Lindbergh Forest
Encyclopedia
Lindbergh Forest is a neighborhood in Knoxville
, Tennessee
, located off Chapman Highway (US-441
) in South Knoxville
, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as an historic district
. Initially developed in the late 1920s as one of Knoxville's first automobile suburb
s, the neighborhood is now noted for its late-1920s and early-1930s residential architecture, and the use of East Tennessee marble
detailing. The neighborhood also contains two of Knoxville's five surviving Lustron house
s. In 1998, several dozen of its houses were added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Lindbergh Forest Historic District.
The Lindbergh Forest neighborhood is heavily wooded, with numerous mature trees, and contains streets which follow the natural topography. This setting provides a stark contrast with the busy sprawl along adjacent areas of Chapman Highway.
James C. Luttrell
). McClain, who had made a fortune developing subdivisions in Florida
, hoped to develop a neighborhood catering to Knoxville's rising number of automobile commuters during this period. While similar "automobile suburbs" were being developed elsewhere in Knoxville at the time (e.g., North Hills
, Sequoyah Hills
, and Forest Heights), the lack of an adequate vehicle bridge across the Tennessee River
made such development in South Knoxville risky. The completion of the Henley Street Bridge
in 1931, however, alleviated this problem, and the first lots sold well.
As part of a promotional campaign, McClain offered $100 to whoever could come up with the best name for the new neighborhood. The winning entry, "Lindbergh Forest," was suggested by Emilee Cate. She submitted the name in honor of aviator Charles Lindbergh
, who had completed his famous trans-Atlantic flight in 1927. Cate was the wife of Sheriff J. Carroll Cate, who as a deputy sheriff had unsuccessfully defended the Knox County Jail from a lynch mob during the Riot of 1919
. The Cates lived on Chamberlain Boulevard.
Early residents of Lindbergh Forest included local business owners, local politicians, University of Tennessee
professors, and Tennessee Valley Authority
employees. During the 1930s, three consecutive mayors of Knoxville lived in Lindbergh Forest— John T. O'Connor, James Elmore, Sr., and Walter Mynatt. One resident, Dewey Holt, owner of the United Milk and Grocery Company, was reputedly a local bootlegger
. When new residents moved into his house in the 1980s, they found hundreds of liquor bottles scattered around the house and grounds.
The completion of the Henley Street Bridge and the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
led to increased development along Chapman Highway, and the residents of Lindbergh Forest have continuously fought to stave off commercial encroachment into their neighborhood. Over the past several years, the neighborhood has successfully prevented the construction of numerous commercial establishments, including a manufacturing plant, a beauty salon, and a slaughterhouse.
The lamp posts in Lindbergh Forest remain from the early stages of the neighborhood's development. The posts, designed to resemble colonial-era gas lights, are 8 feet (2.4 m) tall and topped with wrought iron
fixtures.
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...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, located off Chapman Highway (US-441
U.S. Route 441
U.S. Route 441 is a spur route of U.S. Route 41. It currently runs for 939 miles from U.S. Route 41 in Miami, Florida to U.S. Route 25W in Lake City, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 passes through the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee...
) in South Knoxville
South Knoxville
South Knoxville is the section of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that lies south of the Tennessee River. It is concentrated along Chapman Highway , Alcoa Highway , Maryville Pike , Sevierville Pike, and adjacent roads, and includes the neighborhoods of Lindbergh Forest, Island Home Park, Old Sevier,...
, that is listed on 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...
as an historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
. Initially developed in the late 1920s as one of Knoxville's first automobile suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s, the neighborhood is now noted for its late-1920s and early-1930s residential architecture, and the use of East Tennessee marble
Tennessee marble
Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found primarily in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, this stone has been used in the construction of numerous notable...
detailing. The neighborhood also contains two of Knoxville's five surviving Lustron house
Lustron house
Lustron houses are prefabricated enameled steel houses developed in the post-World War II era United States in response to the shortage of houses for returning GIs...
s. In 1998, several dozen of its houses were added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Lindbergh Forest Historic District.
Location
Lindbergh Forest is situated in an area roughly bounded by Chapman Highway on the west, Woodlawn Pike on the north and east, and Moody Avenue on the south. It includes Druid Drive, Chamberlain Boulevard, Winslow Drive, Tall Oaks Drive, Southwood Drive, Glenhurst Drive, Winslow Drive, and parts of Woodlawn Pike. A newer section of the neighborhood, commonly called "Taliwa," is located along Taliwa Drive and adjacent streets.The Lindbergh Forest neighborhood is heavily wooded, with numerous mature trees, and contains streets which follow the natural topography. This setting provides a stark contrast with the busy sprawl along adjacent areas of Chapman Highway.
History
In the late 1920s, real estate developer Victor McClain purchased what is now the Lindbergh Forest area from Samuel B. Luttrell (son of former Knoxville mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
James C. Luttrell
James C. Luttrell
James Churchwell Luttrell II was an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, during the Civil War. His eight-year term was the longest for any Knoxville mayor until the late 20th century, when it was surpassed by Victor Ashe's 16-year term...
