Attractions
Lakes, Beaches and Water Fun
Outdoor Adventure
Scenic Drives and Rides
Sports
Shopping & Antiquing
Spas & Well Being
Heritage, History, & Culture
Nature Activities
Arts & Entertainment
Markets & Fairs
Order your Knoxville Planning Guide here.
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Alex Haley Heritage Square
Alex Haley Square is a part of Morningside Park in east Knoxville. The park has the only 12 foot high bronze statue of author and Pulitzer prize winner Alex Haley. Haley is best known for his book, Roots, in which he traced his origins back to Africa. His book was made into an acclaimed television mini-series. The statue is the focal point of the park. It was designed by sculptress Tina Allen and cast in bronze in New York City. The statue weighs 4,200 pounds and was dedicated in February 1998 during Black History Month. Other amenities in the park include a play structure, water fountain and green space.
Morningside Drive - Knoxville, TN 37914 • Map It
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Beck Cultural Exchange Center
The Beck Center researches, collects, preserves. and exhibits African American achievements and culture and has the largest African American membership organization in East TN. Since its opening in 1975, the Center has reached more than a half million people from local residents to individuals from all over the world. This has been achieved through cultural exhibits and resource materials including: books, journals, newspapers, scrapbooks, audio recording and other memorabilia. The Center is located within walking distance of the famed Alex Haley statue.
1927 Dandridge Ave. - Knoxville, TN 37915 • Map It • 865-524-8461 • Website |
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Blount Mansion
Built between 1792 and 1830, the oldest section of Blount Mansion served as the executive residence for William Blount, Governor of the Southwest Territory. A complete departure from other early Knoxville dwellings, frontiersmen and settlers referred to this gracious frame house as "the Blount Mansion." The Governor's office, located behind the Mansion, served as the capitol of the Southwest Territory from 1792-1796 and was the site where the Tennessee State Constitution was drafted.
200 West Hill Ave - Knoxville, TN 37902 • Map It • 865-525-2375 • Website
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Children's Museum of Oak Ridge
The Children's Museum of Oak Ridge is a dynamic cultural center that features innovative exhibitions, programs and workshops for all ages. Science, art and history are emphasized in hands-on learning opportunities that encourage young people to understand their cultural heritage, environment and the world around them. Educators are encouraged to utilize the Museum's numerous resources - over 20,000 objects, archival holdings, audio/video tapes, books and magazines.
461 West Outer Drive - Oak Ridge, TN 37721 • Map It • 865-482-1074 • Website
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Civil War Walking Tours
It's the 150th anniversary year of the siege of Knoxville, one of the most sharply divided cities during the civil war. Occupied by both sides with recruiting offices set up on Gay Street on the same day, Knoxville was home to spies, street fights, and family feuds that outlasted the war.
Visit the downtown sites and then get an overview of the battles and fortifications from the observation deck of the Sunsphere.
The French Market, 526 S. Gay St - Knoxville, TN 37902
Map It • 865-309-4522 • Website
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Confederate Memorial Hall - Bleak House
Confederate Memorial Hall, originally named "Bleak House," has a rich and interesting past. Bleak House, an antebellum mansion of fifteen spacious rooms and wide halls, stands well back on an eminence among lovely trees and elaborately landscaped grounds. The property fronts 250 feet on Kinston Pike and extends 900 feet in terraced gardens down to Fort Loudon Lake (Tennessee River). The house was built for Robert Houston Armstrong and Louisa Franklin as a wedding gift. Louisa’s father, Major L. D. Franklin, built the house; Robert’s father, Drury Armstrong of Crescent Bend, donated the land. The young couple named their stately home, "Bleak House," for Charles Dickens' then currently popular novel of that name. The property has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984.
3148 Kingston Pike - Knoxville, TN 37919 • Map It • 865-454-0075 • Website
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East Tennessee History Center
The historic building which is now officially known as the East Tennessee Historical Center was built in 1874 as Knoxville's first United States Custom House and Post Office. The architect of the original building was Alfred Bult Mullett (1834-1890), at that time the chief architect of the United States government. Of neoclassical Italianate design, the Custom House served as Knoxville's federal building until 1933, housing the federal court, excise offices, and post office. The former federal courtroom on the third floor features notable neoclassical decoration. From 1936 to 1976, the building served as one of the main Knoxville offices of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). In 1973, the Custom House was among the first structures in Knoxville named to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1977, the Custom House was awarded to the public library to be developed into a center for historical research and was significantly restored and renovated by Knox County in 1980 and 1992.
The East Tennessee Historical Center is one of two facilities of the Knox County Public Library System located in downtown Knoxville. The Center houses the public library's Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection and the Knox County Archives, the repository for the permanent governmental records of Knox County.
Located in the building are:
• First Floor: East Tennessee Historical Society Shop, Corner Drugstore Streetscape, and temporary exhibits will open April 2. The permanent exhibit is undergoing renovation and will reopen in 2006.
• Second Floor: Knox County Archives & ETHS Administrative Offices
• Third Floor: McClung Historical Collection for genealogical and historical research
601 S Gay St - Knoxville, TN 37902 • Map It • 865-215-8830 • Website
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Farragut Folklife Museum
The Farragut Folklife Museum is a treasure chest of photographs and artifacts which tell a story of the history of the Farragut and Concord communities. One of the highlights of the Museum is the Admiral David Glasgow Farragut Collection. Admiral Farragut, the first commissioned Admiral of the United States Navy and perhaps best known for his statement, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead," was born in this area on July 5, 1801. This nationally sought after collection houses artifacts such as Farragut’s personal china, uniform ornamentation, family photographs, manuscripts, letters of interest and a large collection of scrimshaw.
