Less than two years after opening to the public and welcoming nearly 150,000 visitors to experience “the discovery of a lifetime,” the East Tennessee State University and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum at the Gray Fossil Site is expanding its reach around the region.
Coverage in the April issue of Southern Living in an article entitled “Bare Bones Discovery,” and in this month’s Blue Ridge Country six-page spread, “An Alligator in East Tennessee,” means news of the ETSU Gray Fossil Site may reach as many as 16.5 million people, according to the combined monthly readership of the two magazines.
Already, the museum has evidence that visitors from other states have seen the articles and decided to vacation in the Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia region.
With the economic downturn some businesses are experiencing, the museum has received a welcome boost from the attention it has drawn, especially from residents of Georgia, Florida and Kentucky, according to Jeanne Zavada, museum director.
“In times like these, non-profits depend even more on donations and on the extra exposure generated by positive articles and special features,” Zavada says. “We consider ourselves fortunate to be highlighted in both Southern Living and Blue Ridge Country, but we know that the entire community has worked hard to provide support. The word is spreading.”
Featured prominently with the Southern Living article is a photograph of the bas-relief mural fountain, “The Watering Hole,” commissioned and donated by General Shale Brick and created by brick sculptor Johnny Hagerman, who has produced more than 250 masonry sculptures for the company’s construction projects around the country, including the ETSU Alumni Gallery in the D.P. Culp University Center.
Flanking the museum’s entranceway, the unique fountain serves as a wishing well and a place for families and others to gather for a special picture with the representational 5 million-year-old landscape depicting tapirs, saber-toothed cat, short-faced bear, shovel-tusked elephant, rhino, red pandas, alligators and others – whose carefully excavated fossils now showcased inside the museum provide evidence that these long-extinct creatures once roamed in Northeast Tennessee.
Both articles highlight the improbable luck and dedication that led to the discovery of the Gray Fossil Site and the journey from “hole in the ground” to “booming” family adventure.
“We are very proud to bear the ETSU and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum name. Without the support of community businesses like General Shale Brick and AGC Flat Glass North America who donated all of the brick and glass for the construction of the museum, we, literally, would not be standing here today,” Zavada added.
Other businesses including Eastman Credit Union, Eastman Chemical Co., Saturn of the Mountain Empire and Bill Gatton of Johnson City have all contributed major sponsorships for the continued support of the museum and the fossil site. Further, the success of the facility to date is due to the continuing hard work of volunteers as well as individual members and donors to the museum and the ETSU Foundation, including Wayne G. Basler of Kingsport and Scott M. Niswonger of Greeneville, for whom exhibit halls are named.
All of this is good news for the “bare bones” staff at the museum and for the regional economy, Zavada says.
With the beginning of the new fossil field season – which depends solely on the weather – and a summer packed with new exhibits and various children’s camps being offered, the museum staff looks forward to welcoming a host of new visitors to the site, with the help of community friends of the university along the way.
The ETSU and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum and Visitor Center at the Gray Fossil Site is located 1.8 miles from Exit 13 on I-26.
The museum is open from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. seven days a week.
For more information, call the museum toll-free at 1-866-202-6223 or visit www.grayfossilmuseum.org.

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