This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2024) |
The Tennessee Historical Commission (THC) is the State Historic Preservation Office for the U.S. state of Tennessee. Headquartered in Nashville, it is an independent state agency, administratively attached to the Department of Environment and Conservation. Its mission is to protect, preserve, interpret, maintain, and administer historic places; to encourage the inclusive diverse study of Tennessee's history for the benefit of future generations; to mark important locations, persons, and events in Tennessee history; to assist in worthy publication projects; to review, comment on and identify projects that will potentially impact historic properties; to locate, identify, record, and nominate to the National Register of Historic Places all properties which meet National Register criteria, and to implement other programs of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amended. The Tennessee Historical Commission also refers to the entity consisting of 24 Governor-appointed members and five ex officio members. [1]
The Commission was established as the "Tennessee Historical Committee" on January 23, 1919. [2] Its initial purpose was to memorialize events pertaining to World War I. In 1921 an amendment to the Act that created the Committee expanded its duties toward its modern mission, designating that the Committee could "care for the proper marking and preservation of battlefields, houses, and other places celebrated in the history of the state." After a decade of inactivity following the death of its first Chairman John Trotwood Moore in 1929, it was re-energized in 1940 by Governor Prentice Cooper. A partnership with the Tennessee Historical Society began in 1942 to produce the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, which is still published today. In 1951 the historic marker program was founded. Since then, approximately 2,000 markers have been erected across the state. Following the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the Commission was designated as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). There are 29 Commission members, consisting of 24 members appointed by the Governor (8 per Grand Division) and five ex officio members, including the Governor, State Archaeologist, State Librarian, State Historian, and the Commissioner of Environment and Conservation. The Board meets three times a year, usually the third Friday of February, June, and October. As of 2024[ when? ] the Commission has a professional staff of 20. The staff administers the Federal programs including the National Register of Historic Places, Section 106 review, the Certified Local Government Program, survey, and historic tax credits. State programs include historic markers, state-owned historic sites, cemetery preservation, and the Tennessee Wars Commission.
Since 1994 the Commission's offices have been located in Clover Bottom Mansion, an 1850s-era National Register-listed Italianate-style house in the Donelson area of Nashville, Tennessee. This historic property had been unused for over a decade when it was restored for use by the Commission. The historic outbuildings, including two former c. 1858 two slave cabins, a c. 1850s carriage house, and an 1890s horse barn were restored in 2015-16. Over 150 native species trees were planted, and a walking trail was added. The grounds are open to the public during daylight hours, but there are currently no tours of the house (which does not contain period furnishings or exhibits.)
Seventeen individuals have served as Chairman of the Tennessee Historical Commission. For many years, the Director of the Tennessee State Library and Archives was also by virtue of the position the Chairman of the Commission. The names and terms of the chairmen are as follows: John Trotwood Moore (Nashville) c. 1919-1929; Judge Samuel Cole Williams, (Johnson City) 1940-1946; William E. Beard (Nashville) 1946-1950; Dan M. Robison, (Nashville) 1950-1961; Dr. William T. Alderson, (Nashville) 1961-1964; Sam B. Smith, (Nashville) 1964-1969; Robert A. McGaw (Nashville) 1969-1975; Judge Harry Wellford,(Memphis) 1975-1977; Richard W. Weesner (Nashville) 1977-1981; Walter T. Durham, (Gallatin) 1981-1985; Russell Hippe, (Nashville) 1985-1990; Robert Corlew (Murfreesboro) 1990-1997; Ward DeWitt, Jr. (Nashville) 1997-2003; Norman Hill (Murfreesboro) 2003-2009; Sam D. Elliott (Signal Mountain) 2009-2015; Dr. Reavis L. Mitchell, Jr. (Nashville) 2015–2020; Derita Coleman Williams (Memphis) 2020-2024.
