John Smith (1795-1883) built an imposing handmade brick house on the Tazewell and Jacksboro Turnpike in 1839 in the distinctive Flemish Bond pattern. Simple but elegant woodwork highlighted the fireplaces …
Concord Farragut’s first restaurants
Years ago, in the Concord Farragut community, farm hands were called in at dinnertime for a hearty meal and families gathered around the table together at suppertime to enjoy home …
Narrow miss on spring house wipeout
Powell Station came within a fender’s width of losing a historic treasure during the recent heavy flooding. The spring house in the curve on Emory Road near Spring Street was …
The Civil War in Fountain City: 1861-65
Father and son Fred J. Conner and Thomas W. Conner submitted an article to the 1928 Central High School annual, the Sequoyah, entitled “History of Fountain City.”
The four-page article discusses …
State’s ‘first hero,’ Sevier, lends aura to Marble Springs
East Tennessee schoolchildren start hearing about John Sevier – the state’s first governor and the only governor of the state of Franklin – from an early age. His home in …
Concord inventor boosts WWII war effort
“Necessity is the mother of invention” is an often-used trite expression. However, the irony for Jesse Mack Benson (1881-1958), lies in the fact that he invented a swing stage scaffold …
The Andrew Johnson Building outshines its namesake
How’s this for irony? As the current occupant of the White House, the self-styled “deal maker,” tweets his way through impeachment, the building named after the first president to be …
Fountain City Recreation Commission: 1953-Present
Few organizations have had such a positive influence on the physical and character development of our Fountain City children and youth as has the Fountain City Recreation Commission.
Under the outstanding …