William Blount Mansion

Blount Mansion occupies a lot in downtown Knoxville situated along Hill Avenue between Hill's intersection with Gay Street on the west and Hill's intersection with State Street on the east. The area rests atop an embankment overlooking the Volunteer Landing riverfront along the Tennessee River to the south. The Craighead-Jackson House, also managed by the Blount Mansion Association, is located across State Street to the east. ==History==

The United States created the Territory South of the Ohio River, usually called the "Southwest Territory", in 1790. President George Washington appointed North Carolina businessman and land speculator William Blount as the territory's first governor. Blount initially governed from Rocky Mount (in the Tri-Cities area), but began searching for a permanent capital for the territory. After Blount selected White's Fort for the site of the capital, James White, the owner of the fort and adjacent lands, and his son-in-law Charles McClung drew up a grid of 64 half-acre lots that would eventually become the city of Knoxville, and in 1791 held a lottery for parties interested in purchasing a lot. Lot 18, the future site of Blount Mansion, was originally sold to John Carter. Blount purchased the lot from Carter in 1794, although it's believed they had a verbal agreement for sale of the lot much earlier, and thus construction of Blount Mansion began sometime around March 1792 when Blount relocated to Knoxville. While the mansion was being built, the Blount family may have lived in a cabin atop Barbara Hill, now known as "The Hill" by University of Tennessee students. ==Design==

Blount Mansion is a frame and clapboard structure consisting of a two-story central block and one-story wings on the east and west ends. The first floor of the main structure contains a parlor, dining room and hallway with a quarter-turn staircase. The second story contains two bedrooms. The west wing contains a single bedroom. The east wing contains a drawing room, and has a basement accessible by stairs and a trap door. Chimneys are located on the east end of the main block and at the outside ends of both wings. The frame was probably built using locally cut timber, but the house's finished woodwork, paneling, flooring and weatherboarding materials were shipped from North Carolina. Blount's office, often referred to as the Governor's Office, stands behind the west wing of the mansion. The office is a one-story frame-and-clapboard structure with a brick chimney on its south side, and a pair of sash windows with louvered blinds along the east and west walls. The interior includes wide-board paneling and a carved mantel. The mansion's kitchen had originally been a detached structure located behind the east wing. At an unknown date, this kitchen was dismantled and its materials used to construct an attached rear-wing kitchen. In 1958, archaeologists discovered the foundation of the original kitchen. The rear-wing kitchen was then dismantled and used to rebuild the detached kitchen on its original foundation behind the east wing. The kitchen has a design similar to the office. ==See also==