Episode 02: Return to Madison

Charles R Jones

After 60 years Charles has returned to Madison, In 1951 while station at Fort Benning in Georgia, Charles visited Madison TN to see his brother for a weekend. While there he learned that the Ernest Tubb Farm was being sub-divided into lots for $800 each. Charles bought a lot and paid $10 a month out of his army pay of $70 a month. After two years service in the Army Medical Corp, he returned to Nashville to attend Lipscomb University and work part-time in construction. A loan of $6,000 permitted Charles and his new wife to pay the balance owed on the $800 lot and to build a new three bedroom brick home. The house in Madison was their first home, after graduation, they sold the house to the contractor who built it for $9,000. They received a $3,000 profit in two years. More than 60 years later Charles purchased the Memorial Hospital property, 50 acres, and 560,000 sq ft for 6 million in Madison TN. After some remodeling, the property is now valued at 24 million. How Charles turned $10 a month out of his army paycheck into a property worth 24 million, is an interesting chain of events.