A state commission will hear the case Friday for adding Cookeville’s Ralph’s Donuts to the National Register of Historic Places.
The popular sweet shop is one of four nominated entities to be heard by the Tennessee Historical Commission’s State Review Board. Co-owners John and Sandy MacDonald bought the business back in 2020. Sandy said the two decided to apply for the honor because they wanted to find a way to preserve the business’s rich past.
“We just sat down and had, like, dreamt,” Sandy McDonald said. “Just had dreams and just was like, what can we do with this place and how, um, can we honor what has been and still, you know, take it forward to the future.”
John McDonald said the application process started about a year ago. It included a detailed documentation of the shop’s years in business.
“People come out from the state, actually looked the building, measured the building, sketched the building,” John McDonald said. “We were fortunate to have quite a few pictures, quite a bit of documentation that we can refer back to and give us, you know, a lot of historical data.”
Sandy McDonald said she is humbled and appreciative that she and her husband hold such a Cookeville treasure.
“I’m excited about the possibilities of the future,” Sandy McDonald said. “I’m excited of what Ralph’s has been and what we can do and where we can go and that we want to continue that legacy in the future. And I think that becoming a historical landmark just solidifies part of that process.”
The board meeting is Friday in Nashville.
