Department of Environment & Conservation
Robert Martineau, Commissioner

Fruitvale Historic District

The Fruitvale Historic District, located in eastern Crockett County, is among the county’s best surviving representation of a rural, railroad-inspired, agrarian-based village that developed into a center of trade and shipping for neighboring farmsteads. The approximate two acres of land encompassing the district includes nine buildings, as well a wood plank crop scale. The buildings include two commercial structures, a historic barber shop, blacksmith shop, potato barn, fertilizer/pea shed, crusher house, bunk house/pipe house, and tractor shed. With the exception of the blacksmith shop which was reportedly constructed c.1890, the remaining resources in the historic district are early- to mid-20th century folk and commercial vernacular, and agricultural-related construction associated with the height of Fruitvale’s success. Building types represented within the district include a hipped cottage and front- and side-gabled commercial and agricultural construction. All buildings, including the crop scale, located within the district are contributing resources with no modern intrusions. The setting and surviving architecture of the Fruitvale Historic District are reminiscent of the late-19th to mid-20th century agrarian-based, market villages in Crockett County.

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Fruitvale Historic District.

Holston Avenue Neighborhood Historic District

The Holston Avenue Neighborhood Historic District, located in Bristol, Sullivan County encompasses 57 acres along Holston Avenue and includes 132 properties, 113 of which are considered contributing to the district. The neighborhood’s pattern of development is reflective of industrial growth and the urbanization of Bristol. With its earliest resources dating to 1900 and its most recent contributing resource dating to 1962, the neighborhood contains numerous good examples of Bungalows, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Queen Anne residences along with a few other building forms and stylistic influences. Thirty-one houses in the neighborhood were constructed between 1900 and 1920. There are currently 51 houses, 39% of the neighborhood’s housing, constructed between 1921 and 1930. This number reflects the tremendous growth and development of the Tri-Cities region during this period. The Great Depression slowed growth of the community. Of the extant houses in the neighborhood, 13 were constructed in the 1930s and 12 in the 1940s.In the 1950s, more houses were constructed than in either the 1930s or 1940s, but growth did not match that of the 1920s. Eighteen extant houses were constructed in the neighborhood between 1951 and 1962. Those built during this period lacked revival-style elements, but were principally Minimal Traditional or Ranch-style residences. Six houses have been constructed in the neighborhood since 1962.

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Holston Avenue Neighborhood Historic District.

Raus Schoolhouse

The Raus School is located in the small, rural community of Raus in Bedford County. The late-19th century schoolhouse is a one-story, weatherboard, frame building featuring a T-plan and gabled roof. Built ca.1888, and expanded upon during the early-20th century, the Raus School is an excellent example of the standardized school building plans for rural communities that emerged nationally during the late-19th century. Pattern books promoted designs which specifically addressed characteristics that aided in a better learning environment for children such as window placement for ample lighting and ventilation, and even included the characteristics of prominent styles of the time such as Colonial Revival, which can be seen in the Raus School. The main entry has a double-leaf wood door set within a simple wood surround beneath two, two-light glass and wood transoms. The lower transom was added ca. 1955-56 when the entry was reduced in height. Principle windows are original, rectangular four-over-four, double-hung wood sash. The interior is divided into three, clearly defined areas and feature tongue-and-groove wood floors. Acoustical tiles, installed ca. 1957-58, cover original beadboard ceilings. One of the few remaining schoolhouses of its type in Middle Tennessee, the Raus School played an important role in not only education, but in the rural and social history of the community. The Raus School was also used by community organizations and clubs such as the Raus Women’s Group during the 1930s. Following the school’s closure in 1954, the Community Improvement Club began meeting in the school and subsequently purchased the building from the county. They continue to meet at the schoolhouse with a goal to foster improvement projects within the community.

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Raus School.