Partner Spotlight: Sumner County Tourism Dedicate Markers to Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison

Sumner County Tourism has two new Tennessee Historical Commission markers honoring Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. Both musicians called Hendersonville home.

Johnny Cash lived on Old Hickory Lake after purchasing a house from famed architect Braxton Dixon in 1968. Cash and his wife June Carter Cash were among many famed musicians, singers, and songwriters who called Caudill Drive home. Roy Orbison was a neighbor of the Cash family and Orbison tragically lost two of his sons in a house fire while he was on tour in the late 1960s. Cash later purchased the property turning it into an orchard, and promised Orbison he would protect the land in honor of Orbison’s sons.

The two markers called, “The Cash Home, and “The Orchard,” were researched and submitted for consideration to the Commission by Vanderbilt student Jennifer Bruce. Bruce reached out to several family members and friends of the Cash and Orbison families during the course of her research, many of whom were present for the dedication ceremony.

A dedication ceremony was attended by Joanne Cash Yates, sister of Johnny Cash; Tennessee Historical Commission Executive Director Patrick McIntyre; Mayor Jamie Clary of Hendersonville; Mayor Paige Brown of Gallatin; and Melanie Beauchamp of TDTD.

The markers are expected to be hung sometime this spring on the fence at Cash’s former property located at 200 Caudill Drive, Hendersonville.