Campbell County

Listed on the NRHP in 1975 for its local significance as an excellent example of Victorian Era architecture and for its association with Harvey LaFollette, the founder of the town which bears his name. Prior to 1889, the area comprising present-day LaFollette consisted of wooded areas and farmland owned largely by John Douglas. In 1889, a group of Kentucky investors purchased Douglas’ lands in order to capitalize on the region’s iron and coal reserves. The initial town was called Big Creek, but changed to LaFollette following the arrival Harvey LaFollette who purchased the lands purchased by the developers. In order to encourage growth and development, LaFollette ordered the construction of eleven miles of railroad track to link the town to Vespar, Tennessee. LaFollette’s railroad provided merchants and developers with access to the Southern Railway, which allowed the town to grow from a population of 366 in 1900 to 3,056 by 1920.

Kirby Smith Invades Kentucky – The marker is located on U.S. 25 W and describes the movement of Confederate Major General Kirby Smith through Roger’s Gap.

Listed on the NRHP in 1976 for its architectural significance. Originally constructed in 1840 as a two-story, center hall plan house, the building was later altered in the 1890s in the popular Victorian Era Queen Anne style. The name of the house derives from several owners, the first of whom was Frank Smith, whose slaves constructed the house. After the Civil War, Joshua Little, a circuit preacher of the Powell Valley region, purchased the house and later sold the house to his son, Silas, in the late 1890s. Silas Little amassed a small fortune in the Knoxville clothing industry and is responsible for transforming the house with its Victorian Era architectural embellishments. According to the NRHP nomination form, this house has been linked to other brick antebellum homes constructed in Campbell and Claiborne counties as having been constructed by slaves belonging to John Kincaid II. In fact, the date “1840” and initials purported to be from the slaves who built the house are said to be carved into wood beams under the house.