Stop One: Original Location of James White Fort

On the corner of State Street and Clinch Avenue is where it all began! In 1783, James White led an expedition from North Carolina into the Tennessee Valley where he discovered this site. No Cherokee were living here. The nearest Cherokee establishment was 25 miles away. The Cherokee called Knoxville “mulberry place.” Mulberries were used among Native American peoples as a remedy for insomnia, ringworm, arthritis, and tapeworm. He built a two-story log cabin in 1786 near this spot on the banks of First Creek. Three other cabins anchored the other corners and were connected with a stockade 8 feet high for defense. The original fort on this location looked like this. In 1800, fourteen years later, James White left this spot and built another home on Riverdale Drive. He thought that Knoxville had become too much of a wild frontier town!! His cabin eventually became part of the Kennedy family’s home on State Street.

Standard Tour Mission:

Give your time travel team a name and write it on the dry erase board in your prop bag. Have someone take a photo of your team holding your sign.

Virtual Tour Trivia Questions:

How many acres in the area now known as Knoxville did James White receive for his service in the Revolutionary War?

James White had many famous descendents. Which famous playwright was one of them? Name one of his plays.