L&N Station (Knoxville)
Encyclopedia
The L&N Station is a former rail passenger station in Knoxville, Tennessee
, USA, located in the downtown area at the northern end of the World's Fair Park. Built in 1905 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
, the station was renovated for use in the 1982 World's Fair
, and is currently home to the Knox County STEM Academy. In 1982, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
for its architecture and role in Knoxville's transportation history.
The L&N completed a rail line running from Cincinnati
to Atlanta in the early 1900s, and built a string of passenger stations and depots to service trains along this line. The company's Knoxville station was the city's largest, and considered by some the "finest" along the L&N's entire Cincinnati–Atlanta line. It served as a passenger station until the L&N ceased passenger train service to Knoxville in 1968, and continued to house L&N offices until 1975. The L&N Station is mentioned in several scenes in author James Agee
's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Death in the Family
.
The building's most recognizeable feature is its northeast corner tower, which rises three stories, and is topped by a pitched, clay-tiled roof with decorated dormers. A smaller tower rises at the end of the west wing, giving the building its chateau-like appearance. A wrap-around veranda allows access to the main floor on the south side of the building. The north side of the west wing originally included frosted glass doors and glazed transoms, which have been restored. Due to the construction of the Western Avenue Viaduct, the building's ground level lies about 10 feet (3 m) below Western Avenue, with a ramp providing vehicular access.
The interior of the main floor consisted of waiting rooms in the west wing, a dining room in the northeast corner tower, and a kitchen, lunch counter, and baggage areas in the south wing. The waiting rooms included a general waiting room, a ladies' waiting room (with a private entrance and an entrance from the general waiting room) on the northwest corner, and a "colored" waiting room on the southwest corner. The colored waiting room, a relic of segregation
, had a separate entrance. The second story consisted of L&N offices, and the third story in the northeast tower was used as a drafting room by L&N engineers.
border, while the L&N controlled much of the traffic north of the border, and the two railroads continuously thwarted one another's attempts to expand beyond this border. In an 1894 meeting, L&N president Milton Smith and Southern president Samuel Spencer agreed not to encroach upon each other's market.
Shortly after the 1894 agreement, Spencer was named president of the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway
, essentially giving the Southern (of which Spencer remained president) access to the L&N's Kentucky and Ohio markets. Deeming the agreement void, the L&N made plans to build a direct line from Cincinnati to Atlanta by way of Knoxville. In 1902, the L&N purchased the Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern Railroad, which connected Knoxville to the Western and Atlantic at Marietta, Georgia
, and began construction of a line from Jellico
to Knoxville, which was completed in 1905.
The L&N planned an eloquent Knoxville station to rival the Southern Terminal
, which had been erected at the Southern railyard along Depot Street. The L&N completed a freight depot in 1904, and began construction of the passenger station that same year. The station was designed by the L&N Engineering Department, headed by Irish immigrant and Royal College of Science for Ireland
graduate Richard Monfort, who was largely responsible for the station's Victorian and chateauesque elements. The station formally opened on April 10, 1905.
Author James Agee describes the L&N Station in several scenes in his book, A Death In the Family, which is set in Knoxville in 1915. In an early scene, while walking through Knoxville with his father, they pass the station, and Agee noted how its stained glass "smouldered like an exhausted butterfly." In another scene, while crossing the Asylum (Western) Avenue Viaduct, he wrote, "the L&N yards lay on his left, feint skeins of steel, blocked shadows, little spumes of steam." In a later scene, Agee describes the crowded L&N waiting room, in which his family waited to catch a train to the Great Smoky Mountains
.
, with the last passenger train leaving the L&N Station in 1968. The L&N sold the station in 1975, after which it remained vacant for several years. In 1982, the station was renovated for use in the 1982 World's Fair, as it was adjacent to the World's Fair Park, which was then under development. Two restaurant
s, a Ruby Tuesday restaurant and the first L&N Seafood Grill, were housed in lower floors of the building, while the second floor offices were converted into meeting rooms for the fair's VIP
s.
