Discovery Park of America opens new photography exhibit showcasing Union City and Reelfoot Lake history

“Moments They Made: The Photography of Nonie & Verne Sabin” features historic images capturing everyday life in Northwest Tennessee more than a century ago.

Discovery Park of America has opened a new photography exhibit, “Moments They Made: The Photography of Nonie & Verne Sabin,” in the museum's Reelfoot Room. The exhibit offers visitors a glimpse into life in Union City and around Reelfoot Lake during the early 20th century through the photographs of two local photographers whose work has been preserved for more than 100 years.
Featuring photographs from the Sabin Photograph Collection at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, the exhibit explores the lives and careers of Nonie and Verne Sabin, a husband-and-wife photography team who documented the people, places, businesses and everyday experiences of Northwest Tennessee from 1919 to 1924.
"These photographs are more than images of buildings, landscapes and people from a century ago. They tell the story of our community and the people who helped shape it," said Jennifer Hunter, Discovery Park's senior director of exhibits and collections. "What's especially meaningful is that so many of the places captured by the Sabins are familiar to us today. This exhibit gives visitors an opportunity to connect with the history of Union City and Reelfoot Lake in a very personal way."
Among the photographs featured in the exhibit are images of Union City's downtown streets, historic churches, schools, businesses and community gatherings. Visitors will see scenes from East Exchange Street and First Street, the Union City train depot, the Brown Shoe Company and a 1922 circus parade. Together, the photographs provide a detailed look at how the community lived, worked and celebrated more than a century ago.
The exhibit also highlights Verne Sabin's fascination with Reelfoot Lake, featuring photographs of fishermen, hunters, historic lakeside hotels, boat tours and the lake's distinctive cypress trees. Alongside these images are personal photographs documenting the Sabins' wedding, family life and daughter Lela's childhood, offering visitors a more intimate look at the couple behind the cameras.
Nonie Rhoads and Verne Sabin met around 1911 while studying photography at the Illinois School of Photography in Effingham, Illinois. Nonie returned to Union City and opened The Cottage Studio on Third Street in 1913. After Verne's service in the U.S. Army during World War I, the couple married in Union City on March 17, 1919, and established The Sabin Studio.
Together, they operated photography studios in Union City, producing portraits, commercial photographs, panoramic images and even motion pictures. Their work extended well beyond the studio, documenting community gatherings, local industries, everyday activities and the landscapes surrounding Reelfoot Lake.
The exhibit also explores the remarkable journey of the photographs themselves. After the Sabins moved to Texas in 1924, thousands of their photographs remained in the family's possession. Decades later, local researchers helped bring approximately 3,000 photographs back to Tennessee, leading to a 1986 exhibition organized by the Obion County-Union City Museum titled "A Time Returned: 1919-1924."
The collection was subsequently donated to the Tennessee State Library and Archives in 1989 and 1990 by the Sabins' daughter, Lela Sabin Karweil. Today, the collection includes more than 5,400 photographic prints, along with albums, documents, films and thousands of negatives.
For the new exhibit at Discovery Park, staff at the Tennessee State Library and Archives digitized selected photographs from the historic collection. This work makes it possible for visitors to experience images captured more than a century ago while helping protect the fragile original materials.
"One of the most important things we can do as a museum is preserve and share the stories of the communities around us," Hunter said. "The Sabins documented moments that might have otherwise been forgotten, and thanks to the people who worked to preserve their photographs, we can now share those moments with a new generation."
“Moments They Made: The Photography of Nonie & Verne Sabin” is located in the Reelfoot Room at Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tennessee. The exhibit is included with general admission or membership.