The Deery Inn, also known as "The Old Tavern" or "The Mansion House and Store," is a historic building on Tennessee State Route 126, formerly called Main Street in Blountville, Tennessee. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered the "centerpiece" of the Blountville local historic district. Deery Inn is a two-story Federal-style building with 19 rooms. The original building was a log structure, built in the 1780s or 1790s, that served travelers passing through the area on the

Great Stage Road The Great Stage Road was a stagecoach route between Nashville, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the Nationa ...

. William Deery, an Irishman from Ulster, acquired the property in 1801. He expanded the building to include a general store and tavern, with hotel rooms on the second story. The building's 19 rooms include a large entrance hall, a gathering room, a dining room, a library, two kitchens, three bathrooms, two attics, a cellar, four bedrooms for the family, and three sleeping rooms for travelers. There are two

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

s. The front of the building has three entrance doors and 13 windows whose glass panes are arranged in a nine-over-six configuration. Deery prospered as a businessman. In addition to the inn, he owned and operated stores in several

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

communities, a

stagecoach line A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

that had eight stagecoaches and 53 teams of horses as of 1821, and a steamboat service between Knoxville and

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. He died in 1845. Notable people who are recorded as having stayed at the inn in its early history include Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk,

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

, the Marquis de LaFayette (on his U.S. travels in 1824–25), and Louis Phillipe Orleans, King of France. During the Civil War Gideon and Mary Elizabeth Cate leased the property and operated the inn under the name Cates' Hotel. Several surrounding buildings, including the Sullivan County

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

, were destroyed by fire during the Battle of Blountville, but the inn survived because Cates had used bribery to get the Union and Confederate commanders to spare his inn. Gideon and Mary Cates purchased the property after the Civil War, and owned it until the 1880s. In 1887, the inn was sold to Amanda Pearson, whose family was to own it until 1940. The property was operated as an inn until 1930. At some time during the Pearson family ownership, the inn building housed a post office. Virginia Byars Caldwell bought the inn in 1940. She undertook to restore the property to its early 19th-century appearance. She also moved several old log structures onto the back of the property, including a smokehouse, the offices of the King Ironworks, a spring house, and an early law office. The Old Deery Inn is now owned by the government of Sullivan County. A substantial restoration project was undertaken in 2007. The inn is managed by the Sullivan County Historical Preservation Association and is open for group tours.

References

External links

Old Deery Inn, Old Route 4 South & Route 11 W, Blountville, Sullivan County, TN
Historic American Buildings Survey
Old Deery Inn: Refuge from the Storm
Historical Marker Database *Carter, W. Dale (2001)

Sullivan County Department of Archives and Tourism. {{National Register of Historic Places Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Sullivan County, Tennessee Federal architecture in Tennessee Taverns in Tennessee Blountville, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, Tennessee Drinking establishments on the National Register of Historic Places