History of the City, Historic Sites, Museums and Experiences
Knoxville was founded in 1791. Knoxville’s earliest settler, James White (1747-1821), a Revolutionary War Captain from North Carolina, arrived here around 1785 and soon after established the first permanent structure. More veterans of the war with land grants entitling them to own property arrived shortly after, all looking for a prosperous place to settle and forge a new life on the American Frontier.
William Blount (1849-1800), Governor of the Southwest Territory, chose the area around James White’s homestead as the site for his territory’s capital. Shortly after negotiating the Treaty of Holston with Cherokee chiefs, White’s 1791 lottery of lots along a street grid made the place look like a town, and is recalled as Knoxville’s founding date.
A statue commemorating the Treaty of Holston Treaty in July 1791, several months before the official founding of Knoxville, stands on Volunteer Landing by the mouth of First Creek.
In 1794 Blount College opened as an institution of higher learning in downtown Knoxville. Although tiny and sporadic until the 1820s, it is regarded as the origin of the University of Tennessee.
Five years later, Blount and 54 other delegates met here to draw up a constitution for the new state of Tennessee. Blount remained a state senator, but John Sevier served as the first Governor of Tennessee beginning in 1796. Knoxville maintained its capital status through 1812 (and briefly again in 1818) before the legislature moved to Middle Tennessee.
A bird’s eye view of Knoxville from 1871, published by Merchants Lithographic Company of Chicago, shows the city moving beyond the Civil War era, and about to enter a period of growth. (Library of Congress.)
Lacking its original purpose Knoxville languished until 1844, when the city became the home to Tennessee’s School for the Deaf, the eighth such institution in America. But the city didn’t grow substantially until 1855, when railroads arrived, enabling industrial development.
Divided during the Civil War, the city was controlled by Confederate troops for the first two years of the conflict. In 1863, Federal troops under Gen. Ambrose Burnside occupied the town, and defended Knoxville during Gen. James Longstreet’s Confederate siege in November 1863. The Battle of Fort Sanders, a Union defensive victory, was over in 20 minutes but resulted in hundreds of casualties for the attacking Confederates.
Reborn as an industrial city after the war, Knoxville was friendly to investors from the North and the South, as well as immigrants from several European counties. The booming city quadrupled in size, fueled by local and regional demand for its natural resources of marble, timber, iron, and coal and for its factory-made goods, especially clothing, railroad equipment and flour.
The former Custom House and Post Office on Market Street, built in 1872, and now occupied by the East Tennessee Historical Society and the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, is one of Knoxville’s finest buildings constructed with Tennessee marble.
By the early 20th century, the multi-cultural city celebrated its proximity to mountains, rivers, and forests, by hosting the National Conservation Association at Chilhowee Park in 1913, a remarkable event that attracted two million visitors in its two-month run. A decade later, several local leaders in the exposition created a durable grassroots effort, meeting in several offices here on Gay Street, that over the best part of a decade helped purchase more than 6,600 different parcels of land to form the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1934.
The Knoxville area played a major home-front role in World War II, with war-related factories—including previously little-known Oak Ridge and its sudden and secret nuclear-materials plants.
But one of the biggest surprises of Knoxville’s history was hosting the 1982 World’s Fair that brought 11 million people downtown during its six-month run.
| HISTORIC HOUSES AND MUSEUMS |
Knoxville has numerous historic house museums and cultural museums with historically important collections and exhibitions.
The
Historic House Museums of Knoxville is a local partnership between seven historic homes (marked *) and the Museum of East Tennessee History. All offer guided tours. Visit sites individually or purchase a
“PastPort” at any of the locations or at the official Visitor Center at 301 South Gay Street. Learn more at
HHKnoxville.org.
James White's Fort*
205 E. Hill Avenue
865-525-6514
JamesWhitesFort.org
The fort, recreated about 600 yards from its original site in 1970, includes the original 1786 cabin of Gen. James White who settled here with a land grant from North Carolina. The home is furnished with tools and artifacts of the period, giving visitors a glimpse into the daily lives of early settlers. Located downtown.
Ramsey House*
2614 Thorngrove Pike
865-546-0745
RamseyHouse.org
Built in 1797 on a design by London-trained architect and builder Thomas Hope, Ramsey House is noted as the first stone house in the region and it has 18th century architectural features such as gardens and period furnishings. It is the boyhood home of Dr. J.G.M. Ramsey who wrote the Annals of Tennessee to the End of the 18th Century (1853). Located six miles southeast of downtown.
Blount Mansion*
200 W. Hill Avenue
865-523-2375
BlountMansion.org
Built in 1792, Blount Mansion is the home of William Blount, the Governor of Southwest Territory (1790-1796), a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and later a U.S. Senator. Blount helped draft the first Tennessee State Constitution here making it "The Birthplace of Tennessee." The Mansion is Knoxville's only National Historic Landmark, and also includes the historic Craighead-Jackson House and a public garden. Located downtown.
Marble Springs*
1220 W. Gov. John Sevier Highway
865-573-5508
MarbleSprings.net
This state-owned historic site includes the last remaining home (circa 1792) of John Sevier, Tennessee's first Governor, and a working farmstead with log structures. The cabins are arranged on the site to suggest how Sevier’s farm might have appeared over 200 years ago. Located seven miles southeast of downtown.
Crescent Bend House and Gardens*
2728 Kingston Pike
865-637-3163
CrescentBend.com
Built in 1834 by Drury Paine Armstrong, this historic home features collections of 18th century American and English furniture, decorative arts, and English silver. The Italianate gardens feature nine terraces and five fountains. Located three miles west of downtown.
