Old Deery Inn Building - Blountville, TN - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

From the Sullivan County Historical website (secondary link below):
The Deery Inn is a two-story Dutch clapboard structure located on Main Street in Blountville, the county seat of Sullivan County. The Deery Inn is located next to the Sullivan County Court House. During its early years, it served as a main way-station on the Great Stage Road. In 1801 William Deery obtained what we refer to today as the Deery Inn Property. Deery soon expanded his trading post, adding a frame general store and a tavern with hotel rooms above. The cut stone addition was probably added in 1821, before his marriage to Elizabeth Alison. In total there are nineteen rooms, two attics, a cellar, and two kitchens.
William Deery, a man from Ulster in Ireland developed the inn into a major trading post. A successful merchant, Deery operated a thriving business as innkeeper and owner of the stage lines. The imposing manse has three main entrances. There are thirteen nine-over-six glass pane windows. Two chimneys stand sentinel at the west and east ends. The inn consists of a large entrance hall, a gathering room, dining room, library, kitchens, four family bedrooms, three bathrooms, and three wayfarers’ rooms with their own entrance.
After Deery’s death in 1845, his estate was in litigation. The next fabled owners were Gideon and Mary Cox Cates, when the inn was known as Cates’ Hotel. Cates leased the inn during the Civil War and during the Battle of Blountville, Cates bribed both the Federal and Confederate commanders not to shell the building. The Cates provided a sanctuary in the rock structure portion of the inn for infants, the ill, and the infirm. During the battle, the courthouse and eleven buildings nearby were burned, but the Deery Inn stood unscathed. The inn was purchased by Gideon and Mary Cates on 11 January 1866 for $2,527. Twenty years later, the Cates sold the inn to R. W. Easley, who immediately sold the property to Amanda Pearson in 1887. Census records show that the Pearson family operated a U.S. post office in the inn while they owned it. The Pearsons held the property until 1940 when the property was purchased by Virginia Byars Caldwell.
Mrs. Caldwell and Judge Joseph A. Caldwell maintained the residence as an historic and cultural focus for forty years. Mrs. Caldwell restored the manse to its Federal Golden Era with authenticity and singular purpose. During the Caldwell ownership, the inn became the center for historic and festival events. Mrs. Caldwell moved numerous log structures to the back gardens, including a smokehouse, the King Ironworks office, and a spring house as well as the law office of Attorney General John Fain. To the east is the circa 1800 Rutledge House. The Deery Inn and the Rutledge House are now owned by Sullivan County and managed by the Sullivan County Historical Preservation Association.
Notable guests in the inn include Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, Louis Phillipe Orleans the King of France, and the Marquis de LaFayette. The inside doors have been autographed by three Tennessee governors, including Frank Clement, Buford Ellington, and Lamar Alexander, and the front door by President Jimmy Carter.

Street address: 3397 Highway 126 Blountville, TN USA County / Borough / Parish: Sullivan County Year listed: 1973 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Person, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1750-1799, 1800-1824, 1825-1849 Historic function: Domestic Current function: Domestic, Recreation And Culture Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   11/10/2022 Don.Morfe visited it 04/24/2016 Sneakin Deacon visited it

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