Designated Properties: Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission

Built in 1834 by Drury Paine Armstrong this historic home was once the centerpiece of a 600 acre working farm. It is named for it's prominent setting that provides a panoramic view of the river and mountains.

The Baker-Peters House was built c. 1849 by Dr. Harvey Baker. It has served as a Civil War hospital, when Dr. Baker treated wounded Confederate soldiers in his home. When discovered by Union troops, they entered the house and fired through a door, killing Dr. Baker.

In 1792, following the signing of the Treaty of the Holston, William Blount began construction on the building that was to serve as his family home and as the territorial capital for the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio. Blount Mansion is the only building in Knox County to be recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

Brownlow Elementary School was built in 1913 and enlarged in 1926. The School was named for Colonel John Bell Brownlow, who was one of the developers of the neighborhoods surrounding the school. The Neoclassical style school was one of the first model elementary schools built in Knox County.

The Burwell Building was built in 1907 and was the tallest building in downtown Knoxville when built. It was designed by Richards, McCarty and Bulford of Columbus, Ohio in the Second Renaissance Revival style. In 1928, the Tennessee Theater was added to the Burwell Building; the theater was designed by Graven and Magyer, architects from Chicago. The George A. fuller Construction Company of New York constructed both buildings.

John J. Craig, III incorporated the Candoro Marble Company in 1914. The name came from the first letters of the last names of its founders, John J. Craig, F. C. Anderson, W. J. Donaldson and S. A. Rodgers. The company acquired land on Maryville Pike in 1914 and began construction of a massive marble processing facility and the Candoro Office Building, which was designed by Charles Barber.

John James Craig, III built Craiglen in 1926 in the Italian Renaissance style. The house was designed by Charles Barber, with the gardens designed by Charles Lester.

The Littlefield, Steere and Sanders Factory, a manufacturer of candies, located at the Candy Factory c. 1925, constructing a Commercial Vernacular building with Art Deco influences. The building was rehabilitated during the 1982 World’s Fair.

The Cansler Building is a Commercial Vernacular style building built by Charles W. Cansler, noted African-American educator, entrepreneur and community leader.

The Edgewood-Park City Historic District is a streetcar suburb which contains late 19^th and early 20^th century styles, and is particularly noteworthy for the number of buildings designed by George F. Barber, a Knoxville architect known for his published house plans that emphasized the decorative elements of these styles.

The 1927 Dutch Colonial Revival Emory House represents suburban expansion and the significance of The Emory family in the development of this section of Knoxville.

Established by Charles M. Emory when he laid out streets and building lots sold at auction in 1924, the styles range from Craftsman to the revival styles of the early 20^th century.

Fort Dickerson is an earthworks fort located south of downtown Knoxville and formed part of the defense perimeter of Knoxville during the Civil War.

This brick apartment building was constructed in the early 20^th century, and is typical of urban apartment buildings of that era.

Ft. Sanders-The Seven Houses
402, 404, 406 & 414 Eleventh St., 1011, 1012 and 1016 Laurel *

The Victorian-era houses on the western boundary of the World’s Fair site were built in the 1880’s and rehabilitated during the 1982 World’s Fair.

Fourth & Gill is named for two intersecting streets in the neighborhood, and was originally a part of North Knoxville, which developed with expansion of the streetcar lines beginning in the 1870s. The district houses a variety of late 19^th and early 20^th century styles, including Italianate, Queen Anne, Neoclassical and Craftsmen dwellings.

The Frost-Shagan House is recognized for its architecture and its setting.

The Gay Street Bridge opened to traffic on July 9, 1898 and was the fifth bridge to span the Tennessee at this location. The first was a temporary pontoon bridge put in place shortly after 1863. The second was also built Union General Ambrose E. Burnside, and was a permanent bridge with stone supporting piers. It washed away in a flood in March, 1867. The third bridge was opened on May 2, 1875, and was blown down by a tornado. The fourth bridge across the Tennessee was built by G. W. Saulpaw in 1890 and was replaced by the Gay Street Bridge. The current bridge was designed by Charles E. Fowler, who was with the Youngstown (Ohio) Bridge Company and is a steel arched cantilevered design.

This Victorian-era house was reportedly built utilizing trimwork from a demolished downtown Knoxville hotel.

Glen Craig was built on land originally granted to William Lyon who daughter married John Craig, Jr. The house on Westland was original built in 1888 as a summer house by the Craigs. Their daughter and her husband converted the summer house to a permanent residence and in 1926 hired the architectural firm of Barber and McMurray to design the remodeling and additions using the Tudor Revival style. The gardens were designed by Charles Lester.

