Last week I took a sunset drive out from Fountain City to Corryton with my camera in tow to have a gander at the fire on House Mountain. As per usual, the places where I could easily see it generally had no accommodating spot to pull off the road and snap some pictures.
I didn’t head to Hogskin Road nor the parking lot for the State Natural Area. Yes, I wanted to get some pictures, but I didn’t want to be in the way of those working the fire line to keep it contained nor annoy nearby residents. I finally found a spot on a dead-end street off Washington Pike where I could be out of the way but had a fairly clear view.
While, yes, there was a long line of low burning fire running across the mountain, there was no inferno. Though my pictures wouldn’t be as cool, the sight was a relief: not likely to result in mass incineration. Because a little over 40 years ago, I saw part of House Mountain thoroughly ablaze. For whatever reason, I could not find a reference to that conflagration in newspaper archives.
The fire on House Mountain, April 15, 2026 (Photo: Beth Kinnane)
I’m pretty sure it was 1984, possibly 1985, on or near Halloween. At the time, I was boarding my paint mare at the farm of a family friend on Boruff Road. We were all wrapping up to head home from the barn when Joe said House Mountain was on fire. He and I and one of his buddies all jumped in the truck to go check it out. While I had seen the mountain from afar, usually heading up Rutledge Pike on family trips to Rogersville, I had never been near it. That was quite the introduction. As far as fires go, it was spectacular. Not so much for anyone with a house or barn in the area.
Though folks in Knox County and nearby had enjoyed House Mountain for years, it wasn’t a public place. My father told be about hiking up there with his best buddies when he was in high school at Central. The older sister of one of his compadres drove the five of them out there on a Friday after spring football practice. They climbed their way up and camped out for two nights then get picked back up Sunday. I don’t know who they asked for permission, or if they even had it.
Not long after the fire I witnessed, the move to create a state park or natural area on House Mountain picked up in earnest because 500 acres across the crest was going up for sale. The owners were willing to discount the price if the state would pick it up and keep as a natural area in perpetuity. While area residents wanted the land to remain as is, they weren’t too keen on it becoming a public park (which is about the only way to guarantee that land remains as is, short of buying it yourself). In 1985, the Trust for Public Land purchased the 527-acre plot then sold it to the state in 1987. The trails and picnic areas were installed in the early 1990s. The highest point in Knox County, it is jointly managed by Knox County Parks and Recreation and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Despite the antics of my father and his friends, you CANNOT camp on House Mountain. The park is open from dawn to dusk. Tomorrow is Earth Day. Go enjoy a park near you. And remember: Leave No Trace.
Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.
Sources: The Knoxville Journal digital archives Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook and Instagram. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our Free Newsletter
