Dayton & the Scopes 'Monkey Trial' — Rhea County Courthouse

In the sweltering July of 1925, the small town of Dayton became the improbable center of the American culture wars when a young high-school teacher named John T. Scopes stood trial for teaching evolution — pitting three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan against the celebrated defense attorney Clarence Darrow before a national radio audience. This single-day journey heads about forty minutes north from Chattanooga into Rhea County to stand inside the very courtroom where it happened, a National Historic Landmark still in daily use. The day pairs the courthouse and its basement museum with a wander through Dayton's compact historic downtown and a look toward the wild edge of the Cumberland Trail before a hearty lunch on Main Street. It is a compact, thought-provoking outing into one of the twentieth century's defining American dramas.