Sequoyah Hills

The small columned building on the right is the headquarters of Ossoli Circle. Founded in 1885, it is the South’s oldest women’s club. On the left is the UT Visitors Center.

The next building is one of Knoxville’s several house-museums which are open to the public. Crescent Bend/the Armstrong-Lockett house was built in 1834. It contains the Toms' collection of fine 18th century furniture and antique silver. Extending from the terrace to Fort Loudoun Lake is the W. P. Toms Memorial Gardens. Created in 1982, the manicured formal Italian gardens feature nine terraces and five fountains.

The site is a favorite site of weddings and receptions.

The Dulin home, a v-shaped Neoclassic residence, was designed by the famous architect John Russell Pope. For 20 years it was the Dulin Gallery of Art. Mrs. Clifford Folger loaned the home to the gallery in memory of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Dulin. The Dulin gallery closed when construction began on the Knoxville Museum of Art at the World’s Fair Park. Again, a private residence.

The Confederate Memorial Hall, built in 1854, is another house-museum. This house was the headquarters of Confederate General James Longstreet during the siege of Knoxville. From the tower, a sharpshooter fatally wounded general William P. Sanders who commanded the Union Forces. Cannon balls are embedded in the brick walls of the house, and bloodstained stairs lead up to the lookout tower. In the tower a Confederate artist left pencil portraits of his fellow soldiers on the plastered walls. Approaching Cherokee Blvd, the Confederate Memorial Hall is also a popular location for weddings and parties. The home accommodates 150 people, while the gardens are able to accommodate just over 250 people. The 100-year-old gardens span more than 3 acres and overlook the crescent bend of the Tennessee River. The ancient gardens boast 5 tiers with a terrace, gazebo, balcony, pond with fountain, antique flower pots, and more.

Now we are coming to Cherokee Boulevard, the principal street of Sequoyah Hills, where Knoxville’s first Dogwood Trail opened in 1955, and night lighting was added in 1957 by members of the Knoxville Garden Club.

This beautiful residential area is named Sequoyah for a Cherokee Chieftain who lived near here on the Little Tennessee River. In 1820, he invented an entire alphabet, actually a syllabary, meaning that he developed characters which represented spoken sounds for his people. Sequoyah’s alphabet made it possible for all Native American tongues to become written languages.

Coming down toward Talahi Mall ahead of us is Talahi Mall where Native American symbols are part of the unique design. This area of Sequoyah Hills has been placed on the National Historic Register. There are lion-head fountains all over the world, but as far as we know, this is the only mountain lion fountain in existence! This animal is sacred to the Cherokee, its correct name is American Puma, also called the panther.

The fenced area was planned as a children’s playground and is called Papoose Park. Each tall iron gate is decorated with a thunderbird, the Cherokee symbol for protection. Some years ago, the gates were lost for several years. Talahi residents finally tracked them down (hanging upside down) at a public swimming pool in south Knoxville. They were refurbished and rehung in time for the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration and the Dogwood Festival’s opening day luncheon in Papoose Park. The double row of dogwood trees were planted by Talahi homeowners.

Approaching the Indian Mound
that small hill in the center strip is a Cherokee indian burial mound.

Turning onto Kenesaw
Dogwood Trails are located in areas where native White Dogwood is especially profuse.

The annual Dogwood Arts Festival is now America’s largest spring celebration, with numerous events crowded into its calendar, but the star of the show will always be the dogwood!

Turning onto Towanda Trail night lighting of the Dogwood Trails began on this street in 1957, when six members of the Knoxville Garden Club experimented with indoor extension cords, bare bulbs, and aluminum pie pan reflectors to spotlight their best trees.

The effect was spectacular! The tree trunks and branches seemed to disappear, while the blossoms floated unsupported in mid-air. While the ladies were congratulating themselves, a sudden thundershower shorted out the electricity in most of Sequoyah Hills. Now approved outdoor equipment and green-painted wooden shields keep the glare from motorists eyes. Night lighting is still provided by some residents along the trails. Back on Cherokee Blvd.

Cherokee Boulevard parallels a stretch of the Tennessee River that is now called Fort Loudoun Lake. Because the flow of water is controlled by a TVA dam several miles downstream. TVA controls the level land beside the water and can allow the lake to overflow onto it if a major flood threatens the towns and cities below Fort Loudoun Dam.

The City of Knoxville leases the flood-plain, now called Sequoyah Park, from TVA and maintains it as a public, multipurpose park. Garden clubs in Sequoyah Hills have donated hundreds of dogwood trees for planting in the parks and along the median strip of Cherokee Boulevard. The boulevard is the place for running, jogging, or just plain strolling.

When Sequoyah Hills was planned in the 1920′s, the center strip along Cherokee Boulevard was intended as a Tanbark Trail for horseback riding.

Past the round fountain
Notice the large, red brick home coming up on the right. It is the home of the President of the University of Tennessee, and is named Nash Hall. It is situated on three acres that slope 400 feet from Cherokee Boulevard to Fort Loudoun Lake. Built in the 1890′s by Dr. Walter Starnes Nash, the house was dismantled and moved from its original site on West Main Street when the Federal Government decided to build the Post Office and Federal Building on that convenient downtown spot. The impressive walnut staircase and massive woodwork survived the transition unscathed and the Nash family moved back into the enlarged house in 1931. After the death of Dr. Nash, attorney Ray H. Jenkins, his wife, and daughter lived here. In 1960, through a gift-purchase agreement, Nash Hall was acquired by the University of Tennessee. Approaching Kingston Pike we have reached the end of the Sequoyah Hills Dogwood Trail. From the trip along this trail, it is easy to see why natural beauty and cultural advantages make Knoxville one of America’s most livable cities.

Thank you for celebrating spring with us today.

There are six other Dogwood Trails–all different and all beautiful– for you to see and enjoy.

Hurry back!