National Register of Historic Places

Talahi Improvements

Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee
Listed
December 26, 1979
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
79002447

About this property

Sequoyah Hills is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, named for the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah. It is located off Kingston Pike, between the city's downtown 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. The neighborhood contains numerous notable examples of mid-20th century residential architecture, with houses designed by architects such as Charles I. Barber, Benjamin McMurry, and Francis Keally. Originally an agricultural area called Looney's Bend, the modern Sequoyah Hills neighborhood is largely rooted in the development efforts of 1920s-era visionary entrepreneurs E. V. Ferrell, who developed the Scenic Drive area, and Robert L. Foust, who established the "Talahi" subdivision in the vicinity of Cherokee Boulevard and Talahi Drive. Foust and Ferrell advertised their respective developments as utopian getaways where Knoxville's elite could escape the ills of congested city life. While the Great Depression led to the financial collapse of the Talahi project and Foust's subsequent suicide, Sequoyah Hills nevertheless continued to develop over the years as Foust had envisioned. Cherokee Boulevard was home to Knoxville's first Dogwood Arts Trail, which was established in 1955. In 1979, the Talahi Improvements, which consist of several early landscape elements from Foust's Talahi development, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Location

Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee
35.93650, -83.96140

Categories

COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTLANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
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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The Civil War
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The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

Morton, Benjamin, House (Additional Documentation)
Industrial
0.9 mi
Bleak House
Early Republic
1 mi
Dulin, H. L., House
Industrial
1 mi
Kingston Pike Historic District
Early Republic
1 mi
Westwood
Industrial
1.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Fort Sanders Assault (Knoxville)
1863Civil War
1.6 mi
Battle of Fort Sanders
1863Civil War
2.2 mi
Assault on Fort Sanders (Knoxville)
1863Civil War
2.6 mi
Siege of Knoxville (Fort Sanders)
1863Civil War
2.8 mi
Occupation of Knoxville (Burnside)
1863Civil War
2.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Talahi Improvements listed on the National Register?

Talahi Improvements was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 26, 1979.

What type of historic resource is Talahi Improvements?

Talahi Improvements is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Talahi Improvements?

The period of significance for Talahi Improvements is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Talahi Improvements?

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