November 2010

Nestled in the center of Downtown Knoxville's government district, Blount Mansion offers history that is hard to miss. Here, among the towers of glass, steel and brick, sits a house - small by today's standards, but a mansion on the Tennessee frontier. Known by the Cherokee Indians as "the house with many eyes," Blount Mansion has watched American history parade through its rooms and on the streets outside.

Blount Mansion was the home and capitol of the first and only governor of the Southwest Territory, William Blount, his family, and ten African-Americans. Blount was a signer of the U.S. Constitution and played a pivotal role in Tennessee becoming the sixteenth state.

William and Charles Bent, along with Ceran St. Vrain, built the original fort on this site in 1833 to trade with plains Indians and trappers. The adobe fort quickly became the center of the Bent, St. Vrain Company's expanding trade empire that included Fort St. Vrain to the north and Fort Adobe to the south, along with company stores in Mexico at Taos and Santa Fe. For much of its 16-year history, the fort was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements. The fort provided explorers, adventurers, and the U.S. Army a place to get needed supplies, wagon repairs, livestock, good food, water and company, rest and protection in this vast "Great American Desert." During the war with Mexico in 1846, the fort became a staging area for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny's "Army of the West". Disasters and disease caused the fort's abandonment in 1849. Archeological excavations and original sketches, paintings and diaries were used in the fort's reconstruction in 1976.

The Washington Monument is the most prominent, as well as one of the older, attractions in Washington, D.C. It was built in honor of George Washington, who led the country to independence, and then became its first President. The Monument is shaped like an Egyptian obelisk, 555-feet and 5/8 inches high, and averages 30 to 40 miles visibility in clear weather. It was finished on December 6, 1884.

Located on Bethel Avenue and down the road from the Mabry-Hazen House, the Bethel Cemetery contains more than 1,600 Confederate dead, including three hundred soldiers who were killed in the battle of Fort Sanders. In addition, around 50 Union soldiers and 20 Civil War veterans are interred here. The monument to the Confederate dead was erected by the Ladies Memorial Association and was unveiled on May 19, 1892. The cemetery was cared for and maintained by the Winstead family for a number of years, and the last private owner, Miss Mamie Winstead who died in 1989, willed the cemetery to the Hazen Historical Museum Foundation. The white frame house located on the property was built in 1886 due to efforts of the second sexton of the property, William H. Winstead, a Confederate veteran who lost his leg in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Bandelier has a long human history and links to the modern Pueblos. Early Spanish settlers, the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), and the National Park Service also left their mark on the local landscape.

The Main Loop Trail is a 1.2 mile loop trail through archeological sites. Ladders along the trail allow visitors to climb into cavates (small human-carved alcoves). The Main Loop Trail takes you past the Big Kiva, Tyuonyi, Talus House, and Long House.

Visitors can also explore the Bandelier Museum Exhibit. These displays inside the Visitor Center showcase Ancestral Pueblo pottery, tools and artifacts of daily life. The museum also features two life-size diaramas comparing Pueblo life in the past and today.
The temporary exhibit space currently houses an intruiging display on the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps at Bandelier and their experiences here.

The Mabry-Hazen House Museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located on five acres atop Mabry Hill and includes the four acre Civil War Bethel Cemetery. This stately, elegant home of the Victorian and Civil War periods showcases one of the largest collections in America containing original artifacts including china, silver, crystal, and antique furnishings. Built in 1858 and housing three generations of the same family from 1865-1987, the Mabry-Hazen House served as headquarters for both Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War.

At War in the Pacific National Historical Park the former battlefields, gun emplacements, trenches, and historic structures all serve as silent reminders of the bloody World War II battles that ensued on Guam. While the park is known for its historical resources, the warm climate, sandy beaches, and turquoise waters beckon visitors and residents to enjoy the island's natural resources. Many lives were lost and the suffering was great for all those involved in the battles on Guam and throughout the Pacific Theater. Asan Bay Overlook with its panoramic view and its Memorial Wall which contain 16,142 names of Chamorro and American casualties who suffered or died during the war on Guam. Liberator's Memorial honors the armed forces that participated in the 1944 landing on Guam.

The McClung Museum is a general museum with collections in anthropology, archaeology, decorative arts, 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. The McClung Museum is a special place -- a place of discovery, a place to learn about the world around us.

As a part of the University of Tennessee, the Museum supports and participates in the University's mission to serve the state, region, and nation through scholarship, teaching, artistic creation, professional practice, and public service.

Beginning in 1821, the canal was completed in 1828 with 102 locks. Unfortunately the locks were too small to accomodate some boats and they had to be enlarged during th 1850s. When the Lebanon Valley Railroad opened in 1857, it decreased the revenue and use of the canal, leading to its closure in 1885. Today the park is managed by the Lebanon County Historical Society.

Aztec Ruins provides visitors an intimate opportunity to explore the ancient Puebloan “great house” known as West Ruin. A self-guided 1/2 mile walk winds through rooms built centuries ago. Along the way discover skillful stone masonry, remarkably well-preserved wood roofing and original mortar in some walls. The interpretive trail guide combines modern archeological findings and traditional Native American perspectives to enhance the visitor experience. At the trail's end, visitors enter the Great Kiva. This semi-subterranean structure, over 40-feet in diameter, was the central social and religious site of this ancient complex. Now reconstructed, Aztec Ruins' Great Kiva is the oldest and largest building of its kind.

The museum features a variety of ancient artifacts excavated at or related to Aztec Ruins. Throughout the day a 25 minute video, “Hisatsinom,” reveals the pre-Columbian history of the Four Corners region.