Since 1942, ten individuals have served as the primary staff person for the Commission. Since the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, the Commission’s directors have served as Tennessee's State Historic Preservation Officer or as the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. Stephen Lawrence was hired in 1967 and was the first employee of the Commission to hold the title of executive director. Herbert L. Harper joined the staff of the Commission in 1969 as Field Services Representative and served from 1975 to 2006 as the executive director. The executive staff and their tenures are as follows: Rebecca W. DeWitt, 1942-1956, Secretary; Dr. William T. Alderson, 1956-1961, Executive Secretary; H. Glyn Thomas, 1962-1963, Executive Secretary; James W. Moody, Jr., 1963-1967, Executive Secretary; Stephen Lawrence, 1967-1971, Executive Secretary/ Executive Director; Dr. Michael J. Smith 1971-1973, Executive Director; Herbert L. Harper, Acting Director, 1973-1974; Lawrence C. Henry, 1974-1975, Executive Director; Herbert L. Harper, Executive Director 1975-2006; Richard G. Tune, Interim Executive Director, 2006-2007; E. Patrick McIntyre, Jr., Executive Director, 2007–Present
The Tennessee Historical Commission has 17 State Historic Sites under its administration. While THC provides operating grants and pays for major maintenance projects, each of the sites except for Sabine Hill are administered by independent, 501 (c) 3 non-profits who are responsible for staffing and raising most of the funds to operate the properties. Four sites are in Castalian Springs, a small Sumner County community that has been referred to as the "Cradle of Tennessee History" for its importance. Sabine Hill in Elizabethton and Hawthorn Hill in Castalian Springs are the newest state historic sites, and both opened in 2017. Sabine Hilli is a unit of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park. THC State-owned Historic Sites include:
East Tennessee Burra Burra Mine State Historic Site, Ducktown; Chester Inn State Historic Site, Jonesborough; Rocky Mount State Historic Site, Piney Flats; Marble Springs State Historic Site, Knoxville; Sabine Hill, Elizabethton; Sam Houston Schoolhouse State Historic Site, Maryville; Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site, Johnson City;
Middle Tennessee Carter House State Historic Site, Franklin; Castalian Springs Mound Site, Castalian Springs; Cragfont State Historic Site, Castalian Springs; Hawthorn Hill State Historic Site, Castalian Springs; Hotel Halbrook State Historic Site, Dickson; Rock Castle State Historic Site, Hendersonville; Sam Davis Shrine, Pulaski; Sparta Rock House State Historic Site, Sparta; Wynnewood State Historic Site, Castalian Springs
West Tennessee Alex Haley Home State Historic Site, Henning
The Tennessee Wars Commission (TWC) was established in 1994 to preserve sites associated with military heritage from the Period of the French and Indian War to the Civil War. Since then, the Wars Commission has helped protect over 7000 acres in Tennessee. Three individuals have served as program director since that time, including Fred Prouty, who served from 1994 until 2016. Ms. Nina L. Scall is the first female program director and has been serving in this capacity since 2019. During her time with the Wars Commission, she has strengthened the conservation easement program and expanded the grants programs. Most of the protected properties are Civil War sites, such as Parkers Crossroads Battlefield and Davis Bridge Battlefield. A significant property, Camp Blount in Fayetteville, was also saved under the lead efforts of the Tennessee Wars Commission and was the only War of 1812-era site preserved as part of the National Bicentennial commemoration of that conflict. The Wars Commission has a grant program that has provided over $2 million in funding since its inception. The Civil Wars Sites Preservation Grant Fund allocates funds for the preservation of the 38 most important Civil War sites as identified by the National Park Service's report and Underground Railroad sites eligible for listing on the National Register or eligible for National Landmark status. The Wars Commission Grant Fund allocates funds for historic preservation projects focused on the French and Indian War through the Civil War.
Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56,356. Its county seat is Elizabethton. The county is named in honor of Landon Carter (1760–1800), an early settler active in the "Lost State of Franklin" 1784-1788 secession from the State of North Carolina. Carter County is part of the Johnson City, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, located in northeastern Tennessee.
Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original Thirteen Colonies.
The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West, and Methodist minister James A. Dombrowski, it was originally located in the community of Summerfield in Grundy County, Tennessee, between Monteagle and Tracy City. It was featured in the 1937 short film, People of the Cumberland, and the 1985 documentary film, You Got to Move. Much of the history was documented in the book Or We'll All Hang Separately: The Highlander Idea by Thomas Bledsoe.
The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the U.S. state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas.
This is a list of properties and historic districts in Tennessee that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are over 2,000 in total. Of these, 29 are National Historic Landmarks. Each of Tennessee's 95 counties has at least one listing.
The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) is a United States federal government program created by the Secretary of the Interior in 1991, with the aim of preserving historic battlefields in the United States. In 1996, Congress signed into law the American Battlefield Protection Act, which officially authorized the ABPP. The program operates under the American Battlefield Protection Program Authorization as of 2009.
Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park is a state park located in Elizabethton, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The park consists of 70 acres (28.3 ha) situated along the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, a National Historic Landmark where a series of events critical to the establishment of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky, and the settlement of the Trans-Appalachian frontier in general, took place. Along with the historic shoals, the park includes a visitor center and museum, the reconstructed Fort Watauga, the Carter House and Sabine Hill . For over a thousand years before the arrival of European explorers, Sycamore Shoals and adjacent lands had been inhabited by Native Americans. The first permanent European settlers arrived in 1770, and established the Watauga Association—one of the first written constitutional governments west of the Appalachian Mountains—in 1772. Richard Henderson and Daniel Boone negotiated the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals in 1775, which saw the sale of millions of acres of Cherokee lands in Kentucky and Tennessee and led to the building of the Wilderness Road. During the American Revolution, Sycamore Shoals was both the site of Fort Watauga, where part of a Cherokee invasion was thwarted in 1776, and the mustering ground for the Overmountain Men in 1780.
