The "Pea Vine" A Ghost Railroad / Parsons A Railroad Town

The "Pea Vine" A Ghost Railroad. In 1886, Tennessee Midland Railway Company was chartered to build a railroad from Memphis to Virginia. By 1889, 135.6 miles of track were completed to Perryville where it ended for lack of funds. In 1892, another rail connection at Lexington ended the need to extend the line past Perryville. By 1896, the 24.1 miles from Lexington to Perryville were owned by the Louisville & Nashville and operated by lessee Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. Known locally as the “Pea Vine,” the Perryville branch operated daily until abandoned in October 1936. Parsons A Railroad Town. On April 11, 1889, seeds for the town of Parsons were sown when landowner Henry Myracle deeded 143 acres to Tennessee Midland Railway Company. In exchange, Tennessee Midland built a depot and laid out a town consisting of 44 numbered blocks. Even numbers belonged to Tennessee Midland and odd numbers belonged to Henry Myracle. On April 20, 1889 George W. Partin bought the first lot in the new town of Parsons and later that year moved his general merchandise store and post office from nearby Partinville. In 1893, the post office's name wa offically changed to Parsons.