Knox Heritage has issued its annual Fragile & Fading compilation of endangered historic properties, which includes some new additions and others that have been on the list for years.

Cloninger said adaptive reuse is an important aspect of historic preservation.

Christine Cloninger, executive director of Knox Heritage, announced the list Tuesday at the Howell House at the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum in East Knoxville.

“The Fragile & Fading list is an annual advocacy tool that we use internally to kind of guide our advocacy roadmap for the year,” Cloninger said. “But for the public, we really consider it an invitation to support the work that we do, and on a deeper level, it’s an invitation to the property owners that are on the list to reach out to us if they haven’t already, because we really want to collaborate to find solutions for these sites.”

The Howell House is on the Fragile & Fading list, but for a positive reason — the Botanical Garden and Arboretum is renovating the former home on the property, which once was the site of the Howell family’s commercial plant nursery.

“Knox Heritage has been instrumental in shining a light on the Howell House, from hosting a Summer Supper there in 2024, to including the structure on last year’s Fragile & Fading list,” said Sharon Moore, executive director of the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum. “We also received a $5,000 Community Preservation Grant from Knox Heritage. While additional funds are needed to restore iconic ironwork, a Jim Thompson mural and historic windows and doors, we are proud of the work that has been completed.”

Cloninger identified two properties that the organization is most concerned about, both of which have been on the list for many years: Standard Knitting Mill and Knoxville College.

“It’s just been really difficult, even with lots of interaction amongst community members and stakeholders and people that want to see progress in those places, to actually find tangible movement in the right direction,” she said. “That can … feel frustrating over time.”

One new listing, albeit one not characterized as needing immediate action, is Maplehurst Park, situated downtown between Henley Street and Second Creek. The University of Tennessee, through The University Financing Foundation Inc. (TUFF), is gaining control over the neighborhood, with plans to establish an “innovation” district there.

Croninger said Knox Heritage has had discussions with UT about preserving its historic structures.

“The conversations we’ve had so far with the University of Tennessee and TUFF around Maplehurst Park have been very preliminary so far, just finding out what their plans are,” she said. “They are still in the visioning process, and they have shared with us that two things are important: One, that they want to maintain the historic integrity of the site, and two, they want to have community input on what happens next. We felt like those were two good first things to learn.”

Standard Knitting Mill (Knox Heritage photo.)

Founded in 1974 to save the historic Bijou Theatre, Knox Heritage is the region’s leading historic-preservation organization. Numerous properties previously included on the Fragile & Fading list have been preserved, including South High School, Knoxville High School, Oakwood Elementary School, the Eugenia Williams House, the Lloyd Branson House and the 500 Block of Gay Street.

Croninger said adaptive reuse — injecting new life into old spaces — is a big part of historic preservation.

“I think it’s so important to preserve old buildings, not just in Knoxville, but in general, because they are tangible representations of what life used to be like in our city,” she said. “It tells stories of where we came from, what our city used to be like. Was this area industrial? What types of materials were used to build it at the time? It just creates a fabric of who we are and why we’re here. It not only reflects the past, but it also helps us determine who we want to be in the future.”

This year’s list is divided into four categories: Fading Fast, Still Fragile, Moving Forward and Ones To Watch. Here’s the list, with brief property descriptions provided by Knox Heritage.

Fading Fast

The Knott-York House

1415 Third Creek Road

Situated on the median strip of Middlebrook Pike, the two-story brick Knott-York House was constructed around 1845 as a residence for Abingdon, Va., native Andrew Knott. However, the landscape around the house has shifted over time from rural and agricultural to industrial and commercial, creating a challenging environment for the preservation of this abode, which remained in the same family for more than 180 years before its sale last March.

JFG Signs 

200 W. Jackson Ave. and former Gay Street Bridge location

JFG Coffee Company was founded in Morristown in 1882 and moved its roasting operations to Knoxville in 1924. Two of the company’s iconic neon signs are in peril and in need of major preservation efforts. One of the signs is in storage with no immediate plans for reinstallation.

Paul Howard House

2921 N. Broadway

This elegant 1910 Craftsman-style house has been home to two City Council members, a Knox County trustee and a Knoxville city manager. For  more than 60 years it was owned by the Howard family, owners of a prosperous plumbing-supplies company. There was a public outcry in 2015 when a developer planned to demolish the house, and eventually the home was purchased by a local family with plans to renovate. Knox Heritage seeks to work with the owner on potential preservation solutions.

Lord Lindsey

615 W. Hill Ave.

Originally built as a private residence in 1901, the structure also has been a church, restaurant and event center. Knox Heritage seeks to lead efforts to preserve the empty and underutilized landmark, which is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

Still Fragile

Standard Knitting Mill

1400 Washington Ave.

This circa-1945 building is the only remaining structure associated with Standard Knitting Mill, which once produced over a million garments a week. The current building footprint still has more than 400,000 square feet, and Knox Heritage wants to see the site preserved and redeveloped.

West View Cemetery District. (Knox Heritage photo.)

West View Cemetery District 

Keith Avenue

Located in the West View neighborhood, the district is a group of three abandoned Black cemeteries established in 1898, 1915 and 1922. While volunteers with the West View Community Action Group have worked to maintain the site, help is needed to secure in perpetuity the historical and cultural significance of the cemeteries.

Knoxville College

901 Knoxville College Drive

Founded in 1875, the campus was the first Black college in East Tennessee and hosted prominent figures such as 19th-century social reformer Frederick Douglass; late-19th/early-20th century educator and civil-rights leader Booker T. Washington; his contemporary, author and NAACP co-founder W.E.B. DuBois; and 20th-century minister and civil-rights activist Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The buildings, vacant and in disrepair, deserve to be restored and used again.

Moving Forward

Howell House at Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum

2743 Wimpole Ave.

The Howell House is a key part of the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum’s efforts to preserve its heritage while serving the community. As a crucial venue for events, staff offices and public restrooms, Howell House is in need of further funds to restore iconic ironwork, rehabilitate windows and doors, and upgrade electrical and plumbing systems. 

Giffin School

1834 Beech St.

Located in the South Haven neighborhood, Giffin School was named for Andy Giffin, who donated the land for the original building, which was designed by Barber & McMurry and completed in 1920. Following rehabilitation of recent neglect, a new development called Historic Giffin Square will provide residential units to help address the area’s growing need for affordable housing.

Ones To Watch

Maplehurst Park

814 W. Hill Ave.

Originally built around 1871, the property was later named Maplehurst for the maple trees on the grounds. In 1912, a developer subdivided the land into 16 lots, establishing Maplehurst Park and cultivating a neighborhood of Tudor, Craftsman, Mission and Spanish Colonial Revival buildings. The University of Tennessee has released plans to explore the potential use of the site to create an innovation district. The University Financing Foundation Inc. (TUFF) is purchasing Maplehurst Park Apartments and will operate and manage the 199-unit property while the University of Tennessee engages in a visioning process for the 5.6-acre site. The historic section of the site is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Knox Heritage is in communication with UT and TUFF, and conversations will be ongoing.

The Alfred Buffat House/The Maples 

1717 Loves Creek Road

Built in 1867 by French-Swiss immigrant Alfred Buffat, The Maples stands as one of the last remaining 19th-century homestead complexes in northeast Knoxville. The City of Knoxville awarded a grant in 2015 to support foundational and structural repairs, but concern began to grow among residents when the property was unexpectedly listed for sale in 2024. The owner took it off the market and is now exploring redevelopment options that would comply with zoning and environmental regulations while still aiming to make the historic structure viable.