Photo by Jane N. Powell, 20-Apr-1999

Cat Corner, District 9

Leslie: Cat Corner is still Cat Corner. If you were going from Lane’s Ferry in Dyer county, turn left and go until the road curves right by the ridge. In the curve is Cat Corner. There is an old Cat Corner Gin and a store and a few houses. Cat Corner is northeast of Bogota. It’s on the dogleg between Dyer County and Lake County.

Beth: According to Bill Threlkeld, a local historian, here’s the story. Around the turn of the century there was a Church of Christ & the people were meeting there.  It must have been warm weather because the window was open. A bunch of boys rounded up several cats, put turpentine on them put them in a sack, then tossed them through the window. Maybe the church is on a corner of the road. Bill did not know where the story originated from. Robert’s Dad said that about 60 years ago the place was Black Cat.

Leslie: That Church of Christ is still there but changed it’s name because they felt that Cat Corner Church of Christ didn’t sound good. I remember it being announced several years ago.

Leslie: My dad had never heard that about the bag of cats. He said when he was growing up (he was born in 1920) it was called Cat Corner. BTW, Cat Corner is in a curve – hence the word corner.

Jane: And that’s the story of Cat Corner — but there must be more, don’t you think? And there is !

Al: A long time ago, before the State built the first bridge across the Obion River at Obion, the route to Dyersburg from Obion, on gravel roads of course, went from Obion, west through Glass, Elbridge, Cloverdale across the Iron Truss Bridge at “Lane’s Ferry” and on to Dyersburg. Before you came to Lane’s Ferry, a road turned to the west and in the NW corner of this road was the “DEW DROP INN.” There were many heads “busted” in the DEW DROP INN which was a night spot and drew people from all over the area. If you continued west on this road you came to CAT CORNER. There was a cotton gin, country store and a few houses. The road turned north at CAT CORNER, followed the BLUFF to Gratio, another small settlement. A road turned west at Gratio, crossed a bridge over REELFOOT CREEK and continued on to Ridgely, about three miles. If you continued north from Gratio, you would come to Lassater’s corner near Reelfoot Lake or there was a road about halfway that cut back through the hills back to Elbridge. I did not write about OWL HOOT, BARB WIRE, TANK TWO or HAYNES SWITCH as these places are in Lake County.

Leslie:  Al is so right. I take this route to Ridgely every time I go from Newbern. I take the Lanes Ferry road and cross the bridge.  Dew Drop Inn is still there. Never have seen people at it but it’s there.  Of course the roads are paved and the route is a state bicycle route noted for scenery I suppose.  The bicycle route goes all the way to the lake I believe, along the bluff.