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L&N Station (Knoxville) facts for kids
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Louisville and Nashville Passenger Station
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The L&N Station, viewed from Western Avenue
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| Location | 800 Worlds Fair Park Drive Knoxville, Tennessee |
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| Area | 1.286 acres (5,200 m2) |
| Built | 1904–1905 |
| Architect | Richard Monfort |
| Architectural style | Victorian, Chateauesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 82003982 |
| Added to NRHP | March 25, 1982 |
The L&N Station is a historic building in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was once a busy train station for passengers. The station is located near the World's Fair Park in downtown Knoxville.
It was built in 1905 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. A smart engineer named Richard Montfort designed it. The building was updated for the 1982 World's Fair. Today, it is home to the L&N STEM Academy. This is a special high school focused on science, technology, engineering, and math. In 1982, the station was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This was because of its cool design and its important role in Knoxville's history.
The L&N Railroad built a train line from Cincinnati to Atlanta in the early 1900s. They built many stations along this route. The Knoxville station was the biggest and best on this line. It served as a passenger station until 1968. After that, it was used for L&N offices until 1975. The L&N Station is even mentioned in a famous book. It appears in A Death in the Family by James Agee.
Contents
Exploring the Station's Design
The L&N Station is at a busy intersection in Knoxville. It sits on the east side of Second Creek. The building was designed to fit the sloping ground. It has an L-shape, with two main sections. These sections face Western Avenue and Henley Street.
The main part of the building is at ground level on the north and east sides. But it rises a full story on the south and west sides. This is because of the sloping ground. Train tracks and sheds used to be behind the building.
The most famous part of the station is its tall corner tower. This tower has three stories. It has a pointed roof with clay tiles and fancy windows. A smaller tower is at the end of the west section. This gives the building a castle-like look. A wrap-around porch, called a veranda, lets you reach the main floor. The front doors on the north side used to have frosted glass. These have been restored to their original look.
Inside, the main floor had waiting rooms in the west section. There was a dining room in the corner tower. The south section had a kitchen, a lunch counter, and baggage areas. The waiting rooms included a general waiting room. There was also a ladies' waiting room with a private entrance. There were also different waiting areas for various groups of people. This was common during that time due to old laws. The second floor had L&N offices. The third floor of the tower was used by engineers for drawing plans.
A Look Back at the Station's History
Railroads reached Knoxville by 1855. But the L&N Railroad didn't have direct access until the early 1900s. This was because of a rivalry with the Southern Railway. The Southern Railway controlled train traffic south of the Tennessee-Kentucky border. The L&N controlled traffic north of the border. They often tried to stop each other from expanding. In 1894, the presidents of both railroads agreed not to enter each other's areas.
Soon after this agreement, the Southern Railway president gained control of another railroad. This gave the Southern Railway access to L&N's areas. So, the L&N decided their agreement was no longer valid. They planned to build a direct line from Cincinnati to Atlanta through Knoxville. In 1902, L&N bought a railroad that connected Knoxville to Georgia. They then started building a line from Jellico to Knoxville. This line was finished in 1905.
The L&N wanted to build a beautiful station in Knoxville. They wanted it to be as grand as the Southern Terminal. The L&N finished a freight building in 1904. Then, they started building the passenger station that same year. Richard Monfort, an engineer from Ireland, designed the station. He was responsible for its Victorian and castle-like features. The station officially opened on April 10, 1905.
The author James Agee wrote about the L&N Station in his book, A Death In the Family. The story takes place in Knoxville in 1915. In one part, Agee describes the station's stained glass. He said it "smouldered like an exhausted butterfly." He also wrote about the L&N train yards. He called them "feint skeins of steel." He also described the busy waiting room. His family waited there to catch a train to the Great Smoky Mountains.
Trains That Stopped Here
Many passenger trains used to stop at the L&N Station. Some of these included:
- Flamingo - This train traveled from Cincinnati to Jacksonville, Florida.