The Henley Bridge was dedicated on January 2, 1932, and was designed by Marsh Engineering Co., Des Moines, Iowa. It was named for Col. David Henley, a pioneer in Knoxville and Tennessee who was the War Agent of the Territory South of the Ohio River. In 1964, the bridge was renamed by the Knoxville City Council as the George R. Demster Memorial Bridge, but common usage has retained the Henley name for the bridge.

Hill Avenue Historic District

• 623 W. Hill, Mary Boyce Temple Home, Queen Anne, 1907
• 615 W. Hill, Percy Lockett House, Neoclassical, 1903
• 614 W. Hill, Richlin Apartments, Spanish Colonial Revival, 1929

  Recognition of the last dominant residential buildings remaining in downtown Knoxville and of the historical trends reflected in their construction and their early ownership.

Several buildings, including Sullivan’s Saloon and some of the brick warehouses along Jackson Avenue are included in this local historic district. The age of the districts’ buildings ranges through the 1870s and 1880s.

James White Fort, built originally in 1785, has been relocated several times, but has been in this location since the 1950s. The two story log home and its outbuildings are illustrative of the form of early settlement in East Tennessee.

Knollwood was completed in 1851 as a home for Major Robert Reynolds, with construction supervised by his sister, Rebecca, while he was serving in the Mexican War. It was used as Confederate headquarters by General Longstreet . The house was built in the Federal style and modified with Neoclassical details in the 1880s.

The Knox County Courthouse was built in 1885 by the Knoxville firm of Stephenson and Getaz, reportedly from plans prepared by Palliser & Palliser, Architects, of New York City. The cost of construction was approximately $82,000.00, with $1,278.20 paid for the plan of the building. The Courthouse committee was directed in 1886 to employ someone to keep the new clock in order, and a 2,500 pound bell was installed in the same year. New wings were added to each side of the courthouse when the Court voted to make funds available for that purpose in July of 1919.

Knoxville High School was built in 1909-1910, with additions made in 1914 and 1920. It is Neoclassical with a Beaux Arts influence. The imposing building was designed by Albert Baumann, Sr., who founded the architectural firm of Baumann and Baumann with his brother Joseph in 1891. The firm is known for its use of red brick trimmed with limestone, and Knoxville High School is a noteworthy example of that use of materials. Knoxville High School was known as the outstanding improvement to the Knoxville School System in the early 1900’s. Knoxville’s first citywide school, it was Knoxville’s only high school for many years. The additions made in 1914 and 1920 more than doubled its size and by 1923, its enrollment was 2,030 students. Many of its facilities were also used by the community at large, with its auditorium serving as a community theater and other school spaces being used as community spaces.

Designed by Baumann and Baumann and built in 1930 in the Moderne style with Art Deco ornamentation. The building made extensive use of East Tennessee marble and Crab Orchard stone.

The original Georgian and Federal styling of the Lamar House has been altered. The Lamar House was built as a residence c.1816 with renovations c.1900-1909 giving the building its present appearance.

The Lones-Dowell House is build on land settled by Jacob Lones in the late 1700s. The home, which dates from c.1857, was probably built by Charles Lones, his son.

The Lyons View Pike Historic Overlay District draws its first historic significant from its association with early Knox County resident William Lyon and Knoxville’s frontier expansion. The buildings along Lyons View Pike represent the community and financial leadership and status of its early 20^th century residents, including Hal B. Mebane, Jr. (Georgian Revival – 5308 Lyons View (1931), N. E. Logan (Tudor Revival – 5220 Lyons View (1929), and J. Allen Smith (Italian Renaissance Revival – 5305 Lyons View, (1905). The district is an excellent example of automobile related suburban expansion in the first third of the 20^th century. Finally, the buildings are some of the best local representations of national trends in architectural design. They were designed by regionally noteworthy architect Charles I. Barber, whose skill in interpreting the revival styles popular in this time period is widely accepted.

Built c.1858 in Italianate style with Greek Revival influences, the house was built by Joseph Alexander Mabry, Jr., political leader and railroad entrepreneur, who dedicated Market Square to Knoxville and later owned by Rush Strong Hazen, local business leader married to Mabry’s oldest daughter.

Market Square was founded in 1854 on land given to the city for a market place by William G. Swan and Joseph A. Mabry. Although the market house formerly located in the center of the square has been demolished, the buildings lining the square illustrate the architecture of 19^th and 20^th century commercial Knoxville, and originally housed commercial uses on the ground floor with residences on upper stories.

