Ralston fears Callaway Landing history eroding with widening of Concord Road
As Anne Ralston stands near the right-of-way, she’s frustrated. She looks at Callaway’s Landing, the farm that has been in her family since 1850. And she looks at Concord Road.
“The town of Farragut wants to widen Concord Road,” she said recently. “They plan to move the center line toward us. And put in two more lanes, a turn lane, a sidewalk and a walking trail. They’ll take 70 feet of our property.”
Last week, Ralston and her husband, Leland Johnson, walked around the five acres that surround this two-story American Four-square house built in 1911.
She’s the owner of the property situated on the corner of Concord Road and Northshore Drive, but said it’s is more than she can maintain. She wants to protect what’s left of the original 300-acre farm that was a major part of the history of Concord Village. Callaway’s Ridge, just above the current roundabout, was the site of marble quarrying that made Concord famous in the 1800s and 1900s.
She wants to preserve the land and the house, and keep the history tied to her family, the Callaways and the Joneses, from slipping away.
She doesn’t want to sell the property, but has come up with a solution. She’d like to turn the house into a museum and the five remaining acres into an arboretum, but they need help. The widening of Concord Road would take out several very large, very old trees, including a Chinkapin Oak.
“Ten years ago it was 78 feet tall and 146 inches in circumference. According to Mr. Cortese with Cortese tree service, it’s the largest Chinkapin Oak in Knox County and he thought it was around during the Civil War. This was 11 years ago,” Ralston said. “We also have a Southern Red Oak that 11 years ago was 169 inches in circumference. We’re trying to preserve the trees around the house. We’ve got some giants.
“We don’t have the funds or the knowledge to do this on our own,” she added. “There are a lot of legal questions we need help with and we just don’t have the experience.”
“A TDOT engineer told me that all the extras — the sidewalk, the median and the walking trail were all Farragut.”
“This project is being developed completely by TDOT,” said Darryl Smith, engineer for the town of Farragut.
“The Concord Road project is currently scheduled for the Aug. 18 bid-letting. It normally re-quires a few weeks to complete awarding of the project to the contractor, and to prepare all paperwork and schedules, so actual construction might start around October,” Smith added.
“If you've seen workers along Concord Road recently, they may be working on behalf of utility companies. This project requires a pretty substantial relocation of utilities, and they often begin their relocation work prior to contract letting.
Generations of Ralston’s family have handed down stories about the Civil War, marble quarrying and the flatboat that the farm sent to New Orleans every fall loaded with corn and oats. “The original house [built around 1854] that was down on the river had already been torn down before the site was flooded by TVA,” Ralston said.
The second house built was the sharecropper’s shack built around 1906. Also on the property is a barn, the first story is made of marble and the rest is frame.
The name “Callaway’s Landing” can be traced to Shadrach (Shade) Callaway, a colonel in the Tennessee Militia, Ralston said. It was called “landing” because riverboats used to land there to take on supplies and pick up people, she said.
“Shade Callaway knew where the railroad would lie,” she said. ”He knew the railroad was coming through here, so he bought land along the railroad. ‘Papa’ (James Callaway) built the main house when the marble quarry was started and the family had money.
“Where the house is now used to be pasture. During the Civil War, Union soldiers camped out here on the farm. The claim letter that my family filed with the federal government [to be reimbursed for damages] says that they burned the fence posts and cut trees down for firewood. They ate all the grain—the corn and oats—out of the barn. We never got paid. I did some research on it and there was a lot of trouble with people in this area getting paid.”
“Funding for the project is provided through both state and federal funding. The federal funding (80%) is Surface Transportation Program funds, and the state funding is through TDOT (as this portion of Concord Road is a state route). The Farragut Town Limits extend along this portion of Concord Road, following the eastern right of way line. Essentially, almost all properties along Concord south of Concord Hills Subdivision and on the east side of Concord Road are in Knox County's jurisdiction, but Concord Road itself is within the Town Limits to the southern right of way of Norfolk Southern Railroad. I think the bridge over NS Railroad is within the Town, but the roundabout is in Knox County's jurisdiction.”
Ralston said she and her husband have talked to Knox Heritage and the Town of Farragut about turning the house into a museum, but haven’t yet gotten the help they need. She would welcome interested community members. Contact her at aralston5@gmail.com.
“A TDOT engineer told me that all the extras—the sidewalk, the median and the walking trail were all Farragut,” Ralston said.
“This project is being developed completely by TDOT,” said Darryl Smith, engineer for the Town of Farragut.
“The Concord Road project is currently scheduled for the August 18 bid letting. It normally requires a few weeks to complete award of the project to the contractor, and to prepare all paperwork and schedules, so actual construction might start around October.
“If you've seen workers along Concord Road recently, they may be working on behalf of utility companies. This project requires a pretty substantial relocation of utilities, and they often begin their relocation work prior to contract letting.
