Mike Moser "I Say" Published Feb. 10, 2006

Bakery almost landed in Sparta

The giant American flag that greets visitors to the community could have easily been flying in Sparta instead of on North Main St. in Crossville.

Had it not been for the salesmanship of one community leader, Cosby Harrison, Mountain Farm Bakery might well have ended up being one of White County's pioneer and leading industries.

"We looked at several places," Howard Mercer Sr. told members of the Crossville Breakfast Rotary Club this week. "We looked at Crossville, Sparta, Cleveland, TN and Griffin, GA. Sparta actually offered a better deal. They were going to give us the land."

But Mercer traveled to Crossville and met with Harrison who took him around the county, introducing him to people who were only making 50 cents an hour despite minimum wage being set at 85 cents.

"He showed me a couple of buildings ... took me out to a lake he was building and where he was going to build a home. That later became Lake Tansi."

In the end, the city of Crossville bought the land, built a building and financed the project. "We made the payments and at the end of ten years, we bought the balance for $1."

Mercer returned to Georgia after a stint in the military and graduated from Georgia Tech. He had been in the bakery business and after working for another man decided to step out on his own, which led him to Crossville and the founding of Mountain Farm Bakery.

An engineer by training, Mercer drew out the floor plans and then turned those over to an architect to be polished. Over the years, he designed and modified equipment.

When Mountain Farm Bakery opened in 1958-59, it joined Crossville Rubber, the Handle Mill, General Processing and Crossville Industries as the major employers in the county.

So many people wanted to work at the new plant in town that 300 employment applications were not enough. Mercer had to order an additional 500 more.

Once going, the bakery provided sweets with over 100 labels and shipped those cakes, sweet rolls and snack cakes to every state in the Union except Alaska, Hawaii and Minnesota.

Flower's Snacks came along and negotiated with Mercer for 10 years before a deal was struck and the industry sold in 1980. "I set my price and stuck to it and finally I got it," Mercer said.

Howard recalled during his chat this week that his wife, Frieda, was horrified at the thought of moving to Crossville, TN ... out in the middle of nowhere. "I am not going," she announced. When told she could stay behind with the four kids, she further asserted, "I am not staying behind either."

Upon selling of the plant, Mercer recalls going home and telling his wife that the deal had been struck and that they could now live "wherever you want to live and we can go wherever you want to go."

Mercer added with a smile, "I'm still waiting for that answer."

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Mike Moser is the editor of the Crossville Chronicle. His column is published periodically on Fridays.