A Town You Can Buy: Water Valley, Tennessee

Here it is. Here is your next very good (or very bad) investment.

This historic southern town in Tennessee is calling your name. It needs a new owner!

And you may be the one. Do you love history? Rural architecture? Small town life that has been frozen in time? This one checks all the boxes.

The little town of Water Valley, Tennessee has been listed for sale for $725,000.

The listing includes 7 acres, 4 pre-1900 built general stores, the original Stock Barn, and wonderful frontage along Leiper’s Creek.

Situated on a quiet country road lined with fields and farmhouses, Water Valley, formerly known as Spencer’s Mill, was established in 1874 when a new post office was opened there.

The idyllic town is now empty but was once a bustling stop for the Middle Tennessee Railroad. According to the real listing agent, Christa Swartz, the train line was removed in the early 1930s and thus began the community’s slow but gentle decline.

No houses are included in the sale but there are four quaint abandoned buildings that date back to the late 1800s. These old-time timber shacks were once the town’s general stores.

Two of the buildings have updated wiring and plumbing, with 3 bedrooms & 3 full bathrooms. They have been grandfathered in to be used for commercial or residential purposes so this could make a quaint bed & breakfast compound or fun vacation rental. Or, if you are so inclined, a private residence.

The current owner uses one of the finished buildings as an events venue, where she hosts weddings and live music, as well as Friday night dances.

In the unfinished buildings, you will find a treasure trove of antiques and items from the town’s heyday that have been left untouched for decades.

Don’t look at it as inheriting someone else’s junk. Rather, think of it as acquiring the history of a lost town. A town that YOU could revive into a marvelous restored piece of rural Tennessee history.