Carson-Newman College

The college began as Mossy Creek Baptist Seminary, with the Reverend William Rogers as first president and a classical curriculum of Latin, Greek and moral philosophy. It became a college in 1856 and graduated its first student, Richard Scruggs, in 1855. After the war its trustees sued the federal government for damage to the campus and were paid six thousand dollars in 1896. The 1889 merger with Newman College for women was marked with a mock wedding, staged by Carson men marching to the Newman grounds, with Ben Hooper among them.

What the plaque says

Carson-Newman College ½ mi. Following organizational meetings in 1849, this was chartered as Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary in 1851. It closed 1861-65, its buildings being occupied and badly damaged by Federal troops in that period. Resuming operation in 1866, its name was changed to Carson College in honor of a benefactor. Uniting with Newman College, a female institution, it has had its present name since 1889.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Beck Cultural Exchange Center — 25 mi
  Knoxville's Black history museum and archive, opened in 1975 in the 1912 Dandridge Avenue house the community bought for $22,500.
• Blount Mansion — 26 mi
  The 1792 frame house of William Blount, governor of the Southwest Territory, Knoxville's only National Historic Landmark, where the people he enslaved are named.

More markers nearby

• Nelson Merry School — 1.1 mi
• Battle of Mossy Creek — 1.3 mi
• "Little Lord Fauntleroy" — 3.4 mi
• David Crockett and Polly Finley — 5.3 mi