Blount Mansion
William Blount chose to build his mansion in Knoxville after signing the Treaty of the Holston just a few yards away from the Mansion's location. Blount's Knoxville mansion would serve as the territorial capitol, as well as a family home. The care in construction, and the size and shape of Blount Mansion reflects Blount's position as a political figure, head of a prominent family, and influential businessman.
The house was made of sawn lumber to meet Mary Blount's requirement of "a proper wooden house." The lumber was brought from North Carolina, since most of the area's residents built log cabins and log houses in the 1790s. Nails were brought from the Blount family's naillery near Tarboro, North Carolina, and glass was brought from near Richmond, Virginia. The Mansion was a hall-parlor type house with a hall, the main room for family activity, and a parlor, for more formal activities. Upstairs there was a single sleeping chamber.
Research on the historic structure and archaeology evidence suggests that the west wing was added to the Mansion first. It was most likely an outbuilding, pulled from its foundation and drug to the Mansion wall, where it was added in. Blue beads and other artifacts recovered during archaeological investigations of the site, suggest that the west wing may have been Slaves' quarters when still detached from the Mansion. The east wing was added last, perhaps as late as 1820.
The kitchen is a recreation of an eighteenth-century kitchen, but is located on the site of the original kitchen. The Governor's Office was a typical "law office" of the 1790s, built right on the edge of State Street. The cooling shed, was excavated during an archaeological dig in the 1950s, and the shed roof was rebuilt under the supervision of the National Park Service at that time.
The house was made of sawn lumber to meet Mary Blount's requirement of "a proper wooden house." The lumber was brought from North Carolina, since most of the area's residents built log cabins and log houses in the 1790s. Nails were brought from the Blount family's naillery near Tarboro, North Carolina, and glass was brought from near Richmond, Virginia. The Mansion was a hall-parlor type house with a hall, the main room for family activity, and a parlor, for more formal activities. Upstairs there was a single sleeping chamber.
Research on the historic structure and archaeology evidence suggests that the west wing was added to the Mansion first. It was most likely an outbuilding, pulled from its foundation and drug to the Mansion wall, where it was added in. Blue beads and other artifacts recovered during archaeological investigations of the site, suggest that the west wing may have been Slaves' quarters when still detached from the Mansion. The east wing was added last, perhaps as late as 1820.
The kitchen is a recreation of an eighteenth-century kitchen, but is located on the site of the original kitchen. The Governor's Office was a typical "law office" of the 1790s, built right on the edge of State Street. The cooling shed, was excavated during an archaeological dig in the 1950s, and the shed roof was rebuilt under the supervision of the National Park Service at that time.
William Blount
William Blount was born in North Carolina, served in North Carolina's House of Commons and as paymaster for North Carolina's troops in the Continental Army. He served in Congress under the Articles of Confederation, and as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
President George Washington appointed Blount to be Governor of the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio. He governed from the home of William Cobb at Rocky Mount, until he concluded the Treaty of the Holston. Then he announced his capital would move to Knoxville, a city that did not yet exist, and construction began on Blount Mansion in 1792.
For more biographical information on William Blount, please visit The National Archives Web Pages.
Another good biography is on the U.S. Army's Web Site.