Where did Knoxville start? On 64 lots by the river sold 235 years ago | Exclusive

Knoxville can trace its origins back to 64 lots sold in a land lottery exactly 235 years ago.

The lots, purchased Oct. 3, 1791, form a square bound by streets today known as Church Avenue, Central Street, Neyland Drive and Walnut Street. That exact chunk of downtown marks the city's genesis.

Now that section includes landmarks such as the Blount Mansion, the Andrew Johnson Building, St. John's Episcopal Cathedral, the old Knox County Courthouse and the Howard H. Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse. But once, those lots represented Knoxville's humble beginnings along the Tennessee River.

How Knoxville began all those years ago

James White is well known as Knoxville's founder. He came to the area that would become Knoxville from North Carolina after serving as a captain in the Revolutionary War

and earning for his contributions 1,000 acres of land, on part of which his two-story log cabin, known now as James White's Fort, still stands, according to Visit Knoxville.

The history section on the fort website says White partitioned his acreage, ultimately forming Knoxville. Each of the 64 lots was half an acre, and in total, they made up 16 blocks and appear more or less as 16 city blocks today. White divided them along with his son-in-law, Charles McClung, and sold them off in a lottery, save for several he reserved.

The date of the land lottery has been historically contested, but the consensus has been to defer to a Knoxville Gazette article from Dec. 17, 1791, that cites the land lottery as having happened Oct. 3, 1791. That's the day the city of Knoxville recognizes as its anniversary.

Land lotteries were a typical method for dividing up frontier settlements, according to an East Tennessee History Center story map. In this case, 79 men drew numbers, with some having partnered up for the drawing. A Knoxville Journal article from 1929 described them as being pulled from a box. They cost $8 each. In the end, some of the participants settled, while others sold their lots and left.

White, McClung and other early Knoxville residents

White named the new town for Henry Knox, who was President George Washington's secretary of war.

Following the establishment of Knoxville, White went on to serve as a general in the War of 1812, and to donate the land for Blount College, which would eventually become the University of Tennessee. McClung became one of Knox County's two representatives who helped draft the Tennessee constitution.

"Many of the lineal descendants of these two illustrious, brave and worthy pioneers are now residents of that prosperous city and are prominent in various honorable professions, industries and occupations," says an article that ran in the Knoxville Daily Tribune for the city's centennial in 1891. "And, they are at all times ready to aid in every work which will add to the prosperity and fame of the city."

There were many other early settlers in Knoxville besides these two. Your family might even be descended from one of those who made a home in Knoxville's first lots, which appeared in a list published by the Knoxville Sentinel in 1911.

1. James White
2. James W. Lackey
3. His Excellency William Blount
4. James Armstrong
5. William Davidson
6. Andrew and J. Belfour
7. John Hays
8. Thomas Amis
9. Jacob Brown
10. Jacob Knox
11. James Richardson
12. William Boyd
13. Thomas Amis
14. James Hodges
15. Hon. Judge Anderson
16. John Gehon
17. Ignatius and J. Chisholm
18. John Carter
19. James Cozby
20. Thomas King
21. Rev. Mr. Carrick
22. Jacob Carper
23. John Love
24. John Owens
25. James Greenway
26. Jacob Carper
27. George Roulstone
28. Reserved lot
29. Reserved lot
30. Andrew and J. Belfour
31. John Rhea
32. Matthew A. Atkinson
33. Rev. Mr. Carrick
34. John Stone
35. Hon. Judge Campbell
36. Reserved lot
37. Reserved lot
38. Samuel Hannah
39. Jacob Carper
40. George Roulstone
41. Andrew Green
42. John Adair
43. William Lowry
44. Nathaniel Cowan
45. Samuel McCaughey
46. WIlliam Henry
47. William Cox
48. John Chisholm
49. John King Sr.
50. Lewis Newhouse
51. Peter McNamee
52. Nicholas Perkins
53. Daniel Hamblin
54. John Hackett
55. Jacob Carper
56. Robert Legitt
57. Adam Peck
58. David Allison
59. James and W. Lea
60. John Troy
61. William Small
62. Hugh Fulton
63. James Miller
64. Thomas Smith

Hayden Dunbar Evans is the storyteller reporter. Email: [e-mail]. Instagram: @knoxstoryteller.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Where did Knoxville start? On 64 lots by the river sold 235 years ago | Exclusive