East Tennessee Research and Education Center—Holston Unit

In 1973 the board authorized the UT administration to arrange a land swap with the State of Tennessee. The university would provide (1) the land already in use for that portion of Neyland Drive going through the agriculture campus, plus additional land to four-lane the drive; (2) the land required to relocate Cherokee Trail, placing it south of the UT Medical Center and also involving the construction of an Alcoa Highway overpass at the new location; and (3) a two-acre tract located north of the Helen Ross McNabb Center near UT Medical Center, needed as the state’s new regional public health facilities. The state proposed to swap the Riverside Farm lying adjacent to state land being used by Knox County. The Holston Unit was originally a working farm, where patients of Eastern State Mental Hospital lived and worked. When that facet of the mental hospital’s program ended, the state made available to Knox County the dormitory building and associated outbuildings, which were used as a Work-Release Center to house prisoners. When that installation was closed, the university received the land and those buildings as well.

Citation Information

The following information is provided for citations.

  • Title East Tennessee Research and Education Center—Holston Unit
  • Author
  • Keywords East Tennessee Research and Education Center—Holston Unit
  • Website Name Volopedia
  • Publisher University of Tennessee Libraries
  • URL
  • Access Date July 26, 2025
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update October 7, 2018