Community Facilities and Utilities

Map 8: Existing Community Facilities

 

Parks and Recreation
National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) recommends a minimum standard of 6.25 acres of close-to-home park land be set aside for each 1,000 residents. The “close-to-home” parks consist of neighborhood and community parks that are normally within 2 miles of a residence and less than 50 acres in size. For the Southwest County Sector there is a 47 acre shortfall. It is often cost prohibitive to purchase land for recreation areas in strategic locations. The larger subdivisions offset some of this shortfall by providing recreational amenities privately, and TVA has transferred many acres of land along Fort Loudoun Lake to Knox County to be used for public recreation. No small neighborhood parks are currently available to the public other than the ones located at schools, and there is a need for athletic fields. Currently parents drive children to soccer fields located outside the sector. Existing capital plans include a fishing pier/shelter and dog park at Concord Park, along with some improvements to the West Valley area, and a new boat launch at Admiral Farragut Park.

Table 7: Facilities Required to Meet Standards

Table 8: Close-to-Home Parks and Other Recreational Facilities

Libraries
Two new libraries have recently been built that serve the residents of this sector. The Town of Farragut donated land on Campbell Station Road for a 10,000 square foot library. The library houses 66,113 volumes of books. A new Cedar Bluff Branch Library located just outside the sector has 13,046 square feet and 77,217 volumes of books.

Public Safety
Law enforcement is provided by the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and the City of Knoxville Police Department. Rural Metro Fire Department (RMFD) and the City of Knoxville Fire Department provide fire protection within this sector. RMFD stations service the majority of the area.

Utilities
Water and sewer services are provided primarily by First Utility District. The Knoxville Utility Board (KUB) also serves some of the eastern portions of the sector. Generally, sewer services can be extended if contractors and builders will incur the costs. Electricity is purchased from the Tennessee Valley Authority and is available throughout the sector, primarily by Lenior City Utilities Board. KUB provides electricity in some portions of the sector east of Ebenezer Road. Natural gas is available in most of the sector, and is provided by KUB.

Historic Resources
Scattered among the hundreds of new homes are vestiges of the area’s agricultural and mining history. These include the large farmhouses located near early roads and the village of Concord, once the center of the marble industry along this part of the river. Many of these resources have been protected with historic zoning overlays.

After Tennessee became a state, the first settlers began to come into the western reaches of the county. They established small settlements near forts known as stations, where they could gather during times of conflict. Tensions ran high between the Cherokees and settlers as hunting grounds were encroached upon. Many of the former stations grew into communities that centered along Kingston Pike including: Campbell’s Station, Ebenezer and Lovell (originally Loveville).

Kingston Pike was the major transportation link for east/west travel through Knox County. Several prominent homes were built in the Ebenezer area, many along this route. Only a few remain today and are listed or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The John Campbell-Matt Russell House at 11200 Kingston Pike is a two-story brick home in the Federal style. John Campbell, the founder of Campbell’s Station, built the home circa 1820.

The Kennedy-Baker-Walker-Sherrill House at 9320 Kingston Pike sits on a large parcel of land with several accessory buildings remaining on the property. It was built around 1840 in the Federal design. A few other historic properties that were associated with the early settlement of the Ebenezer area are known today as Glenmary, Statesview and Ebenezer Mill. Glenmary, also referred to as Maple Grove Inn at 8800 Westland Drive, was constructed around 1825 and mixes Federal and Georgian style architecture. Statesview at 600 South Peters Road is a two story brick house built in the early 1800s. It was the home of Charles McClung, an early Knoxville settler who surveyed the original townsite. The nearby Ebenezer Mill was built circa 1870, replacing a much earlier mill associated with Statesview.

The early development of the Lyons Bend area included many large lots with estate properties sloping down to the Tennessee River. Some of these large affluent parcels remain while others have been subdivided over the past two centuries. Many of the homes there reflect Tudor Revival design. The Bean House on Lyons Bend Road which includes a barn and springhouse illustrates river settlement pattern.

The early river development pattern of large rural lots is still present today in much of the southern portion of Southwest County, especially within the peninsulas accessed via Toole’s Bend Road and Keller Bend Road. There are several old homes within these areas that reflect the early settlement pattern, but extensive information about the houses is not available. The Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital at 2614 Toole’s Bend Road includes many structures built between 1880 and 1930. The buildings and grounds were later used as a poultry farm.

Additional historic homes located within Southwest County include the Maxwell House, the Scarborough House and the Boyd-Harvey House. These houses are all located near Northshore Drive. Robert Maxwell, a local farmer, completed the Maxwell House at 8671 Northshore Drive in 1886. The house was built around an older post and beam house probably dating back to the 1820s. Thomas Boyd, one of the creators of the East Tennessee Georgia railroad, constructed a home in 1837 in the Federal style. The house was later sold to the Harvey family. It is located at 1321 Harvey Road. The Boyd-Harvey House was recently bought out of a family estate. The new owners have restored the house.

The historic village of Concord was built between the 1850s and 1930s. The combination of river transportation with the railroad made Concord a regional transportation center. In the 1880s, Concord became the center of a large marble business. None of the buildings associated with the marble industry in Concord remain today, since they were flooded by TVA in the 1940s. Some of the commercial buildings and many of the original homes remain and still retain their historical features. The village of Concord is listed on the Knox County historic register, and in 2001 the Knox County Historic Zoning Commission adopted design guidelines for rehabilitation and new construction in the village.