Downtown in Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Frances Hodgson Burnett Home Site

1869

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 10, 2019

1. Frances Hodgson Burnett Home Site Marker

Inscription. Near this spot in 1869 was the early Knoxville home of Frances Hodgson Burnett, the English-born author of The Secret Garden, Sarah Crewe, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, who moved to Knoxville with her family when she was 15. When Frances was 20, her widowed mother died here, leaving her children alone in the riverside house where they established an informal community of musicians and artists they called “Vagabondia Castle.”

Her son Vivian later described it: “A rather roomy but dilapidated house with a backyard running down to the Tennessee River.” As “Vagabondia Castle, it became the very center of an enthusiastic group of youngsters who were glad to think of themselves as Bohemians…” Burnett’s first novel, “Vagabondia,” drew its spiritual setting from her experiences here, some of Burnett’s later stories featured East Tennessee settings.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1869.

Location. 35° 57.569′ N, 83° 54.913′ W. Marker is in Knoxville, Tennessee, in Knox County.

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It is in Downtown. It can be reached from Neyland Drive (Tennessee Route 158) 0.1 miles east of Walnut Street, on the right when traveling east. Marker is located along the Neyland Greenway walk, below the Gay Street Bridge. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 400 Neyland Drive, Knoxville TN 37902, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in East Tennessee.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Roy Acuff & Hank Williams (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Andrew Johnson Office Plaza (about 600 feet away); Signing of the Treaty of Holston (about 700 feet away); Commemorating the Treaty of Holston

Frances Hodgson Burnett Home Site Marker<br>(<i>wide view • Tennessee River in background</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 10, 2019

2. Frances Hodgson Burnett Home Site Marker
(wide view • Tennessee River in background)

(about 700 feet away); Blount Mansion (about 700 feet away); Knoxville (about 700 feet away); Captain Charles T. McMillan II (about 800 feet away); Chisolm's Tavern (about 800 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Knoxville.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Frances Hodgson Burnett

Credits. This page was last revised on June 3, 2019. It was originally submitted on June 3, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,682 times since then and 83 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 3, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.