Sandstone Court Makes its Mark S ANDSTONE COURT, located in the heart of downtown Knoxville on W. Clinch Avenue, was built in 1928 by the Morris Plan Bank. The building is named after its sandstone façade and was designed by local architects Baumann & Baumann. Morris Plan Bank was organized on the theory that people of limited means should have opportunities to borrow money on the basis of character. The bank was organized on February 1, 1916, with $50,000 and was owned entirely by local Knoxville stockholders. The first president was James Allen Smith, the owner of J. Allen Smith Company, makers of the famous White Lily flour brand. Morris Plan Bank occupied the building until 1948, when the Tennessee Valley Bank relocated there. Throughout the years, the second floor was home to many businesses, including a dentist, beauty salon, bookstore, photography business, and law firm. In 2005,
the building was renovated, and the first floor became home to the local architectural firm, Studio Four Design, Inc., with condominiums on the second floor. In 2002, Knox Heritage and the Junior League of Knoxville created the Downtown Knoxville Marker Program. Fifty downtown buildings received bronze oval markers with the name of the building and the year the building was constructed. This program was expanded in 2009 when Knox Heritage created the Downtown Knoxville Walking Tour brochure, which featured 50 buildings and included the history of each. A few years later, the brochure was expanded to 60 buildings and finally, in 2016, was expanded to 70 buildings. Sandstone Court is one of the buildings that was featured in the 2016 expanded edition of the brochure. In December 2020, the building received its bronze marker as part of a Knox County Defined Services Tourism, Arts and Cultural grant. “As architects and business owners, we wanted to show our commitment to and be a part of Knoxville’s downtown revitalization efforts in the early 2000s,” said
Mike Keller, 414 Clinch Ave, LLC. “So when the opportunity came up to own a historic piece of downtown’s story, we jumped at the chance. To find out after the fact that the building has been recognized by Knox Heritage with a plaque for its historic importance and for it to be on the historic walking tour, where those on the tour get a chance to appreciate Sandstone Court’s character and architectural detail, is the icing on the cake.” Downtown Knoxville Walking Tour brochures are available for free at the Knoxville Visitors Center, located at 301 S. Gay Street, and other businesses in downtown Knoxville. It is also available at www.knoxheritage.org.
Knox Heritage preserves structures and places of historic or cultural significance for our community. Established in 1974 as a non-profit educational corporation, our organization works to protect and raise awareness of what is beautiful and irreplaceable in East Tennessee. February 202 1
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