James White's Fort

Designer: Carol La Buddie

Embroiderer: Dorothy Fritz

Year Created: 1991

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Knoxville’s founder, James White, received land grants from the State
of North Carolina for all of the land on which the city would be built. In
1785, White brought his family across the mountains to become Knoxville’s
first settlers. His two-story log house was located at what is now
the corner of Clinch Avenue and State Street and surrounded by a
stockade for protection from wild animals. In 1906 the house was scheduled
to be torn down, but Isaiah Ford purchased the building, marked
each log, and moved it to Woodlawn Pike where it was
reconstructed and served as a private home. It was purchased by the
City Association of Women’s Clubs in 1960, which organized the James
White Fort Association. In 1970, the building was moved to its present
location on Hill Avenue in downtown Knoxville. Reconstruction of the
fort was completed in 1973 and it was opened to the public.