East Tennessee History Center

600 Market St.
Knoxville, TN 37901
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1629
Knoxville, TN 37901-1629
www.east-tennessee-history.org

Three distinct entities operate out of this center: The McClung Historical Collection (which is the local history and genealogy department of the Lawson McGhee Library); the Knox County Archives; and the East Tennessee Historical Society.

The McClung Historical Collection www.korrnet.org/knoxlib/mcclung/htm contains over 500 manuscript collections, most pertaining to east Tennessee. These holdings must be accessed personally. The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection maintains a genealogy file that consists of data submitted by various patrons. The staff will try to answer basic genealogical queries from indexed published sources. A self-addressed stamped envelope is necessary.

The collection contains a large body of published works, many of which are rare. Some may no longer be photocopied because of deterioration, but supervised access is allowed. A set of microfilmed records of the surviving service records of Tennessee soldiers for the War of 1812 is found in the collection, which has extensive holdings of the records of the Tennessee WPA and other assorted manuscripts.

The East Tennessee Historical Society www.korrnet.org/knoxlib/ethc/htm promotes the development of the library holdings. The East Tennessee Historical Society Museum celebrated a ten-year anniversary in 2003. The permanent and loan collections include decorative arts and furniture from East Tennessee, as well as military items, domestic arts and textiles, photographs, archives, personal items, artifacts, and more.

The Knox County Archives www.knoxlib.org/departments/ethc/archives/index.php provides access to the county government records dated from 1792 to present. Among its holdings are marriage records (1792'1974); tax records (1806'1974); court records (1792'1979); chancery court records (1832' ); circuit court records (1810' ); and Knoxville birth and death records (1881'1911).