200 Students from Spring City and Graysville Elementary Visit Dayton Courthouse

March 2026, Dayton, Tennessee

Almost 200 elementary school students, most from Spring City and Graysville Elementary
schools gathered at the Rhea County Courthouse last week to learn about Rhea County’s most
famous tourism event, the 1925 Scopes Trial.

Presented by Rhea Heritage Preservation Foundation (RHPF), students and their teachers
enjoyed a one-act play, “How It Started,” that tells the story of the trial, then participated in a
discussion about the trial and visited the Rhea Heritage & Scopes Trial Museum.
RHPF President Rick Dye said today’s program was the largest in the four years the organization
has been producing the educational program. “The students seemed to enjoy the play and
certainly were engaged with retired teacher Sharon Honeycutt’s questions and answers. Most had
never been to the museum and were really interested in the displays about Rhea County history.
It was a treat to have Rhea County Historian Pat Guffey take them through the Rhea history
section.”

This is the first year Rhea County public school students have attended the two-hour program
which is offered each March at the Rhea County Courthouse. “We have had a good number of
home school students from outside Rhea County attend in previous year, and we certainly
welcome home school and private school students, as well as public school students,” Dye said.
“We believe it’s especially important for our local students to learn something about this part of
Rhea County history.”

RHPF officials expressed their appreciation to County Executive Jim Vincent and his staff for
their cooperation in making the “How It Started” program possible.

Press Release from The Rhea Heritage Preservation Foundation

For more information click on the link. The Rhea Heritage Preservation Foundation