Stop Six: Knoxville's first post office and newspaper

On this corner was Knoxville’s first post office and newspaper. The publisher and printer of “The Knoxville Gazette'' was George Roulstone. In the year 1791, George Roulstone, the first printer to enter the State of Tennessee, took his press apart in Fayetteville, North Carolina, packed it on horseback or in wagons and trekked over the trails of the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Holston Valley where Kingsport now stands. There, on the banks of the Holston River at James King’s Boat Yard, he loaded it on a flatboat and floated it down to Rogersville where he set it up and started printing the Knoxville Gazette, the first piece of printing ever attempted in Tennessee. It carried the results of the town lot lottery. In October of 1792, George Roulstone established his printing press and post office in Knoxville, perhaps on lot 27 that he purchased. The Gazette was a typical late-18th century broadsheet consisting of two pages. The first page contained news, while the second page contained advertisements and announcements. The paper typically measured 10 inches by 16 inches, but the size varied due to Roulstone's difficulties in obtaining paper. The Gazette was normally published on a biweekly basis. Roulstone died at age 37, and his wife, Elizabeth, became state printer. On George Roulstone’s death in 1804, John Crozier became postmaster. He was born in Ireland and came to America in 1785 working in the salt works near Abingdon, Virginia. In 1794, he started to cut down trees on lot 26 that he bought in 1791 and started building a store. “It was shaded by trees of a forest and considered out of town.” When John Crozier became postmaster, the post office moved to his store across the street on lot 26. In 1799, he married Hannah Barton, and they had four sons and four daughters. One daughter married Dr. Ramsey of Ramsey House. John Crozier was very interested in promoting the education of young women. He was on the board of trustees of the Knoxville Female Academy. He also contracted for the construction of First Presbyterian Church, next to the cemetery.

Standard Tour Mission:

Have your team put on the eyeglasses and read copies of the Knoxville Gazette that are in your props bag on this corner. Take a photo.

Virtual Tour Trivia Questions:

When was the first edition of the Knoxville Gazette published?

John Crozier’s granddaughter was a well known suffragist in Tennessee, so well known that a statue of her is on Market Square. When she was two, the family moved into a new home on the corner of Gay and West Clinch where the Hyatt Place, your hotel last night, stands today. The home was notable for its remarkable library. What was her name?

One of the famous suffragist’s friends was also famous herself. She spent many years in Knoxville. Her name was Frances Hodgson Burnett. What is the title of her most well known book?