Muddy Pond: Leather, Sorghum and a Different Pace

The larger story starts in the sixteenth-century Anabaptist movement, whose members argued that faith should be chosen and lived visibly in community. Believer’s baptism, discipleship, worship, service and peace remain important across the wider Mennonite family. That family is diverse: a Mennonite church in a city and a Plain rural settlement can share religious roots while living quite differently. The Tennessee Encyclopedia makes this distinction useful rather than treating “Mennonite” as a single dress code or attitude toward technology.

Tennessee’s Plain and rural Mennonite communities grew as families moved from other states during the twentieth century. Affordable land, schooling and the chance to sustain farming and hand trades were part of that migration. Muddy Pond’s modern community took shape in that period. The Guenther family says John and Emma were making sorghum with neighbors by the mid-1960s, then developed their own family mill in the early 1980s. At the Mazelin farm, the family says their parents cleared and homesteaded the mill land in the 1960s. These are family histories, not a claim that one family founded the whole place.

Land, work and church are part of the local story, but the storefronts are not a museum of religious life. Shops buy and sell to visitors, families make practical choices, and the business community changes. I would rather understand those changes than pretend Muddy Pond has been frozen in time.

Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill is a useful seasonal anchor. The Guenther family’s operation presses sorghum cane and cooks the juice into syrup; its official history explains how a family crop became a business reaching well beyond the Plateau.

The mill says production normally begins the Saturday before Labor Day and continues on selected Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays during September and October. That is a working schedule, not a performance timetable: weather, cane and operations can change what visitors see. Use the official contact page to verify before a special trip.

Sorghum syrup comes from sweet sorghum cane, not grain sorghum: the cane is cut, its juice pressed out and the liquid cooked down. The Guenthers describe moving from hand-cut cane to machine harvesting. At the mill, a wood-fired locomotive boiler supplies steam for a large evaporator pan. During production, visitors may see the horse-powered press and taste syrup still warm. This is agriculture and food production, not a daily demonstration. The mill’s own account is worth reading before you go.

Across the road, the Muddy Pond Variety Storecarries the family’s syrup along with bulk foods, hardware, enamelware and baked goods. The mill lists the store at (931) 445-3357. Farther along, Mazelin Family Sorghum at 4570 Muddy Pond Road welcomes visitors during the fall harvest and says its parents cleared their farm in the 1960s. Their current site gives seasonal days and asks visitors to call (931) 261-8026 to confirm. Seeing two family operations side by side makes the story less like a single product and more like a local food tradition.

Taste before buying a large jug. Sorghum’s grassy, bittersweet edge belongs on a hot biscuit, but it also works in gingerbread, beans, barbecue glazes and other cooking where a dark syrup adds character. “Molasses” is often used casually for sorghum here, though conventional molasses is a by-product of sugar refining. The label tells you which one you are carrying home.

Muddy Pond General Store is the easiest first navigation point, and worth more than a five-minute souvenir sweep. The shelves mix bulk baking ingredients, spices, candy, preserves and sorghum with deli meat and cheese, kitchen equipment, wooden furniture and handmade goods. Check upstairs for quilts and other textile work, if that floor is open. Look at the whole store before deciding what you came for.

I would spend time at the deli counter and in the pantry aisles. Ask which bread was baked here, which preserves or syrups came from a nearby maker, and which craft pieces were made in the community. A general store can carry both local work and goods bought for resale; the honest distinction makes the purchase more interesting. If you buy cheese or meat, bring a cooler for the long return.

The Town of Monterey’s visitor page identifies the store’s food, woodwork and housewares. The address and phone are also listed in the earlier Tony’s Guide route. Hours and stock can change; call (931) 445-7829 before a special drive.

The Country Porch at 3130 Muddy Pond Road is the lunch stop I would plan around: deli sandwiches, baked goods and a porch that gives the day a place to pause. The Town of Monterey still names it among Muddy Pond’s food stops. Call (931) 445-7370 before counting on lunch. A quiet seat and a sandwich do more for this trip than trying to race through every store before noon.

