Sequoyah Hills, Tennessee

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Talahi Improvements
(U.S. Registered Historic District)

Location:	Off U.S. 129 Knoxville, Tennessee
Architect:	Robert L. Foust
Added to NRHP:	December 26, 1979
NRHP Reference#:	79002447

Sequoyah Hills, Tennessee, is a neighborhood in the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. One of the oldest neighborhoods in Knoxville, it is located in a bend of the Tennessee River (Fort Loudoun Lake) between Kingston Pike and Cherokee Boulevard in west Knoxville. It is known for its expensive homes and views of the Tennessee River. It is home to many wealthy families.

The subdivision was annexed by the City of Knoxville in 1917. The first housing development in the area was known as Talahi, which encompasses a portion of the current neighborhood. The Talahi Improvements are on the National Register of Historic Places. Unique design features include lamp posts that have a spider motif, in reference to Cherokee mythology. Papoose Park has a gate with an Indian theme. The early 20th Century development included underground utility wires and streets paved with concrete (instead of asphalt).

The neighborhood design included distinctive parks, fountains and sculptures. The development chose Cherokee names for the streets such as Kenesaw, Tugaloo, Iskagna, Taliluna and Keowee. Robert L. Foust, the real estate developer and partner of the Alex McMillan Company, began promoting the area in 1929; however, the stock market crash in the same year resulted in the Alex McMillan company being forced into receivership. Foust committed suicide a few years later.

Notable residents of Sequoyah Hills have included Senator Howard H. Baker Jr., Jim Clayton (owner of Clayton Homes), Alex Haley, members of the Haslam family, Cormac McCarthy, Patricia Neal, Anthony Quayle, Robert R. Neyland, David Keith, and presidents of the University of Tennessee.

[edit] References

Berwick, Sandy. Reflections on Sequoyah Hills (as told to Sandy Berwick, Chair, Kingston Pike-Sequoyah Hills Association Historical Committee). Knoxville, Tennessee: Kingston Pike-Sequoyah Hills Association Historical Committee, 1997.
Fletcher, Robert J (Jeff). A Historical Perspective of Talahi. (University of Tennessee unpublished paper, 1969.)
Isenhour, Judith Clayton. Knoxville - A Pictorial History. (Donning, 1978), page 128.