Deer Lodge is a small community in Tennessee, which was established as health resort in the 1880s. At its peak, in the 1890s it had two hotels, a newspaper, a theatre, a band, a planing mill, and numerous clubs and civic organizations. The population had significantly declined by the mid-20th century with many younger people moving away.
The Deer Lodge Citizens Cornet Band was founded in March 1910 by Professor George Clark, of Harriman, Tennessee. As can be seen from the photograph, a third of the band were ladies. Unlike the UK, it was not unusual to find women members of brass bands in the USA during the nineteenth century. Indeed, there were quite a few ‘ladies only’ bands (sometimes led by a man). No further details are known about this particular band.
IBEW - the History of Brass Bands 