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| James White's Fort kitchen window |
This photo tour will include each historical site in the order of their event/when I toured, in December, 2017. I will share some information about each event and some history of the place/people/customs, but will refrain from sharing all the interesting historical tidbits in hopes that you will visit each location and take a tour yourself soon.
1. Blount Mansion (Dec. 1, 2017)
2. Historic Westwood (Dec. 3, 2017)
3. James White’s Fort (Dec. 9, 2017)
4. Marble Springs (Dec. 9, 2017)
5. Mabrey-Hazen House (Dec. 10, 2017)
6. Ramsey House (Dec. 10, 2017)
(I apologize to Crescent Bend for not making their "Holiday Open House" on Dec. 2, 2017.) www.crescentbend.com
Blount Mansion
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| Back of Blount Mansion (river side) Kitchen & Main House |
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| Blount Mansion main family room |
I attend many events here and bring my Colonial History students here every summer for camp.
As a former docent here, I wish all of the interpreters were dressed in 1790s attire and had planned talks as visitors walked through.
The informal walk-through is nice in this setting. Unlike the daytime tours, the upstairs was closed for this event.
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| Blount Mansion detached kitchen |
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| Kitchen sugar chest |
Since a fire was constantly burning for cooking, laundry, etc., kitchens, were mostly detached during this time to decrease the chances of your entire house burning and to keep the heat out in the warmer months.
William Blount was the first territorial Governor of the Territory South of the River Ohio, before we were Tennessee, and signer of the U.S. Constitution from North Carolina.
William Blount was the first territorial Governor of the Territory South of the River Ohio, before we were Tennessee, and signer of the U.S. Constitution from North Carolina.
He promised his wife a "proper wooden house" in exchange for moving from her North Carolina comforts to the log cabin frontier and was finished in 1792.
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| Kitchen door greenery |
As a UT Historian I am most interested in William Blount's role in partially funding Reverend Samuel Carrick's Blount College in downtown Knoxville in 1794 that later became UT.
The Presbyterian minister taught Blount's children inside this home upstairs in the loft. Blount's daughter, Mary, and her four friends were the first female students to attend Blount College, but as younger teens, it was pre-college curriculum.
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| Main family room fireplace |
Above the fireplace in the main family room of the original portion of the Blount Mansion, is the reverse-image painting of George Washington.
When you visit, notice that his eyes seem to follow you through the room.
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| Willie Blount portrait |
This portrait is of Willie Blount (pronounced Wiley) who was William's half-brother and 3rd governor of Tennessee.
On your tour, you will find this and other belongings to the family in the bedroom addition on the main floor of the house, added after William's untimely death in 1800.
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| Liquor chest and trunk, Blount office |
As a history nerd who frequents Colonial Williamsburg, VA, I can tell you that this liquor chest in the and flag are very rare. Take the tour in his outbuilding office to learn why.
While you are there, notice the stand-up secretary desk that the Tennessee Constitution was signed on in a downtown office in 1796. It was written in this very room.
Historic Westwood
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| Historic Westwood |
The "Historic Westwood Holiday Open House" was a free event on Sunday, Dec. 3 from 1:00-5:00PM on Kingston Pike.
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| Porch, Historic Westwood |
It was a nice warm day with parking next door at Laurel Church of Christ with a quaint path to the front entrance.
The Queen Anne style house was completed in 1890 for Adelia and John Lutz by Baumann Brothers Architects.
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| Fresco Parlor, Historic Westwood |
It features contrasting brick and stonework, instead of wood, towers and balconies, and terra cotta ornamentation resembling a Richardsonian Romanesque style.
Adelia Armstrong Lutz and her twin were born in 1859 and grew up in Bleak house, close by, during the Civil War.
She shared her father's interest in painting and her cultural upbringing led her to many prestigious art schools.
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| Dining Room Fireplace |
By age 25, her paintings earned her nationwide fame. After studying in Paris, she returned to Knoxville, teaching art in the Kern Building in Market Square.
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| Lutz family circling a table top Christmas tree |
As a wife and mother of two young children, Adelia traveled as a successful flower painter in 1890s Victorian America.
Even though Civil War troops had only marched across the land that became Westwood thirty years before, newspapers focused on her home's location.
One noted, "Many of the roses and honeysuckles in which Mrs. Lutz delights to fine subject for her brush have grown in soil watered by blood of both the blue soldiers and the gray."
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| Foyer Fireplace |
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| Grand Staircase |
Adelia became as well known as a hostess in Knoxville as she did as a painter, welcoming people into her home.
During this holiday open house, there were docents in most rooms to recount the family history and to answer questions.
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| Painting Studio Fireplace |
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| Painting Studio Skylight |
In the long room (Studio) was a
Lutz descendant discussing how the family used the space and the
natural light that allowed the gifted artist, Adelia, to paint.
On the fireplace tiles, Adelia painted her favorite literary authors of the time including Shakespeare, Longfellow, Emerson, the Brownings, Dickens, and others.
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| West Parlor |
After Adelia's death in 1931 at the age 72 at Westwood, her daughter, Louise's family, occupied the house.
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| West Parlor |
Since the property was donated to Knox Heritage for preservation, it houses the Regional Center for Preservation Education and is the headquarters for Knox Heritage and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.
James White’s Fort
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| James White's Fort well, smokehouse, & weaving cabin |
James White’s Fort welcomed all for free to their “Christmas Open House” on Saturday, December 9th from 11:00AM-3:00PM.
I attended before the UT Men’s basketball game on a chilly day.
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| Costumed volunteer |
There were many costumed interpreters in most buildings to make you feel like you stepped into the late 1700’s frontier.
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| Main House Upstairs |
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| Main House Upstairs |
Every summer, I bring my Colonial History students here to learn how hard life was on the frontier and of course to get photos in the pillory outside the fort.
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| Musicians play in Main House Downstairs |
Greenery was arranged by White decendant and the fort's docent, Robert McGinnis. Additional fruit was donated by Town & Country Garden Club.
Musicians from the Knoxville Area Dulcimer Club played in the main house for visitors.
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| Costumed family in adjoining kitchen |
In 1785, Captain James White built a two-story log house in Indian Territory as the first settler of what would become Knoxville five years later and the state of Tennessee, ten years later.
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| Inside Adjoining kitchen |
From a 1,000 acre land grant for his service, he enclosed the house and outbuildings in 1788 with an 8-10 foot stockade wall for protection against Indians and wild animals.
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| Smokehouse |
This "fort" housed several families of nearly 100 people.
White sectioned his land into blocks in 1791, which was the birth of Knoxville.
He gave a building to Reverend Carrick to use for Blount College classes, previously taught out of Carrick's home.
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| Costumed Interpreter, Guesthouse |
He gave a building to Reverend Carrick to use for Blount College classes, previously taught out of Carrick's home.
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| Costumed Interpreter, Guesthouse |
When you tour the fort, you will receive a detailed description of each building and it's contents.
