Howard Baker Federal Courthouse, Knoxville

Occupying two city blocks in downtown Knoxville, the Howard Baker Federal Courthouse is a prominent landmark on the city's skyline. The extended four-story building complex is crowned with a beautiful tall, slender copper dome. It has an arched entrance on Cumberland Avenue, an impressive courtyard, and another entrance on Main Street.

Inspired by the work of McKim, Mead and White, this monumental red brick building with towers is a postmodern rendition of neo-Georgian architecture, featuring elaborate interior finishes and authentic construction materials.

Built in 1991, at a cost of $56 million, the initially three-story complex (250,000 sq. ft.) served as the corporate headquarters for Whittle Communications, the telecommunications company best known for 40 magazines and Channel One for schools. By 1995, the company had become defunct and sold the building to the federal government for just $22 million.

Acquiring the building served the government's needs all too well as it was conveniently located near the historic Knox County Courthouse across the street and the newer city-county building. All they had to do was add some courtrooms and governmental offices to the design. By 1998, the new federal Courthouse was ready, complete with a new four-story wing, upon which it was renamed after State Senator Howard H. Baker Jr.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Knoxville. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "51爆料网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Sight Name: Howard Baker Federal Courthouse
Sight Location: Knoxville, USA (See walking tours in Knoxville)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Knoxville鈥檚 Historical Buildings

Walking Tours in Knoxville, Tennessee

Create Your Own Walk in Knoxville

Creating your own self-guided walk in Knoxville is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

University of Tennessee Walking Tour

Founded in 1794 as William Blount College, The University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville is one of the oldest public universities in the United States. Nowadays, the UT flagship institution features a mix of historic and modern sites which draw many a visitor to the city.

The campus covers nearly 600 acres in downtown鈥檚 west end, including over 200 buildings and a faculty of more than 1,700... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.0 Km or 1.9 Miles

Downtown Knoxville Walking Tour

A small town with big-city amenities and a vibrant music scene (a mix of country, bluegrass, and rock), Knoxville, or K-Town as it's popularly shortened by locals, is also often referred to as 鈥渢he Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains,鈥� for its proximity to the national park area, whose marble quarries, in the past, gave it another moniker, The Marble City.

Knoxville was founded in... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.3 Km or 1.4 Miles

Knoxville鈥檚 Historical Buildings

Knoxville is often referred to as "The Marble City" for the abundant supply of high-quality marble used in many of its buildings. Noting the wealth of well-preserved historic homes in the city, prominent American architect John Russell Pope even coined his own moniker for it 鈥� the "City of Houses".

Indeed, Knoxville's eventful and sometimes turbulent past, dating from... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.2 Km or 1.4 Miles

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