For an earlier start, The Muddy Mug lists coffee and food at 3340 Muddy Pond Road. Its own ordering page is the best current check for its menu and pickup hours. Bake shops and roadside food offerings change, so I would follow what is actually open rather than promise a particular pastry. Eat there when you can; carry a cooler for food you want to bring back to the lake.

Jay’s Custom Leather is the stop for a rider who wants to understand a saddle, and for a non-rider who wants to see why the craft matters. Tennessee Crossroads filmed Jay Bauman explaining how he selects parts of a hide for different stresses and shapes the unseen seat by hand. Those decisions are the reason a saddle fits both horse and rider. His father Aaron’s leather shop carries the family tradition into belts, holsters and everyday gear. Double Creek Saddlery is another named working shop to check on the same road.

I would buy a belt that can be fitted, a repairable piece of tack if I needed it, or a bag whose stitching and hardware reward a closer look. Ask who made the item, whether it was made here and whether the shop can repair it later. Some goods may be sourced; do not assign local provenance by appearance. Watch the work if the maker welcomes it, and give a busy shop room to finish its orders.

Mennonite communities are diverse. They share roots in the Anabaptist movement, but beliefs, technology, dress and business practices differ among congregations and families. “Mennonite” is not a synonym for Amish, and neither term should be shorthand for a fantasy of life outside modern society.

The Anabaptist tradition emphasizes following Jesus in community; its wider Mennonite family also speaks about peace, service and mutual care. The Mennonite World Conference’s shared convictions describe baptism on confession of faith, worship, reading the Bible together and peacemaking. They explain a wider tradition; they do not tell you exactly how every household in Muddy Pond worships, dresses, farms or uses technology. If a local person welcomes a conversation about their work or community, listen to their own account instead of asking them to stand in for every Mennonite.

You are visiting homes, farms and workplaces shaped by religious conviction and ordinary family life. Public shops are the right place to meet the community as a visitor. A church service, school, residence or workyard is not another stop on a sightseeing route. The visit becomes more interesting when you resist trying to classify everyone you see.

1. Leave the lake early and set Muddy Pond General Store, 3608 Muddy Pond Road, as the navigation anchor. It is a substantial rural drive from the lake area; check the route and arrival time from your exact starting point before leaving.
2. Begin with coffee or lunch at The Muddy Mug or The Country Porch, according to the hour.
3. Visit the General Store and one or two leather shopsrather than trying to clear every doorway on the road.
4. Continue to the Guenther mill and Variety Store. In fall, add Mazelin if its operation is open; outside the production season, buy syrup without expecting to see cane pressing.
5. Leave daylight for the return. Narrow roads, farm traffic and unfamiliar turns deserve attention.

Businesses set their own schedules. Many close Sunday, and hours, payment methods and seasonal offerings can change. Confirm your two priorities by phone or on their current sites. Fewer, better stops leave room for a real exchange.

Ask before photographing people, especially children. Do not photograph into homes or workshops, block narrow roads, follow horse-drawn vehicles closely, or park where farm equipment needs to pass. Slow early and give buggies generous clearance only where sight distance makes passing safe.

Sunday is not a fallback shopping day. Many businesses close, and worship and family time deserve privacy. Mobility access also varies among small rural buildings; call the particular stop if steps, surfaces or restrooms will determine whether someone can participate.

Sorghum preserves an agricultural cycle; leatherwork preserves material knowledge; the shops keep both economically useful. A biscuit, a fitted belt and a conversation about how each was made tell me more than a shelf of generic souvenirs. That is more substantial than nostalgia. Continue with Tony’s guide to Appalachian craft and living traditions.

Sources checked September 2026: the Tennessee Encyclopedia for Tennessee Mennonite context; the Mennonite World Conference for wider beliefs; the Guenther mill’s official history and seasonal schedule and its current contact page; Mazelin Family Sorghum for its farm history and visiting season; the Town of Monterey for public shops; Tennessee Crossroads for Jay Bauman’s craft; and The Muddy Mug for its current menu. Check individual business hours before driving; older directory listings disagree.