In January 1869, with a view to assisting East Tennessee University to obtain the Morrill Act endowment and designation as Tennessee’s land-grant institution, the City of Knoxville appropriated $15,000 to the university for the purpose of providing a library for the institution. The city, however, failed to provide the money even after the land-grant endowment was secured.
In 1873 the university brought suit against the city and won a judgment for $20,000—the original sum promised, plus interest. The city agreed to pay the judgment beginning in 1874 on an installment plan. The payments were interrupted the next year because of flood damage and the arresting of the collection of taxes by legislative action. In 1881 the city gave the university $20,000 in City of Knoxville bonds in payment of the judgment, of which $15,000 could be used for construction of a library.
In 1901, with the redemption of these bonds, the trustees purchased the on-campus residence built by Professor George Mellen, and a women’s dormitory was built—a new Barbara Blount Hall. In 1896 Mellen bought a house that was built in 1838 by Jacob Lonas, which was razed for construction of the Western Plaza Shopping Center in 1955.