In the news: Loudon County Courthouse sustains heavy damage in fire

The photo above is of the Loudon County Courthouse in 2010.

"Flames burst through the roof of the Loudon County Courthouse on Tuesday evening as firefighters worked to battle a blaze that broke out at the historic building.

Crews with the Loudon and Lenoir City fire departments responded shortly before 6:30 p.m. to the courthouse, located at 601 Grove St. in downtown Loudon. They quickly called for backup.

Heavy smoke could be seen pouring from the roof of the building, which dates back to the 1870s and is on the National Register of Historic Places."

Read the entire story from the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Also, check out this second story which deals with the aftermath of the blaze and includes some day after photos.

Hopefully, enough of the building can be salvaged so that it can be rebuilt to its former glory. Below are two more photos of this courthouse, another from 2010 and one from 2006.

In the News: Ten in Tenn: Blair's Ferry Storehouse - Loudon, TN

A few days ago, the Tennessee Preservation Trust released their 2015 list of endangered historical sites in the state. This week on the blog, we are talking about some of the properties on this list. Here is how TPT describes the list:
"The Tennessee Preservation Trust’s Ten in Tennessee Endangered Properties List Program is TPT’s strongest advocacy tool for the state’s most endangered historic sites. Each year, TPT seeks nominations for the “Ten in Tenn” from the public from each of Tennessee’s nine Development Districts."

You can also see past entries on their website here:
http://www.tennesseepreservationtrust.org/ten-in-tn/?ref=archive



From TPT:

The Blair’s Ferry Storehouse is one of the oldest remaining commercial buildings in East Tennessee and one of the regions’ earliest surviving examples of a structure built specifically as a warehouse. Built in 1835, the property is reflective of the early 19th century commerce along the Tennessee River. It was listed on the National Register in 1977 and much of the building’s architectural character remains intact. However, the current owner has limited funds to maintain the building and it is succumbing to deterioration and neglect.

For more info, see this wikipedia article.

Loudon County Courthouse - Loudon, TN

from the historical marker:
Loudon County, first named Christiana, was created in 1870 from portions of Roane, Monroe and Blount counties. Construction of this building was begun soon afterwards, being built by brothers Ira N. Clarke and J. Wesley Clarke.
National Register of Historic Places App. 1975

Loudon County is one of those rare counties that has only had one courthouse, ever. This courthouse was completed in 1872 for $7,000 and today looks very similar to the way it did 140 years ago.

The Courthouse has a tall two story central section, with two lower two story wings. The central section has a pair of main doors with a single door on either wing. The facade is enriched by brick piers which are rusticated on the first story, plus a horizontal band between the stories, and corbelled brickwork beneath the end gables and center pediment. There is a deep bracketed cornice located at the rood eave.

The main section has a low hip roof, topped by a square central cupola. (The cupola has changed over the years, as looking at an older photo, it appears to have a clock face on all four sides.) Both wings have gabled roofs.