In 1985, the building was purchased by Alex Harkness and Station 82 Partners, who renovated it for use as office space and special events. From 2002 to 2004, a restaurant, Ye Olde Steakhouse, operated out of the station while it repaired damage from a fire at its location on Chapman Highway.
announced plans to establish a magnet high school
for science
, technology
, engineering
, and mathematics
(STEM
), to be located in the L&N Station building. Funding for the STEM school is included in the Tennessee Race to the Top
plan. The new school officially opened on August 15, 2011, with an enrollment of 180 students.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, USA, located in the downtown area at the northern end of the World's Fair Park. Built in 1905 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business...
, the station was renovated for use in the 1982 World's Fair
1982 World's Fair
The 1982 World's Fair, formally known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the United States. The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World."...
, and is currently home to the Knox County STEM Academy. In 1982, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
for its architecture and role in Knoxville's transportation history.
The L&N completed a rail line running from Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
to Atlanta in the early 1900s, and built a string of passenger stations and depots to service trains along this line. The company's Knoxville station was the city's largest, and considered by some the "finest" along the L&N's entire Cincinnati–Atlanta line. It served as a passenger station until the L&N ceased passenger train service to Knoxville in 1968, and continued to house L&N offices until 1975. The L&N Station is mentioned in several scenes in author James Agee
James Agee
James Rufus Agee was an American author, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, he was one of the most influential film critics in the U.S...
's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Death in the Family
A Death in the Family
A Death in the Family is an autobiographical novel by author James Agee, set in Knoxville, Tennessee. He began writing it in 1948, but it was not quite complete when he died in 1955. It was edited and released posthumously in 1957 by editor David McDowell. Agee's widow and children were left with...
.
Design
The L&N Station occupies the southwest corner of the intersection of Western Avenue, Broadway, Henley Street, and Summit Hill Drive, opposite Old City Hall. It straddles the east bank of Second Creek, and was designed to incorporate the bank's downward slope. The building is L-shaped, with wings projecting west and south of the northeast corner tower (the wings face Western Avenue and Henley Street). Due to the ground's slope, the building's main floor is at ground level on the north and east sides, but rises a full story above the ground on the south and west sides. Tracks and train sheds originally extended from the rail yard up to the rear of the building.The building's most recognizeable feature is its northeast corner tower, which rises three stories, and is topped by a pitched, clay-tiled roof with decorated dormers. A smaller tower rises at the end of the west wing, giving the building its chateau-like appearance. A wrap-around veranda allows access to the main floor on the south side of the building. The north side of the west wing originally included frosted glass doors and glazed transoms, which have been restored. Due to the construction of the Western Avenue Viaduct, the building's ground level lies about 10 feet (3 m) below Western Avenue, with a ramp providing vehicular access.
The interior of the main floor consisted of waiting rooms in the west wing, a dining room in the northeast corner tower, and a kitchen, lunch counter, and baggage areas in the south wing. The waiting rooms included a general waiting room, a ladies' waiting room (with a private entrance and an entrance from the general waiting room) on the northwest corner, and a "colored" waiting room on the southwest corner. The colored waiting room, a relic of segregation
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
, had a separate entrance. The second story consisted of L&N offices, and the third story in the northeast tower was used as a drafting room by L&N engineers.
History
While railroads had reached Knoxville by 1855, the L&N did not have direct access to the city until the early 1900s, due to its rivalry with the Southern Railway and its predecessors. The Southern controlled much of the rail traffic south of the Tennessee-KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
border, while the L&N controlled much of the traffic north of the border, and the two railroads continuously thwarted one another's attempts to expand beyond this border. In an 1894 meeting, L&N president Milton Smith and Southern president Samuel Spencer agreed not to encroach upon each other's market.
Shortly after the 1894 agreement, Spencer was named president of the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway
Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway
The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway is a railroad that runs from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, forming part of the Norfolk Southern Railway system. The rail line that it operates, the Cincinnati Southern Railway, is owned by the City of Cincinnati and is...
, essentially giving the Southern (of which Spencer remained president) access to the L&N's Kentucky and Ohio markets. Deeming the agreement void, the L&N made plans to build a direct line from Cincinnati to Atlanta by way of Knoxville. In 1902, the L&N purchased the Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern Railroad, which connected Knoxville to the Western and Atlantic at Marietta, Georgia
Marietta, Georgia
Marietta is a city located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat.As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 56,579, making it one of metro Atlanta's largest suburbs...
