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A Tour of Dyersburg’s Bruce Neighborhood
A Tour of Dyersburg’s Bruce Neighborhood

A Tour of Dyersburg’s Bruce Neighborhood

After a late lunch in Halls, I drove on to Dyersburg. One of the reasons was that a few years ago, I had seen a listing for a cafe that I suspected was a juke joint in a neighborhood on the southeast side of Dyserburg that was surrounded by railroad tracks. I had never been in this area of the city, and wanted to see if there was anything historic in it. As far as where the cafe had been indicated, along the railroad tracks, I found nothing there, and I assume the building had been demolished. But I soon learned that this was the neighborhood where Bruce High School had been, the high school for African-American students in Dyersburg prior to integration. And while I didn’t find anything that looked like a juke joint, I did find some interesting historic structures; the Balboa Lodge was undoubtedly a Masonic body within the Prince Hall F & AM, and the bright-yellow Panama Food Mart stood out against the blue sky overhead. With the sunlight slipping away, I then headed out Highway 412, making my way to Brownsville for dinner at the Mindfield Grill.

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