The center, at Clinch Avenue between Gay and Market streets, houses the East Tennessee Historical Society office, the McClung Historical Collection, the Knox County Archives, and a history museum.
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The original “Old Custom House” portion of the building dates back to 1874; it served as a federal courthouse and post office, and was occupied by TVA from 1936-1976. Its condition and historical features had largely been neglected until Knox County moved its historical collection into the building in the 1980s.
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Architects limited the new addition to three stories in order to blend with the historic building and match the scale of Center One, which is also on the block. The addition was constructed with similar stone and Classical Revival style details that complement the 1874 Custom House. The addition includes two basement floors for archival material and a cold storage room to preserve rare documents
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A line of street trees on Clinch Avenue near the older part of the building was continued along the new section.
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The transformation of the great hall has been impressive, (as seen above, it had become a dank, dingy corridor).
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And is now a well-lit, beautiful gallery for regional art.
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The restoration of the past year has been exceptional. The details of the cornices, woodwork, and ceilings of the old courtroom (before restoration above) have been brought back to life.
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The courtroom now serves as the center’s foremost reading room. The location of the front desk was well chosen in that the judge’s bench had been there, flanked by the entrances to the chambers (now serving as office space).
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The addition, combined with the existing structure, provides space to display more than 100 paintings, including the work of many regional artists which previously had been in storage. There also is a computer room for genealogy research, and a greatly expanded shelving area for books and reference materials.
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