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The Scopes "Monkey Trial" in Dayton is a Tennessee story with a documented core at Rhea County Courthouse, Dayton, Rhea County. The sources are named below.
History Kind of story 4 Named sources Chattanooga & Southeast Region Oct 30 Checked, 2026 A story with a documented core.
No. 4 of 12
The Scopes "Monkey Trial" in Dayton People say that in the summer of 1925 a small Tennessee town put a high school teacher on trial for teaching evolution, and the whole country came to watch. Two famous lawyers, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, faced off in the courtroom, and the hearing is remembered as a showdown between science and the Bible. Some say it was all arranged ahead of time to put Dayton on the map.
What The Record Shows The Tennessee Encyclopedia entry "The Scopes Trial" documents that Representative John W. Butler sponsored the law, passed about four months before the trial, that barred teaching human descent from lower animals; that the American Civil Liberties Union offered to defend a Tennessee teacher in a test case; and that Dayton civic leaders seeking publicity for their town approached John T. Scopes, a football coach and science teacher at the high school. It says a special grand jury indicted him by the end of May 1925, and the trial opened July 10, 1925. So the case was a deliberately arranged test case, not an accidental arrest. The entry says Judge John T. Raulston kept out expert testimony on the science of evolution, so the trial was about whether Scopes broke the law, not a debate on evolution. On July 20 Darrow questioned Bryan about the Bible for about ninety minutes. The jury found Scopes guilty on July 21, 1925, and the judge set the minimum fine of $100. The entry adds that Scopes told the town leaders he had presumably covered evolution in an April review session but could not remember for certain. Bryan died in Dayton five days after the trial. In January 1927 the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the law but reversed the conviction because only a jury could set a fine above fifty dollars, and it advised against a retrial. The legislature repealed the law in 1967. The Rhea County Historical Society page says the courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and that the museum is in the courthouse basement; a second page on the same site gives 1973 and 1978, so the designation years differ between its pages and we do not state them. That site also describes a staged fistfight outside the courthouse on May 19, 1925, meant to publicize the trial. We have no confirmed source on the exact drugstore meeting date (sources we saw only in search snippets disagree) or on how the 1960 film "Inherit the Wind" differs from the record, so we make no claim on either.
Previous Davy Crockett and The Bears Next Casey Jones and The Cannonball Wreck A Note The trial was a planned test case. Where the courthouse pages disagree on dates we print neither.
Looked for and Not Found The exact date of the Dayton drugstore meeting: only search snippets, which disagree (May 5 vs May 15, 1925). A full NPS landmark nomination text Not confirmed; check with the National Park Service. A source comparing the film "Inherit the Wind" with the record. Agreement on the courthouse landmark years The Rhea County site gives 1972/1976 on one page and 1973/1978 on another. More Legends Plan The Trip Frequently Asked Questions Is the story of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" in Dayton true? The Tennessee Encyclopedia entry "The Scopes Trial" documents that Representative John W.
Is this a legend? It is a story with a documented core. The facts are listed on this page with their sources.
Where do these facts come from? From the named sources listed on this page: The Scopes Trial (Tennessee Encyclopedia, Tennessee Historical Society); Rhea Heritage and Scopes Trial Museum – About (Rhea County Historical Society); Rhea County Courthouse (Rhea County Historical Society).
Sources The Scopes Trial (Tennessee Encyclopedia, Tennessee Historical Society) Rhea Heritage and Scopes Trial Museum – About (Rhea County Historical Society) Rhea County Courthouse (Rhea County Historical Society) Rogers Pharmacy, Thomison Hospital, and Wilkey Barbershop (Rhea County Historical Society) Read on October 30, 2026. Stories are for fun; the facts come from these sources. How we check: editorial standards ; spot a mistake? tell us .
Cite this page: It's Tennessee, “The Scopes “Monkey Trial” in Dayton”, itstennessee.com/legends/scopes-trial-dayton-rhea-county/ (updated 2026-11-01 ). By the It's Tennessee editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.
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