). McClain, who had made a fortune developing subdivisions in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, hoped to develop a neighborhood catering to Knoxville's rising number of automobile commuters during this period. While similar "automobile suburbs" were being developed elsewhere in Knoxville at the time (e.g., North Hills
North Hills Historic District
The North Hills Historic District is a residential subdivision in north Knoxville, Tennessee, that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in September 2008 as an historic district. The subdivision was established in 1927 by the North Hills Corporation as a neighborhood of...
, Sequoyah Hills
Sequoyah Hills, Tennessee
Sequoyah Hills is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, located off Kingston Pike between the city's downtown area and West Knoxville. Initially developed in the 1920s, Sequoyah Hills was one of Knoxville's first suburbs, and today is home to some of the city's most affluent residents...
, and Forest Heights), the lack of an adequate vehicle bridge across the Tennessee River
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
made such development in South Knoxville risky. The completion of the Henley Street Bridge
Henley Street Bridge
The Henley Street Bridge, or Henley Bridge, is a vehicle bridge that crosses the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee. Completed in 1931, the bridge is one of four vehicle bridges connecting Downtown Knoxville with South Knoxville, the other three being the Gay Street Bridge, the Buck Karnes...
in 1931, however, alleviated this problem, and the first lots sold well.
As part of a promotional campaign, McClain offered $100 to whoever could come up with the best name for the new neighborhood. The winning entry, "Lindbergh Forest," was suggested by Emilee Cate. She submitted the name in honor of aviator Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
, who had completed his famous trans-Atlantic flight in 1927. Cate was the wife of Sheriff J. Carroll Cate, who as a deputy sheriff had unsuccessfully defended the Knox County Jail from a lynch mob during the Riot of 1919
Knoxville Riot of 1919
The Knoxville Riot of 1919 was a race riot that took place in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, on August 30–31, 1919. The riot began when a lynch mob stormed the county jail in search of Maurice Mayes, a mulatto man who had been accused of murdering a white woman...
. The Cates lived on Chamberlain Boulevard.
Early residents of Lindbergh Forest included local business owners, local politicians, University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
professors, and Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
employees. During the 1930s, three consecutive mayors of Knoxville lived in Lindbergh Forest— John T. O'Connor, James Elmore, Sr., and Walter Mynatt. One resident, Dewey Holt, owner of the United Milk and Grocery Company, was reputedly a local bootlegger
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
. When new residents moved into his house in the 1980s, they found hundreds of liquor bottles scattered around the house and grounds.
The completion of the Henley Street Bridge and the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
led to increased development along Chapman Highway, and the residents of Lindbergh Forest have continuously fought to stave off commercial encroachment into their neighborhood. Over the past several years, the neighborhood has successfully prevented the construction of numerous commercial establishments, including a manufacturing plant, a beauty salon, and a slaughterhouse.
Lindbergh Forest Historic District
The Lindbergh Forest Historic District consists of 38 contributing houses and 10 contributing garages, all built between 1929 and 1947. The streetscapes and lamp posts have been included collectively in the listing as a contributing site. The Tudor Revival style is the most common architectural style in the district. Colonial Revival, Minimal Traditional, Bungalow, Spanish Eclectic, and Modern styles are also represented. The district includes two Lustron houses, which were a type of pre-fabricated house designed by the Lustron Corporation to meet post-World War II housing shortages.The lamp posts in Lindbergh Forest remain from the early stages of the neighborhood's development. The posts, designed to resemble colonial-era gas lights, are 8 feet (2.4 m) tall and topped with wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
fixtures.
Notable houses
- 214 Druid Drive, a one-story Tudor Revival-style house built circa 1930. The house's exterior consists of stone with East Tennessee marble window sills.
- 240 Druid Drive, a -story Spanish Eclectic-style house built circa 1929. The exterior consists of course limestone walls with East Tennessee marble trim.
- 244 Druid Drive, a two-story Tudor Revival-style house with Colonial influence, built circa 1929. The house's exterior consists of rubble-coursed limestone veneer with brick trim.
- 222 Chamberlain Boulevard, a one-story Lustron house built circa 1947.
- 229 Chamberlain Boulevard, a two-story Eclectic house with Tudor Revival and Chateauesque influence, built circa 1930. The house's exterior consists of East Tennessee marble.
- 254 Chamberlain Boulevard, a two-story Tudor Revival-style house with limestoneLimestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
exterior, built circa 1929. This house is listed in the National Register nomination form as "214 Chamberlain."
- 301 Chamberlain Boulevard, a -story Tudor Revival-style house with Chateauesque influence, built circa 1929. The exterior consists of rusticated limestone with East Tennessee marble trim. This house is listed in the nomination form as "201 Chamberlain."
- 306 Chamberlain Boulevard, a one-story Mission-style house with Spanish Colonial influence, built circa 1929. The house has stuccoed walls and a terra cotta tile roof.
- 3419 Southwood Drive, a one-story Tudor Revival-style house built circa 1929. The house's exterior consists of brick and limestone, and includes an arched porch and a chimney with inset cross pattern.
- 3514 Southwood Drive, a -story Tudor Revival-style house with Minimal Traditional influence. The house's exterior consists of coursed East Tennessee marble rubble.
- 327 Winslow Drive, a one-story Colonial Revival-style house built circa 1937. The house's exterior consists of brick veneer with East Tennessee marble trim.
- 3510 Glenhurst Drive, a one-story Lustron house built circa 1947.