Historical Marker
Lester Flatt June 19, 1914 - May 11, 1979
Sparta, White County · Tennessee
Flatt's sound reached the mass audience through commerce and film. He often sang commercials for Martha White Flour, which sponsored his group's morning radio show on WSM. Flatt and Earl Scruggs formed the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1948, and in the 1960s their recording of Foggy Mountain Breakdown went on the Bonnie and Clyde soundtrack, while The Ballad of Jed Clampett became the Beverly Hillbillies theme. When the partnership ended in 1969, Flatt formed the Nashville Grass, whose members included Marty Stuart.
What the plaque says
Lester Flatt June 19, 1914 - May 11, 1979 He was born at Duncan's Chapel near the boundary of Putnam and Overton counties and moved to Sparta at an early age where he made his permanent home. A bluegrass music pioneer and composer, Mr. Flatt was also a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and star of radio, television, and the movies. He performed at Carnegie Hall and entertained audiences around the world as the "Baron of Bluegrass Music." He is buried in the Sparta Oaklawn Memorial Cemetery.
Where it stands
35.92459, -85.45767 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Burgess Falls State Park — 11 miA day-use park on the Falling Water River, where a short trail passes three smaller falls on its way to a drop of more than 130 feet into a limestone gorge.
- Rock Island State Park — 13 miA park where the Collins, Rocky and Caney Fork rivers meet at the head of Center Hill Lake, with a gorge of waterfalls below a 1917 dam and the remains of a cotton-mill town.
- Cookeville Depot Museum — 17 miThe 1909 Tennessee Central Railroad depot in Cookeville's west side, now a museum with a model of the town in 1955 and a steam engine in the yard.
- Fall Creek Falls State Park — 19 miA New Deal park on the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau, where Cane Creek has cut a gorge and a 256-foot waterfall drops into it.