- Southland - This was a special train that ran from Chicago to St. Petersburg, Florida. Several different railroad companies worked together to run it.
What Happened After the L&N Left
The L&N Railroad slowly stopped its passenger train service after World War II. The very last passenger train, the Flamingo, left the L&N Station in 1968. The L&N company moved out of the station in 1975. The building was empty until Alex Harkness bought it in 1980.
In 1982, the station was updated for the 1982 World's Fair. It was right next to the World's Fair Park. Two restaurants, a Ruby Tuesday and the first L&N Seafood Grill, opened on the lower floors. The second floor offices became meeting rooms for important visitors to the fair.
In 1985, the building was updated again for offices and special events. From 2002 to 2004, a restaurant called Ye Olde Steakhouse operated there. They were repairing damage from a fire at their usual location.
The L&N STEM Academy
In October 2010, Knox County Schools announced a new plan. They wanted to open a special high school for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This school would be located in the L&N Station building. Money for the STEM school came from the Tennessee Race to the Top program. This program provided $2 million.
The idea for the L&N STEM Academy started in 2009. The school district wanted a "high quality, stand-alone technology high school." Two plans for the school were combined to get the funding. One plan focused on science, math, and engineering. The other was for a general STEM school. To get the funding, the school had to meet certain rules. It had to be open to any motivated students. It also had to try new things and share its successes with other schools.
In January 2011, Becky Ashe became the principal of the new school. She also became the coordinator for STEM education in Knox County. At the same time, the L&N Station was officially chosen as the school's home.
The new school opened on August 15, 2011. It started with 180 students. There was a freshman class and a sophomore class. There were 8 full-time teachers and 4 part-time teachers. It cost $5.6 million to open the school. This money was used for building updates, improvements, and technology. Students still had to meet the usual academic standards. But they learned using iPads, special schedules, and cross-subject planning. Students also had to take a STEM class. This class focused on learning through projects. The school works with over 215 businesses and groups.
The community helped choose the school's permanent name. Over 95 suggestions were given. In October 2011, the students and teachers chose a gryphon as their school mascot. You can even see gryphons in the stained glass windows at the school!
The L&N STEM Academy works with the YMCA for its physical education program. Students can walk to the YMCA's downtown Knoxville location for their PE class. They do some homework and then use the YMCA facilities.
In December 2011, Tennessee governor Bill Haslam visited the school. He talked with students and teachers. The Haslam family has given a lot to the school. A space in the school, called the Haslam Commons, is named after them.
At the end of its first year, the school did very well on state tests. It ranked first and second in Algebra 1 and 2, and English 1 and 2. In its second year, 187 more students joined. Eight more teachers were added, bringing the total to 20.
In late 2012, the L&N STEM Academy started allowing students from eight nearby counties to apply. Thirty students from these counties were accepted for the 2013–2014 school year. These students had to be incoming freshmen. They also needed to be interested in problem-solving and critical thinking.
In 2013, the school was named an Apple Distinguished school. This award was for its "successes in enhancing and extending teaching and learning with the implementation of technology." For AP test scores, students scored very high. The school also had top scores in English classes for Knox County Schools.
A group of students won a national contest. It was from the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education. This allowed them to send a science experiment into space! They designed a project about microgravity. They wanted to find a way to deal with waste in space. Their experiment looked at how cornstarch reacts with RID-X. The students worked for 60 hours on this project. The experiment was launched on December 9, 2014, from Cape Canaveral.
In May 2014, the school had its first graduating class. Forty-two students were in this first class.
In August 2014, the L&N STEM Academy was put on Tennessee's Reward schools list. This was by the state Department of Education. The L&N was in the top 5% of schools for its performance.
In May 2015, the first class to attend the school for all four years graduated. This class had just over 100 students. They were awarded a total of $3.1 million in scholarship money. This averaged to about $31,000 per student!