course of the wall. Later in the year of 1891, an artist from the Smithsonian Institute made sketches of a section of the wall and impressions of the characters. The Smithsonian Institute actually displayed a segment of the wall from 1900-1902 when it was returned to the owner because there was question as to whether the markings constituted an inscription.

Excitement over the mysterious wall dwindled over the years but arose again in 1920 when J.L. Hooper, son of Isaac Hooper, came across the wall while hauling stone from his 80 acre farm at Chatata. Hooper Mill was described as being  (7 miles SW of Charleston and 13 miles from the railroad in Cleveland, TN).  Hooper's farm was said to have looked no different from other neighboring tracts of land except for one stone, shaped like a flatiron which protruded from the ground, bearing strange characters.

The stone aroused little interest among local country folk until it was dislodged by Hooper. He observed

that the stones entire surface was inscribed with strange written characters and that it was supported by a solid foundation. Curiosity prompted further investigation which revealed a wall, three piles thick and about three feet high.  Demolition of the wall revealed the inner ply, the western face of which was smoothly dressed and completely covered with the hieroglyphics first noted on the out cropping rock. Each ply was made of small size stones cemented together with a red clay unusual to the area.

Again, the discovery of the wall created little interest within the local community, some saying the inscriptions were from Indian tribes. The entire story would have remained unrecorded if it were not for a noted  New York  professor visiting Cleveland one

away with the passage of time, bringing the formation nearer to the surface. He aimed to uncover the entire wall which was said to be located on what was described as a ridge. 

Pottery and stone images were also found near the wall which Rawson also declared to be old Hebrew. Citing the story of the Two "Lost Tribes of Israel," Rawson believed that the Israelite tribes entered America by way of the Bering Strait, allowing for the many geographic changes that have taken place during the past 4,000 years. He declared that the tribes, after locating in the new country, inscribed the tablets with the Mosaic law in obedience to the injunction of Moses, and sealed them away for preservation, making reference to the 7th,

9th and 11th chapters of Deuteronomy, the 8th chapter of Joshua and the 3rd chapter of Judges. Professor Rawson's translations created a world-wide interest within scientific and historical circles. Historians from as far as New Zealand, Japan, Italy, France, Spain, Cuba and other countries came to visit Hooper Farm.

Not many local folk agreed with the Hooper Farm story however. Some say that although familiar with the story,  there was no wall, just stones, and there was no ridge as described. In a handwritten letter stored at the Cleveland Historical library, one life-long resident gave this explanation, "It was a sandstone quarry, sandstone was cut out of the bed and used for building, when new it was soft and could be cut and sawed and shaped for use, within a few days the air and drying off hardened it." A former county historian was said to have located the

son of J.H. Hooper who said  he had heard of the wall but knew nothing about it. Others that have recollection of  the discovery have dismissed it as not factual and the history book, Heritage of Bradley County Tennessee, 1836-1998 makes no mention of it. A 1970 newspaper report says just a huge hole on

the Hooper farm remains as mute reminder of the work done by Prof. Rawson half a century before.

Fact or fiction, a sample of the wall's inscription, or a reproduction of part of the mysterious structure would be a visitor attraction for the Cleveland Museum at

Five Points and could be marketed once again to promote tourism in Bradley County.