Sergeant Alvin York Gristmill And Park

The steep descent from Jamestown to Pall Mall reminds motorists that they are leaving the Cumberland Plateau. The park contains Alvin York's home, a country store, a Bible school founded by York, and his family's gristmill.

The house has been restored and contains original furniture, a telephone, and household items owned by the York family. Best of all is the park ranger, Andrew Jackson York, who is the son of Sergeant York and a wonderful source of information and stories about his famous father. The mill is open daily 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and the house is open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free. For information about the park, call 931/879-6456 or visit www.tnstateparks.com.

In a time when anyone with an iota of fame immediately wrings every drop of value from it, a man such as Alvin York seems absolutely unreal. Born in 1887, he lived an unimpressive early life, working as a laborer on a farm that belonged to a minister. Under his employer's influence, York became a Christian and gave up his drinking and card-playing, but he continued squirrel hunting, becoming known as a crack shot.

So devout was young York that when he was drafted for World War I, he tried to obtain conscientious objector status. Draft officials in The Volunteer State turned him down flat, so he entered the army and was sent to the European front. On October 8, 1918, his platoon came under withering fire from the Germans. When his commanding officers were killed, Corporal York took charge, leading seven men in a charge on the machine-gun nest responsible for the deaths of so many of his comrades.

The machine guns were silenced, and York and his men captured four German officers and 128 men and marched them back across the lines. York himself marched into instant fame and was awarded more than 40 decorations. He came home to a media blitz hitherto unseen for a common soldier. He was offered almost everything: movie roles, advertisements, and all manner of product endorsements.

Turning it all down, he returned to Pall Mall, married his childhood sweetheart, and operated a gristmill north of town. He did accept a farm paid for by admirers' donations and lived there the rest of his life. He also headed the York Institute, a Jamestown school he established to benefit the mountain children of the area.

Right before World War II, York was persuaded to allow Hollywood to tell his story. He hoped it would encourage patriotism and wanted the money to build an interdenominational Bible school. Gary Cooper won an Oscar for his starring role, and Sergeant York introduced a new generation to the story of the brave mountain soldier.

Not used to large sums of money, York ran into tax troubles. A 1954 stroke left him bedridden and owing $172,723 to the government. The IRS settled for much less, and U.S. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn led a drive to collect the money. An industrialist set up a trust fund enabling York to live comfortably for the rest of his life. Alvin York died on September 2, 1964, and is buried in Pall Mall.

In October of 2006, an American lieutenant colonel, using military records and a metal detector, claimed to have found the exact spot where Sgt. York's heroics took place. Lt. Col. Douglas Mastriano found 19 empty .45 cartridges scattered over a 10-foot-wide area, which squared with Sgt. York's story of using a sidearm to to kill charging Germans. York was thought to be the only person in either side of this encounter to carry a Colt 45 pistol.