THE CARTER MANSION The 1031 Broad Street Elizabethton, Tennessee 37643 The Carter STATE HISTORIC PARK Mansion 1651 West Elk Avenue Carter Mansion This brochure is funded in part through the Federal Highway Elizabethton, Tennessee 37643 Administration’s Recreational Trails Program, administered by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, 423-543-5808 SYCAMORE SHOALS Recreation Educational Services Division, Greenways and Trails Program. DIRECTIONS STATE HISTORIC PARK From Interstate 81, take Exit 57 to I-26 into Johnson d R City to Exit 24. Then take Highway 321/67 traveling es gl la TENNESSEE r S approximately six miles into Elizabethton. After D s 0 l The information on this map has been compiled by TDEC/State passing Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park on the 5 a 5 o 1 , h Parks staff from a variety of sources and is subject to change S Longhunter Loop left, continue to the fifth traffic light and bear left onto without notice. TDEC/State Parks makes no representations or e r 0.85 mi TVA o warranties, expressed or implied as to accuracy, completeness, Broad Street. Continue to the fourth traffic light and m substation a timeliness, or rights to the use of such information. c y This document is not intended for use as a survey product. proceed straight. The Carter Mansion will be on your S d TDEC/State Parks shall not be liable for any general, special,

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0 left. For special event information or to inquire about s indirect, incidental or consequential damages including but not

5 , ld 1 Landon Carter o limited to: lost revenues or lost profits resulting from the use or house tours, please call Sycamore Shoals State n y misuse of the information contained on this map. 0 e 0 5 R Any sale of this map or information on this map is prohibited Historic Park.­­­­­­­ 1, Picnic except by written permission of TDEC/State Parks. Shelters y 1. Dogwood w H

2. Red Bud l o 3. Sweet Gum t s i 0.20 r U B S #1 #2 Sycamore Shoals d #3 l H w Hospital O y 1 9 E

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Crossing d Watauga STATE PARKS Sycamore Shoals William R. Snodgrass Butterfly Garden

0.15 Watau 0.10 Park Office/ ga Tennessee Tower R Carter Mansion d Visitor Center Overmountain Victory 312 Rosa L. Parks Ave., Floor 2 National Historic Trail Nashville, TN 37243

0.05 C 0.10 888-867-275 Overmountain Victory h il e 0 ra National Historic Trail ro Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park 50 T k TNSTATEPARKS.COM 1, ie ee 0.05 ts P N e e a L St v e r ad Watauga River Bluffs A w k y Bro T Scale 1:5,500 n lk e D W Mill St h n State Natural Area E T r

A t Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation W 0 0.1 0.2 mile ad S v Bro e authorization no. 327152, 8,000 copies. This public document N was promulgated at a cost of .05 per copy, February 2021.

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i n E E e lk A S ve U t The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is committed to S

principles of equal opportunity, equal access, and affirmative action. Contact the il H Tra Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation EEO/AA Coordinator e w tsi ee St y at 888-867-2757 or the ADA Coordinator at 615-532-0059 for more information. The Oldest Frame House D t W F a w S 1 le T W E T Hearing-impaired callers may use the Tennessee Relay Service at 800-848-0298. wood we 9 Dr e S E ts in Tennessee e ie S Av T yc k ra am l il o E Elizabethton re W S 1775–1781 t Fort Watagua r D Sia s m ek d l Sycamore Shoals R Cre R a d king o in h State Historic Park S S e r o m a c y Overmountain Victory S National Historic Trail Legend Trails State Park Longhunter Loop Tr 0.85 mile Hwy thton be t e Parking Patriot Path Tr 1.20 miles a S 9 iz l 1 E G Highway SS Tr 0.25 mile t W y Park Road S w G l H i approximate a Rural Road Overmountain Victory Trail W r S S T ab Stream e U i in ts e Trail e S e t w Map Symbols T Sabine Hill ve A e Watauga River Visitor Center Trailhead ris Ga ill Parking Picnic Shelter p C H r r k D Information Picnic Area w

