Tramell Building

Tramell Building. . This building replaces an earlier structure named in honor of Hiram K. Tramell (1865-1926) that occupied this sight for more than eighty years., Mr. Tramell came to Jellico in 1885 carrying his entire fortune, valued at less than ten dollars. However he quickly established himself as a successful businessman and an outstanding civic leader. During a period of just over thirty-five years, he engaged in real estate, coal mining, lumber and banking - founding the old first national bank and serving as its first president. He also studied law, gained admittance to the bar and conducted a successful legal practice. , He constructed Jellico's first two-story building, established its first drug store, assumed a leadership role in various civic clubs, organizations and the First Baptist Church, and served as Jellico's first elected mayor and for several terms thereafter. , He was married to the former Charlotte Smith, daughter of Rev. T.M. Smith, first pastor of the Baptist church, in 1886. That congregation had just left the Good Hope Baptist Church at Oswego and constructed a new building on south main street in order to be nearer to a newly founded and rapidly developing Jellico following the arrival of the railroad in 1883. , The Tramells had five children: Stella, Beulah, Herman, Luther and John. , Source: The American Historical Society, Inc. , Publishers, New York, 1932 , This plaque placed by descendents of Hiram K. Tramell July 4, 1999