James White laid off part of his land in October 1791 to establish a town which would become known as Knoxville, named for Henry Knox, president Washington's Secretary of War.

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James White's Fort

James White, The Founder of Knoxville, came here in the early 1780's from North Carolina. He had fought in the Revolutionary War and was given a land grant of 1,000 acres for his service. He built his 2-story log house on the present site of Knoxville in 1786. Two years later he enclosed the house and other buildings with a stockade fence for protection from the wild animals. James White was a friend of the Cherokee Indians. He negotiated several of their treaties with the settlers and they came to his home in peace and to trade with him.