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e a l Restrooms Waypoint p Carter Mansion Center Hwy Cr G Museum ton e d th ek e R Elizabe 1 id Amphitheater R uths 2 o d S Historical House 3 d St y roa Point of Interest B il w a 1 Sabine Hill H r T 2 Scale 1:18,000 ie 3 S ts y U Scale 1:4,000 e Scale 1:4,000 e w w H 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 mile T S 0 0.1 0.2 mile 0 0.1 0.2 mile Please practice minimum impact usage U THE HOUSE THE GROUNDS Try to block out the sights and sounds of modern Life on the frontier was by no means easy, even if American society as you explore the grounds. you could afford to build a house this luxurious. While Remember, when this house was built the United exploring the grounds with the map, keep in mind the States did not even exist! Great Britain still made reasons each of these outbuildings would be the laws, including a law prohibiting settlement west necessary. There has never been plumbing in the of the Appalachian Mountains. Imagine how isolated house! The occupants in 1966 used an outhouse and these settlers were from the luxuries of colonial life. carried water from the well, just like the occupants Most people on the frontier were living in log cabins in 1780. with chimneys made of sticks, mud and fieldstone. The smokehouse and the icehouse were needed to The Carter Mansion is an exception. The oldest preserve food. There were no freezers or refrigerators frame house in Tennessee, the Mansion is decorated to store food. Meat was smoked or salted to save for throughout with hand-carved panels, crown molding the winter. Dairy products were kept cool in the and chair rails. Two rooms boast landscape paintings. Carter Mansion Parlor icehouse. Fruits and vegetables were picked or These are considered the earliest paintings executed canned and stored in the cellar. in Tennessee. FAMILY HISTORY There was nothing like a general store on the frontier, In 1973, the State of Tennessee acquired the property John Carter moved from Virginia into the wilderness so people depended on local craftsmen or their own from the Thomas family, who lived in this house from in 1770 and opened a trading post on the Holston skills. John Carter had a blacksmith’s shed on his 1870 until the late 1960s. Only 4.2 acres of the original River with a man named William Parker. The area property. Spinning and weaving of wool and flax were 640 remain with the house. In 1973 and 1977, they settled is called Carter’s Valley. constant endeavors. Clothes made from this archaeologists from the Tennessee Department of homespun cloth were colored with natural dyes: the Conservation excavated areas around the house and Unfortunately, the Indians preferred to berries of the poke plant, which grow on the river in the vicinity of some outbuildings. trade in their villages, instead of the new trading banks were used for a pink or purple dye; walnut hulls post. When Carter and Parker refused, the Indians During 1978, in an effort to preserve the house, the were used for brown colors, and goldenrod for gold. raided their outpost. siding was replaced and one chimney top was rebuilt. This area around the house would have been John Carter’s Office John Carter moved into the Watauga River Valley by One piece of original siding was found wedged behind continuously busy as members of the household, 1772. This area was the western frontier, Indian the chimney; it was used as a model for the siding on including enslaved people, performed all the tasks Territory, and by King George III’s Proclamation of the house today. necessary to ensure comfort throughout the year. Many architectural features in the house 1763, off limits to settlers. suggest that John Carter of Tennessee came from Over 90 percent of the materials in the interior of the Take a few minutes to walk through the cemetery. the Tidewater plantation region near Williamsburg, John Carter joined earlier settlers in forming the house are original! A wing was added to the north side Within the stone walls and behind them are the Virginia. He may have been a relative of Robert , the first democratic of the house in the mid-1800s. This wing was in very Thomas family graves. Along the walls to the right “King” Carter, at one time the richest man in the association of free American-born men west of the bad repair and threatened the rest of the structure. (near the fence) are Carter family graves, including colony of Virginia, but the kinship has never Appalachians. Serving as chairman of the court, Landon, Elizabeth and some of their children. The been proven. Carter quickly became a prominent leader. large stone monument in the cemetery honors the For special event information or to inquire about achievements of the Carter family. Carter purchased 640 acres of land in the “Watauga house tours, please call Sycamore Shoals State Old Fields,” an area cleared for agriculture by the ­­­Historic Park or visit the website. Cherokee long before the settlers had arrived. Between 1775 and 1781 (when John Carter died of 1780 smallpox) the Mansion was built near the bank of Carter Mansion the Watauga River. 1770 finished Wm. Parker & 1776 Carter County 1800 After John died, his son, Landon, assumed his Cherokee attack 1784–1789 created: named ­­­­­ John Carter trade Battle of State of Franklin Landon Carter leading role in the community. Both John and on Fort Watauga King’s Mountain for Landon Carter dies Landon served as representatives from the Watauga 1790 District to the General Assembly. Landon served as Secretary of State for the short-lived State of Franklin (1784–1789), the first 1772 1775 1781 1784 1796 entity ever to be named for America’s great Watauga Transylvania John Carter Landon weds Tennessee statesman and inventor, Benjamin Franklin. Carter Association Purchase dies Elizabeth admitted to County is named for Landon Carter and Union: 16th State Elizabethton for his wife, Elizabeth MacLin Carter. Carter Mansion Landon in construction North Carolina begins General Assembly