National Register of Historic Places

Swaggerty Blockhouse

Parrottsville, Cocke County, Tennessee
Listed
June 17, 1973
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
73001756

About this property

The Swaggerty Blockhouse is a historic structure near Parrottsville, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The structure was originally believed to have been a frontier blockhouse built by early settler James Swaggerty in 1787. Recent archaeological evidence suggests, however, that the structure was actually a cantilever barn built by a farmer named Jacob Stephens around 1860. In the late 18th-century, blockhouses dotted East Tennessee and the Trans-Appalachian frontier, as attacks from hostile Cherokee and other Native Americans were a constant threat. While the Swaggerty Blockhouse bears some resemblance to historical blockhouse descriptions, it lacks common blockhouse characteristics such as gun portals. The Swaggerty Blockhouse's degree of cantilever (i.e., the degree to which the upper story extends outward beyond the lower story) is also greater than typical frontier blockhouses. Analysis of the tree rings in the Swaggerty Blockhouse's logs indicated a cutting date of 1860, well after the region's frontier period.

Location

Parrottsville, Cocke County, Tennessee
36.01315, -83.07127

Categories

HISTORIC - ABORIGINALHISTORIC - NON-ABORIGINALMILITARY
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Overview
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The Land
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Geology
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LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
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The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
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Notable People
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Finds & Access
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Literature
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Spotlight
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Nearby Historic Sites

Yett-Ellison House
Industrial
1 mi
Neas Farm
Listed
3.6 mi
O'Dell House
Industrial
5.5 mi
Beechwood Hall
Early Republic
6.4 mi
Cureton, Walter C., House
Industrial
7 mi

Nearby Battles

Second Battle of Bull's Gap
1864Civil War
14.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Swaggerty Blockhouse listed on the National Register?

Swaggerty Blockhouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 1973.

What type of historic resource is Swaggerty Blockhouse?

Swaggerty Blockhouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Swaggerty Blockhouse?

The period of significance for Swaggerty Blockhouse is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Swaggerty Blockhouse?

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