Cavett Blockhouse Defenders Monument.

Massacre That Saved Knoxville

Before Texas had the Alamo, Tennessee had the Cavett Blockhouse. According to its memorial stone, 1,000 Creek and Cherokee warriors were ready to wipe out the town (now city) of Knoxville on September 25, 1793. Only the 14 men, women, and children of the Blockhouse stood in their way. The settlers somehow put up such a fight that the Indians became discouraged and never attacked the town. All of the Blockhouse defenders were killed but, unlike the Alamo, the Blockhouse wasn't preserved, so the settlers' only memorial is the stone on their mass grave, which is now hidden behind a subdivision.

In an awkward twist, the subdivision street nearest the grave is named for Doublehead, the war chief who went out of his way to make certain that all the defenders were massacred.

Massacre That Saved Knoxville

Cavett Blockhouse Defenders Monument

Address:: 415 Doublehead Lane, Knoxville, TN
Directions:: West side of the city. I-40 exit 379. Drive north on Gallaher View Rd for a half-mile. Turn right onto Broome Rd. Drive a quarter-mile. Turn right into the Cavet's Station subdivision, then immediately turn left onto Doubleheader Lane. Drive to the cul-de-sac at the end. You'll see a low stone house on the left. Park next to its driveway, walk up the driveway, and you'll see a wooden fence to the left. Walk left along the fence to the gate that leads to a small cemetery and the Massacre stone.

Nearby Offbeat Places

Airplane Filling Station, Powell, TN - 5 mi.

Bleak House: Confederate Shrine, Knoxville, TN - 6 mi.

Ephraim Dodd, Rebel Martyr, Knoxville, TN - 6 mi.

In the region:

Vaccinating Big Baby, Knoxville, TN - 8 mi.

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