Visit Casey Jones Village in Jackson for the Holidays

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Casey Jones Village in Jackson, TN

For more than 50 years, travelers along Interstate 40 between Memphis and Nashville have been pleasantly surprised to discover Casey Jones Village, a nostalgic piece of the past situated at Exit 80A in Jackson.

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Established in 1965 as the Brooks Shaw & Son Old Country Store, Casey Jones Village has grown into one of Tennessee’s most popular attractions. The complex includes the Old Country Store and Gift Shoppe, a buffet restaurant, the 1890s Ice Cream Parlor & Fudge Shoppe, the Historic Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum, the Shoppes at Casey Jones Village, a historic chapel, a miniature golf course, an 1837 antebellum mansion called Providence House, an educational farm and heritage garden, and a real 130-ton steam locomotive engine.

“We like to say we’re the best whistlestop between Memphis and Nashville,” says Clark Shaw, chief executive officer of the world-famous Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store and son of founder Brooks Shaw.

Casey Jones Village in Jackson, TN

Discover Casey Jones’ Legacy

Railroad engineer Casey Jones died April 30, 1900, when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train near Canton, Mississippi. His heroic efforts to stop his train in order to save the lives of its passengers are celebrated and immortalized in his historic Jackson home and the adjacent railroad museum., where visitors can learn about his legacy and children can play with toy trains.

“The Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum is designed to resemble a train station like Casey Jones himself would have pulled into,” Shaw says, “and his home typifies what life would have been like for an all-American family in the late 1890s.”

While Casey Jones Village is a treat any time of the year, it is especially captivating during the holiday season. Feast on fried chicken, farm-raised catfish, country ham and cracklin’ cornbread at the Old Country Store Restaurant, which serves three Southern buffets daily.

“Our signature cracklin’ cornbread was Brooks Shaw’s mother’s recipe we have been serving for decades,” Clark says. ”

“Visitors love our homemade pies, cakes and tarts, and our Dixie Cafe Take Out or Dine features convenient blue-plate specials.”

The Old Country Store Restaurant has become known for its annual Christmas Eve Breakfast that includes live entertainment, mulled cider and a visit from Santa Claus.

“It’s our tradition every Christmas Eve to serve our breakfast buffet for $4.99 as a gift to the people of Jackson and the Tennessee Delta region,” Shaw says.

Bottlecap Checkerboard at Casey Jones Village in Jackson, TN

Explore the Village

After finishing their meals, visitors can buy homemade fudge or enjoy Blue Bell ice cream in Miss Anne’s Ice Cream Parlor & Fudge Shoppe, named in honor of co-founder Anne Shaw, or browse through the gift shop.

“Our Old Country Store Gift Shoppe has nostalgic candies that bring back childhood memories, jellies and jams, and local honey,” Clark says.

Other finds include jewelry, Tennessee-themed apparel, cookbooks, toys and playful T-shirts with sayings that reflect Southern culture, such as “Hey Y’all, Bye Y’all” and “Got Lard?”

While at Casey Jones Village, also take a peek in the 1905 Village Chapel and the newly restored Providence House. Built in 1837, the house was moved to the property from Trenton and is open for private catered dinners and community events.

Casey Jones Village Old Country Store

Enjoy Old-Time Music

Music plays a big part of life at Casey Jones Village year-round. Every Thursday, musicians from all across the Tennessee Delta region meet at the village to jam.

“Nothing brings people together more than food and music, and we have all that and more at Casey Jones Village,” Shaw says. “We hope people who visit feel a wonderful sense of family and place as they pull off the interstate and go back 100 years to another place in time – a place where they can forget the troubles of this world and enjoy the nostalgia of a simpler age.”

Casey Jones Village Railroad Museum in Jackson, TN

If You Go …

Casey Jones Village is located at 56 Casey Jones Lane in Jackson, accessed by Exit 80A off Interstate 40. Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store and Restaurant is open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. central time. It is closed Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

The Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is $6.50 for adults, $5.50 for seniors and $4.50 for children ages 6 to 12. Children age 5 and under are free.

For information on upcoming events, visit caseyjones.com or call (800) 748-9588.

1 Comment

  1. Ethel Schorn says:

    When is this year’s Bluegrass festival?

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