Portal:Tennessee/Selected article/4

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Rugby is a settlement in Morgan County, Tennessee, that was founded in 1880 by British author Thomas Hughes, who is best known for writing the novel Tom Brown's School Days. Rugby, Tennessee, is named for Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where Hughes had attended Rugby School, the school that furnished the setting for the book.

Rugby was set up as an experiment in utopian living. It was intended in part as a community for the younger sons of the English gentry, who, because of the accepted system of primogeniture, would inherit little or no property. The settlement flourished for only a short while.

About half the original buildings, many in Ruskinian gothic revival style, survive and have been restored. Rugby currently has a population of around 85. The area's natural beauty, historic architecture, and seasonal festivals attract a brisk tourist trade. (Read more...)