Tennessee Road

Tennessee Road is a one block long thoroughfare that runs from Collings Road south to New Merrimac Road, between New Jersey Road and Kearsarge Road, across the street and to the southwest from Yorkship School. There are no houses or businesses that front onto Tennessee Road.

Over the years Tennessee Road has probably seen a lot more foot traffic than vehicle traffic, as it has been utilized as a shortcut to and from what is now known as Malandra Hall, the baseball diamonds, tennis courts, basketball court, and street hockey rink located east of Kearsarge Road below South Merrimac Road.

Tennessee Road is named after the battleship USS Tennessee BB-43. The Tennessee’s keel was laid down on May 14, 1917 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard. She was launched on April 30, 1919, sponsored by Miss Helen Lenore Roberts, daughter of Tennessee governor Albert H. Roberts, and commissioned on 3 June 1920, Captain Richard H. Leigh in command. Tennessee was damaged at Pearl Harbor, repaired, and saw considerable action in the South Pacific during World War II.