The house was built by J.D. McIntire and Mary Stillman McIntire in 1922 in Tudor Revival style.

Mechanicsville developed as housing for the Knoxville Iron Foundary and the rail yards to the east of the neighborhood, and contains an eclectic mix of Victorian-era and early 20^th century styles, with dwellings that reflect the economic status of mill workers and mill owners, the Mechanicsville Fire Hall, Moses School, and commercial buildings along Western Avenue.

Miller’s Department Store built the corner building in 1905, with a 1911 addition to the north in the same Edwardian style as the original building. The third expansion was made in 1935 in the Art Deco style. In 1998, the rehabilitation of the three buildings was undertaken, with the recreation of original details and the return of the buildings to their earliest appearance.

The Minvilla was designed by Baumann Brothers and built by H. Clay Bondurant in 1913. Brimer and England were the contractors. Two buildings comprise the development, with ten attached rowhouse units facing West Fifth Avenue and three attached units facing North Broadway. The current façade obscures, but did not remove, the original façade, and was installed in the 1950s. Plans are being made to restore the buildings.

Old City Hall’s historic name is Tennessee School for the Deaf. It is a cluster of 4 two and three story brick buildings in Greek Revival, Italianate and Neoclassical styles, with the oldest building built in 1848. It was the Tennessee School for the Deaf from 1848 to 1924, and the Knoxville City Hall from 1925 to 1980.

Old Gray Cemetery was dedicated in 1852 and is significant for its fencing, design, grave markers, and the porter’s lodge and gateposts on Broadway. The cemetery is closely tied to the history of Knoxville from 1850 forward, and many of Knoxville’s noteworthy residents from that historically significant period are buried there.

Homes in Old North Knoxville date from the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries and primarily reflect Queen Anne, Neoclassical, and Craftsman styles. The neighborhood was part of the town of North Knoxville, one of Knoxville’s streetcar suburbs, and contains both the large mansions of industrialists and the smaller workers’ cottages reflective of Knoxville’s industrial and economic growth after the Civil War.

The Park House construction (c.1790;181201813; c.1830;1945;1968) is attributed several owners beginning with Governor John Sevier, who reported built the house’s foundation but never completed the house. James Dunlap bought the lot and foundation, and in turn sold the property to James Park in 1812. Park, born in Ireland in 1770, completed the house and added an ell in 1830. The Knoxville Academy of Medicine purchased the house in 1945, which carried out some repairs and in 1968 built a large addition that was an auditorium at the rear of the house. Current rehabilitation plans include removing that addition and restoring the house to its original footprint.

Racheff Gardens was established in 1947 by Ivan Racheff, the owner of Knoxville Iron Company. The designation includes the former office building of the Knoxville Iron Works, built in 1902 and converted by Racheff to an office and apartment. The building now houses the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs’office; the Federation maintains the gardens.

The architecture of the Tazewell Pike district spans 100 years, between 1860 and 1960, with a range of styles that reflect those years and a setting that reflects the significant roadway – Tazewell Pike – that they are centered along.

The land where the Temple Beth El Cemetery is located was purchased in 1857 by Mayor, Lyons and Co., and Solomon Lyons, one of the partner in that firm, offered the lot as a burial ground. The Knoxville Hebrew Benevolent Association (which became Temple Beth El) was formally organized in 1864 and the land was conveyed to them. The first person interred in the cemetery was likely Isaac Stern, who was buried on March 10, 1861. The second interment was that of Joseph Schwab on March 10, 1861.

Greater Warner Tabernacle AME Zion Church in Knoxville was reportedly a station for fugitive slaves on their way to Kentucky and Ohio. The church was established in 1845, 20 years before slavery officially ended in Tennessee. It is recognized as the oldest of Knoxville's black churches although there was no actual building until the late 1800s.

The U.S. Post Office and Customs House was built between 1869-73 and was probably the first building in Knoxville designed by a professional architect. U. S. Treasury Department Supervising Architect Alfred Mullett designed the building and supervised its construction. The U.S. Post Office and Customs House was built at a time when Congress was being petitioned to build Federal buildings in many cities across the country. They were loath to fund buildings that housed only post offices and courtrooms, although many communities requested them. The title "customs house" was attached to many of these buildings, because the U.S. Congress was more amenable to providing funding if the possibility of revenue from customs duties on foreign goods was anticipated in the title of the buildings. The US Post Office and Customs House provided space for Knoxville’s post office on its first floor, with courtrooms and other federal offices located on the upper two floors. The U. S. Post Office and Customs House is built of East Tennessee marble, in the Renaissance Revival style.

 

* Also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.