it was a river. To the north just around the bend was Dill’s landing where barges of goods and supplies would dock and resupply residents of Between the Rivers with the things they needed to survive. To the south would have been the Pine Bluff Ferry which provided transportation to and from the world outside the BTR. Notice the store is located right off the main road to the ferry.
A Business of Brothers
One of the most intriguing aspects of the culture of the Between the Rivers communities, is that they really were family. Tracing the lineage of renown businesses reveals how these individuals earned their reputation due to their roots in the community.
Many people know about Joe Dill’s General store. Some called it Uncle Joe’s, again highlighting the family nature of BTR culture. However, the Dill legacy extends even fur-ther. JD “Papa” Dill had another son, Lewis who start-ed as a huckster working from his dad’s store, but soon opened his own store called Dutch’s. These 2 stores were only a few miles apart but they served different commu-nities, illustrating the need for general stores especially in areas like the BTR where travel was never easy.
Joe and his wife Ruth, were the acknowledged business and social lead-ers in the Model Com-munity. Many people would come to their store to not only social-ize but they also used the telephone, which was a big deal back then. The Dills were also more than willing to swap home products for staples and canned goods. Like Lewis, Joe began humbly as a huckster peddling eggs and produce. During Joe’s 32 years owning and operating the store in Model, he made investments in timber, farm land, theater, real-estate, and a railroad salvage store in Calvert city.
As a result of these investments, when TVA forced the Model community to relocate, Joe was able to open the largest shopping center in Dover TN, for that time. To this day Joe Dill is known as a dedicated business leader of the BTR.
Lewis was given the nickname, Dutch, by his family when he was a kid. As a huck-ster working for JD “Papa” Dill, Dutch worked the routes through the Tharpe, Tip Top, Blue Springs, and Fort Henry communities. It is possible that this led him to the idea that Tharpe needed its own gen-eral store.
In 1940, Lewis and his wife Hazel and their daughter Ronetta moved to Tharpe and opened Dutch’s. Ronetta recalls that their home was a beautiful farm, with a variety of animals such as cows, hogs, goats, chickens, ducks, and turkeys. The store was right next to their home, so Ronetta has many fond memories of playing with all the kids who came to the store. Back then people didn't just come to the store for food or supplies, they came to visit, socialize, share stories about the good ole days, and stay in tune with the current events. It was a unique and special time that will hopefully live on in the memories of all those who witnessed it and were told about it.
