Jackson To Auction “I Walk the Line” Courthouse Benches

Jackson County planning to auction the old courthouse benches that were featured in the 1970 film “I Walk the Line.”

Mayor Randy Heady said that the commission thought with tourists interested in Gainesboro because of the film, there might be interest in pieces from the movie as well.

“(Tourists) were taking pictures of the old courthouse and a lot of the downtown buildings that still look the same as they did when they were in the movie,” Heady said. “So it’s kind of unique and we think that there’d be some people who would like to have a piece of that history themselves.”

Heady said the benches were originally installed in the courthouse in 1927. He said the renovations were completed on the courthouse, the benches have been sitting in storage for about five years. He said that money would be put back into the county general fund to potentially be used on courthouse improvements.

Heady said that the next steps are grabbing the benches from storage and getting them ready for auction.

“Kind of excited about that,” Heady said. “Just making sure they’re cleaned up. I mean they’re old, it’s not like we can make them look brand-new. But that’s kind of adds to the authenticity of what they are and what they were used for. So we’ll be taking them over there and getting them cleaned up and ready for auction.”

Heady said that as of now, there is no starting bid price. He said that the benches will be auctioned at the Jackson County Board of Education on October 16th.