Reelfoot Airpark Inn

Among my earliest recollections of Tiptonville, Tennessee is Edgewater Beach. We always stayed at one of the cabins there when on vacation, and got in some swimming when we weren’t at my grandmother’s farm. But that all changed with the opening of the Airpark Inn, ten miles north of Tiptonville. Located at Reelfoot Lake State Park, the 20-room Inn immediately became our new place to stay during our visits. The back of the postcard above provides a description:

A new concept in Tennessee Recreation, Reelfoot Airpark is a vacation area of Reelfoot Lake State Park. This new Inn is located on the upper Blue Basin area on beautiful Reelfoot Lake. This Airpark has an all weather landing strip accommodating the faster and larger planes.

Situated over the lake on stilts, I remember thinking the Inn looked attractive and modern, with sharply angular buildings of light gray and red accents in various places. Each building (I don’t know how many there were) had large red letters to help the guests find their room. There was also a restaurant, but I’ve heard that it closed in 2001. Everything was connected by walkways stretching across the water, with spectacular views all around. But looking back, the architecture that seemed so “cool” at the time now has an overpowering ’70s look to it (I think it was built in the late ’60s), and I find today that Edgewater, with its 1940s/50s feel, inspires more nostalgia. One of my Tennessee connections, Julie Haynes, has informed me that the Airpark Inn caught fire on November 20 of 2008 (two weeks ago as I write this), destroying six units. It has been speculated that the fire was electrical in origin.