, and began construction of a line from Jellico
Jellico, Tennessee
Jellico is a city in Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,448 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Jellico is located at . The city is situated amidst the Cumberland Mountains in the Elk Creek Valley, which runs perpendicular to the Tennessee-Kentucky state line...
to Knoxville, which was completed in 1905.
The L&N planned an eloquent Knoxville station to rival the Southern Terminal
Southern Terminal, Knoxville, Tennessee
The Southern Terminal is a former railway complex located at 306 West Depot Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. The complex, which includes a passenger terminal and freight depot adjacent to a large railyard, was built in 1904 by the Southern Railway. Both the terminal and freight depot were...
, which had been erected at the Southern railyard along Depot Street. The L&N completed a freight depot in 1904, and began construction of the passenger station that same year. The station was designed by the L&N Engineering Department, headed by Irish immigrant and Royal College of Science for Ireland
Royal College of Science for Ireland
The Royal College of Science for Ireland was created as a result of a decision of HM Treasury in 1865 to merge a number of science-oriented education bodies including the Museum of Irish Industry and Government School of Science applied to Mining and the Arts. It was originally based at 51 St...
graduate Richard Monfort, who was largely responsible for the station's Victorian and chateauesque elements. The station formally opened on April 10, 1905.
Author James Agee describes the L&N Station in several scenes in his book, A Death In the Family, which is set in Knoxville in 1915. In an early scene, while walking through Knoxville with his father, they pass the station, and Agee noted how its stained glass "smouldered like an exhausted butterfly." In another scene, while crossing the Asylum (Western) Avenue Viaduct, he wrote, "the L&N yards lay on his left, feint skeins of steel, blocked shadows, little spumes of steam." In a later scene, Agee describes the crowded L&N waiting room, in which his family waited to catch a train to the Great Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains or the...
.
Post-L&N development
The L&N gradually phased out passenger service after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, with the last passenger train leaving the L&N Station in 1968. The L&N sold the station in 1975, after which it remained vacant for several years. In 1982, the station was renovated for use in the 1982 World's Fair, as it was adjacent to the World's Fair Park, which was then under development. Two restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, a Ruby Tuesday restaurant and the first L&N Seafood Grill, were housed in lower floors of the building, while the second floor offices were converted into meeting rooms for the fair's VIP
VIP
VIP and V.I.P. is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:-In general:* Vacuum insulated panel* Values, Influence, and Peers, an anti-crime campaign in Ontario elementary schools* Variable Information Printing, a form of on-demand printing...
s.
In 1985, the building was purchased by Alex Harkness and Station 82 Partners, who renovated it for use as office space and special events. From 2002 to 2004, a restaurant, Ye Olde Steakhouse, operated out of the station while it repaired damage from a fire at its location on Chapman Highway.
Knox County STEM Academy
In October 2010, Knox County SchoolsKnox County Schools
Knox County Schools is the school district that operates all public schools in Knox County, Tennessee.- History :Before the 1987-1988 school year, the city of Knoxville and Knox County operated separate school districts...
announced plans to establish a magnet high school
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
for science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
(STEM
STEM fields
STEM fields is a US Government acronym for the fields of study in the categories of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The acronym is in use regarding access to work visas for immigrants who are skilled in these fields. Maintaining a citizenry that is well versed in the STEM fields...
), to be located in the L&N Station building. Funding for the STEM school is included in the Tennessee Race to the Top
Race to the Top
Race to the Top, abbreviated R2T, RTTT or RTT, is a $4.35 billion United States Department of Education competition designed to spur innovation and reforms in state and local district K-12 education...
plan. The new school officially opened on August 15, 2011, with an enrollment of 180 students.
External links
- Knox County STEM Academy – official site
- L&N Station Aerial View — 1930s-era aerial photograph of the L&N Station and railyard
- Henry Marshall Cole, L&N Depot, c. 1905 — early-1900s interior shot of the L&N Station's offices, showing early stationmaster Henry Marshall Cole
- Crescent News Company Dining Room — 1920s-era photograph of the L&N's dining room