Mabry-Hazen House*
1711 Dandridge Avenue
865-522-8661
MabryHazen.com
Three generations of the Joseph Mabry family resided in the 1858 Italianate home overlooking downtown Knoxville. Furnished in the styles of its era, Mabry-Hazen gives a rare view into 130 years of Knoxville history and showcases one of the largest original family collections in America with over 2,500 original artifacts on display. The Mabry’s were a dramatic family. Three of the men died in downtown gunfights in the 1880s. The last resident, Miss Evelyn Hazen, drew national attention with her breach-of- promise lawsuit. Docents fill in all the details. Located approximately one mile east of downtown.
Historic Westwood*
3425 Kingston Pike
865-523-8008
HistoricWestwood.org
Westwood stood apart from other Victorian homes even when it was built in 1890, during the extravagant height of architecture's Richardsonian Romanesque period. It was Knoxville's first home designed specifically for a working artist: Adelia Armstrong Lutz (1859-1931), who had grown up across the street at Bleak House. A highlight of the house is Adelia’s personal studio with high ceilings and skylights. Westwood is also home to Knox Heritage, a preservationist organization focused on advocacy, education, investment, and engagement. Located four miles west of downtown.
East Tennessee Historical Society / Museum of East Tennessee History
601 South Gay Street
865-215-8830
EastTNHistory.org
Located in the heart of downtown in the 1874 marble Custom House, the East Tennessee History Center features the Museum of East Tennessee History with its signature exhibition “Voices of the Land” that chronicles several centuries of East Tennessee from Chattanooga to Bristol. Included is a recreation of a late 1800s drugstore, a restored Island Home streetcar, Davy Crockett's rifle, moments in sound and video from Knoxville's country-music heyday, memories of the early days of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the 1982 World's Fair. Plus temporary exhibitions.
The East Tennessee Historical Society curates the exhibits in partnership with Knox County Public Library. Knox County Archives is on the second floor, while on the third floor is the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, an astonishing regional history and genealogical archive. The McClung’s remarkable online photograph collection can be found
here.
Beck Cultural Exchange Center
1927 Dandridge Avenue
865-524-8461
BeckCenter.net
Founded in honor of James and Ethel Beck, a couple much respected within the African American community and beyond, the center serves as a museum of Black history featuring an extensive collection of interpretive displays, artifacts, artwork, photographs, and archives. Under development next door is the Delaney Museum celebrating Beauford Delaney, America’s greatest Black abstract expressionist and his artistic brother Joseph Delaney. Located approximately 1.5 miles east of downtown.
Confederate Memorial Hall / Bleak House
3148 Kingston Pike
865-522-2371
BleakHouseUDC89.org
This 15-room, 1858 Italianate house, built by aspiring artist Robert Houston Armstrong, was Confederate Gen. James Longstreet's headquarters during the 1863 siege of Knoxville. The site features terraced gardens, period furnishings, a museum, and a library. Located approximately 3.5 miles west of downtown.
Knoxville Museum of Art
1050 World’s Fair Park Drive
865-525-6101
KnoxArt.org
The museum’s signature exhibition, “Higher Ground: A Century of Visual Arts in East Tennessee” captures the development of artistic history in Knoxville and its immediate environs dating back to the 1850s, including impressionists such as Catherine Wiley; Smoky Mountain painter, Charles E. Krutch, (“the Corot of the South;”) a group of progressive artists from 1960s known as the Knoxville 7; African American sculptor Bessie Harvey’s “spiritually charged creations,” and renowned African American painters, Beauford and Joseph Delaney. Located downtown in World’s Fair Park.
Knox County Museum of Education
801 Tipton Avenue
865-579-8264
KCME.website
Located at the Sarah Simpson Professional Technology Center, the museum helps connect former students to the history of Knoxville and Knox County Schools, featuring records, yearbooks, photographs, and memorabilia dating back to the 1820s. Located three miles south of downtown.
WALKING AND DRIVING TOURS
Knoxville Walking Tours
865-309-4522
KnoxvilleWalkingTours.com
Native East Tennessee historian, poet, and storyteller Laura Still leads Knoxville Walking Tours, offering an informative and entertaining stroll around the city, as she brings to life the stories of pioneers, soldiers, outlaws, and others who have walked these streets. Regular tours also include Knoxville’s Early Years, The Gunslingers, the Civil War, and Knoxville’s Musical History, and more.
Downloadable Walking and Driving Tours
A series of walking and driving tours (download to tablet or phone or print) have been developed by the Knoxville History Project. These tours provide opportunities for residents and visitors to discover and appreciate the many historical landmarks found throughout the city that can be explored on foot or easily seen from a vehicle.
Current tour offerings include:
•
Driving Tours of North Knoxville, East Knoxville, South Knoxville, Near-West Knoxville, Mechanicsville & Lonsdale, and Fountain City
•
Walking Tours of Fort Sanders, UT Campus, and Downtown Woman’s Suffrage Sites
Click here to access these tours
1.
Historic Knoxville: The Curious Visitor’s Guide by Jack Neely (Knoxville History Project, 2018).
2.
Knoxville, Tennessee: A Mountain City in the New South by Bruce Wheeler (UT Press, 2020).
3.
Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee, edited by Lucille Deaderick (East Tennessee Historical Society, 1976).
4.
Downtown Knoxville by Paul James and Jack Neely (Arcadia Publishing, 2022).
5.
Blount Mansion: The House with Many Eyes by Michael Jordan and David Hearnes (Blount Mansion Association, 2023.)
6.
A Death in the Family by James Agee (Penguin Classics, originally published posthumously in 1957)