The Museum also exhibits objects of memorabilia, history of schools, churches and community, railroad artifacts and changing exhibits of interest to the community.
11408 Municipal Center Dr - Farragut, TN 37934 • Map It • 865-966-7057 • Website
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Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center
The museum portrays Native Americans of East Tennessee history with artifacts representing 5,000 years of Native American life related to hunting, pottery, foodways, ceremony, games, medicine, and trade. Depicts pioneer and mountain culture's daily life, family and community, medicine, industry, recreation, and education. An exhibit, Tennessee on the Move, has a postal wagon, farming vehicles, a surrey, a freight wagon, and road construction equipment.
123 Cromwell Dr - Townsend, TN 37882 • Map It • 865-448-0044 • Website
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Green McAdoo Cultural Center
The Center is the site of Green McAdoo School which gained national recognition in 1956 when 12 young people now known as the Clinton 12 walked into history and changed the world. Green McAdoo depicts the history of desegration in Clinton, Tennessee. Racial discrimination and violence brought about the arrival of the national guard and martial law. The center also portrays how a community came together to overcome the obstacles created by discrimination. Image from LargeArt.com
101 School St - Clinton, TN 37717 • Map It • 865-463-6500 • Website
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James White's Fort
James White's Fort was built in 1786 as the first pioneer structure of what is today Knoxville. The reconstructed fort is furnished with original artifacts and creates an accurate picture of everyday life on the frontier. The fort is open Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (January and February), and Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (March-December). Admission is $5 for Adults and $2 for Children ages 5-12. Free parking for cars and buses is available adjacent to the grounds.
205 East Hill Avenue - Knoxville, TN 37915 • Map It • 865-525-6514 • Website
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Knoxville Walking Tours
Family feuds and wanted outlaws. You'll relive the days when Knoxville was the wild west and Gay Street was the OK Corral. Step back over two centuries and visit Knoxville's founders as you listen to the stories of the settlement of White's Fort and establishment of the capitol of the Southwest Territory at the headwaters of the Tennessee. Brave souls who enjoy a chill can join us for a trip into Knoxville's shadow side. The city's history of blood-stained streets echoing with gunfire is full of restless spirits. Visit their haunts and hear local legends of ghostly apparitions. Literary Heritage - Home of Cormac McCarthy, Nikki Giovanni, James Agee, and more. You'll visit the scenes that inspired them and walk in the footsteps of their characters.
The French Market, 526 S. Gay St - Knoxville, TN 37902
Map It • 865-309-4522 • Website
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Mabry-Hazen House
The Mabry-Hazen House Museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located on five acres atop Mabry Hill and includes the 4-acre Civil War Bethel Cemetery. This stately, elegant home of the Victorian and Civil War periods showcases one of the largest collections of original artifacts including, china, silver, crystal, and antique furnishings. Built in 1858 and housing three generations of the same family from 1858-1987, the Mabry-Hazen House served as headquarters for both the Union and Confederate troops during the civil war.
3500 Knoxville Zoo Dr - Knoxville, TN 37914 • Map It • 865-637-5331 • Website
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Marble Springs Historic Site
The original home of Gov. John Sevier, a loom house, tavern, smokehouse and half-cantilever barn are used to educate the public about the life and times of Gov. John Sevier.
1220 W. Governor John Sevier Highway - Knoxville, TN 37920 • Map It
865-637-5331 • Website
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McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture
The McClung Museum is a general museum with collections in anthropology, archaeology, decorative arts, medicine, local history, and natural history. The exhibits document ways of life, cultural trends, and technologies from prehistoric times to the present day, and showcase much of Tennessee's past -- its geology, history, art, and culture.
1327 Circle Park Drive - Knoxville, TN 37996 • Map It • 865-974-2144 • Website
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Museum of Appalachia
The Museum of Appalachia portrays an authentic mountain farm/village with 36 historic log structures, exhibit buildings filled with thousands of authentic Appalachian artifacts, gardens surrounded by split rail fences, and farm animals in a picturesque setting.
2819 Andersonville Hwy - Clinton, TN 37828 • Map It • 865-494-7680 • Website
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Tennessee Woman Suffrage Memorial
The Woman Suffrage Memorial by sculptor Alan LeQuire is located at Market Square in downtown Knoxville. The Suffrage Coalition was founded to create a lasting memorial to the suffragists of Tennessee. The suffragist's efforts focused a nation as the last campaign was fought successfully to change the constitution. The Suffrage Coalition has erected a life-size, bronze statue featuring three Tennessee suffragists: Lizzie Crozier French of Knoxville, Anne Dallas Dudley of Nashville, and Elizabeth Avery Meriwether of Memphis.
Market Square - Knoxville, TN 37902 • Map It • Website
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Volunteer Landing Main Pavilion: The Volunteer Spirit
The term Tennessee "Volunteers" refers to a long-standing history and reputation of the state's residents to offer themselves for a greater good. In one early example of this "Volunteerism," the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780, so many East Tennesseans volunteered to fight with John Sevier that straws had to be drawn to see who would have to return home. Located literally at the center of the riverfront pathway at the Volunteer Landing Central Pavilion, a sculptural piece symbolizing the eternal nature of volunteerism was commissioned in stone.
Neyland Drive - Knoxville, TN 37915 • Map It • More Information |
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