The historical home and original furnishings make this experience the best. Self guided tour with tons of information and things to look at! I was so impressed and really enjoyed it. I had the place to myself and took my time to check out everything. You won't believe how many items and details this place has! It gives you a very vivid picture of what life was like back then.
A good activity if you have an hour to spare. We were given a handout that explained the buildings and how the fort came about. We enjoyed our visit, but the fort was smaller than we were expecting.
If you are a historic buff, you will find this place interesting. The staff are knowledgeable and the interior of the fort is great. It is really great in the fall and winter when the fires are roaring. A great way to spend a cool afternoon back in time.
We enjoyed going through the small Fort. They have a nice write-up about it and it's hard to believe that all those people were in that area. Glad we stopped.
This is a short tour of the fort that was the first settlement in Knoxville. The structures include furnished homes and blacksmith shop. The staff is very helpful in explaining the daily life of the settlers. The fort structure and size is a good example of real life, not the movie life of settlers in the late 18th century and early 19th century.
What a wonderful place to visit to see what life was really like around the Civil War time period. They have kept the fort in historically correct condition while inserting nostalgic memorabilia to which most (at least I) can relate. My self guided tour was not only fascinating, but educational. From cramped sleeping quarters, kitchen, garden, ham smoke house, blacksmith shop, loom and sewing house, and yes even the outhouse all gave a sense of the life on a frontier fort. I would highly recommend a peak, or lengthy perusal when in this area.
The fort is so well maintained, with some original furnishings. I was surprised by now large the property actually is. So very interesting, with a great story to tell.
In Knoxville TN - tucked in the middle of an urban area you can find a small slice of Americana hidden... The James White Fort was just the right place to go for an hour or two ... exploring the accurately restored buildings, courtyard as well as the blacksmith shop, weaving building, etc ... The day was cold but they kept the buildings at a reasonable temperature so that we were able to spend time exploring the main house, the kitchen, blacksmith, guest house, weaving building, and even an outhouse.This is self-guided. They give you a written outline of each building, it's use, and a little map. This is a VERY small fort. YOU get to spend as much time as you want and are not rushed around by other guides ... we were there alone so were able to not feel intrusive to anyone else's tour.The person at the desk was also a distant descendant of James White - so it was actually very cool to have him give us a small little insight into his families history and how it related to the fort!Was also really cool to find out that a relative of ours was responsible for helping get the restoration finished!All - in - All great place to spend a short amount of time and learn / experience a lot!
Stopped here while passing through the area. Friendly employee greeted me and gave me some information on the fort. It has several reconstructed buildings that give a visitor an idea of what life was like when Knoxville was settled. Biggest complaint was lack of information or signage in different buildings. Visitors received a three page self guiding tour, but it had too much information to process while at each stop. An introductory film would have been helpful. Admission price was a little high for what's here. Worth a stop once but probably won't be back.
The James WHite Fort is small, but the staff is knowledgeable and friendly. The docents were dressed in clothing which enhanced the experience. We learned about life in Knowville in the earlier years and city founder James White The fort is a reprodcution as the original has been destroyed. The fort is right across the street from the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. If you in the area, stop in for a nice history lesson on the city of Knoxville and its' founding fathers.