Hill, the

In October 1826 the trustees of East Tennessee College purchased from Pleasant Moorman Miller “the Hill west of Knoxville and south of the residence of Mr. Charles McClung, Jr.” This hill was 40 acres in extent and had “two or three excellent springs.” Its summit was 1,100 above sea level. The purchase price was $600. In 1827, as part of the effort to convince Dr. Charles Coffin to move from Greeneville, where he was the president of Greeneville College, to Knoxville to be head of East Tennessee College, the trustees purchased from Charles McClung Jr. “a seventy-four acre tract of land, including his spacious residence, garden, and grounds, lying within the shadow of the Hill.” The purchase price for this first president’s residence and extensive grounds was $2,304. The Hill was higher at that time. Fifteen thousand cubic yards of earth were removed from the top of the Hill, and the land was additionally reconfigured when Old College, East College, and West College were razed for the construction of Ayres Hall.