Cragfont is a state historic site and historic house located in Castalian Springs, Sumner County, Tennessee. It was the home of Revolutionary War protagonist and Middle Tennessee pioneer General James Winchester.
Bledsoe's Station, also known as Bledsoe's Fort, was an 18th-century fortified frontier settlement located in what is now Castalian Springs, Tennessee. The fort was built by longhunter and Sumner County pioneer Isaac Bledsoe in the early 1780s to protect Upper Cumberland settlers and migrants from hostile Native American attacks. While the fort is no longer standing, its location has been verified by archaeological excavations. The site is now part of Bledsoe's Fort Historical Park, a public park established in 1989 by Sumner County residents and Bledsoe's descendants.
Wynnewood, also known as Castalian Springs, is a historic estate in Castalian Springs, Sumner County, Tennessee. The property is owned by the state of Tennessee and its official name is the Wynnewood State Historic Site, it includes an 1828 former inn that is the largest existing log structure in Tennessee. The property is operated by the Historic Castalian Springs under an agreement with the Tennessee Historical Commission. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.
Castalian Springs is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Sumner County, Tennessee, United States.
The Alabama Historical Commission is the historic preservation agency for the U.S. state of Alabama. The agency was created by an act of the state legislature in 1966 with a mission of safeguarding Alabama's historic buildings and sites. It consists of twenty members appointed by the state governor or who serve in an official position. The members represent a broad cross section of Alabamians including architects, historians, archaeologists, and representatives of state universities. The commission is tasked with acquisition and preservation of historic properties and education of the public about historic sites in Alabama.
Bledsoe Creek State Park is a state park in Sumner County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park consists of 169 acres (0.68 km2) managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The park spans much of the west shore of the Bledsoe Creek embayment of Old Hickory Lake, an impoundment of the Cumberland River created with the completion of Old Hickory Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1954.
Humphrey Bate was an American harmonica player and string band leader. He was the first musician to play old-time music on Nashville-area radio. Bate and his band, which had been given the name "Dr. Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters" by Opry founder George D. Hay, were regulars on the Grand Ole Opry until Bate's death in 1936. The band's recordings, while scant, are considered some of the most distinctive and complex string band compositions in the old-time genre.
Sabine Hill, also known as Happy Valley, Watauga Point, and the General Nathaniel Taylor House, is a historic house in Elizabethton, Tennessee. The two-story Federal style building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is an excellent example of federal architecture. It was threatened by demolition in 2007 when the owners sought to have the property rezoned for apartments. The rezoning request was denied and the home was bought by several preservation-minded locals who secured it until the State of Tennessee/Tennessee Historical Commission could purchase the museum-quality property. It is now restored and opened to the public on November 1, 2017, as a unit of Sycamore Shoals State Park. The property is operated by the Park under a memorandum of understanding with the Tennessee Historical Commission.
The Castalian Springs Mound State Historic Site (40SU14) is a Mississippian culture archaeological site located near the small unincorporated community of Castalian Springs in Sumner County, Tennessee. The site was first excavated in the 1890s and again as recently as the 2005 to 2011 archaeological field school led by Dr. Kevin E. Smith. A number of important finds have been associated with the site, most particularly several examples of Mississippian stone statuary and the Castalian Springs shell gorget held by the National Museum of the American Indian. The site is owned by the State of Tennessee and is a State Historic Site managed by the Bledsoe's Lick Association for the Tennessee Historical Commission. The site is not currently open to the public.
Charles Andrew Howell III was an American businessman and politician who was involved in historic preservation projects in Tennessee.
The Civil War Trust's Civil War Discovery Trail is a heritage tourism program that links more than 600 U.S. Civil War sites in more than 30 states. The program is one of the White House Millennium Council's sixteen flagship National Millennium Trails. Sites on the trail include battlefields, museums, historic sites, forts and cemeteries.
John Trotwood Moore (1858–1929) was an American journalist, writer and local historian. He was the author of many poems, short stories and novels. He served as the State Librarian and Archivist of Tennessee from 1919 to 1929. He created Moore Academy in Pine Apple, Alabama in 1883. He was "an apologist for the Old South", and a proponent of lynching.
Mary Gregory Jewett was an American preservationist, journalist, public official, and historian who ran the Georgia Historical Commission from 1960 through its dissolution in 1973, and served as the first president of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2013, she was posthumously named a Georgia Woman of Achievement.