Knox Heritage Field Director Visits Wears Valley
John Edwards May 3rd, 2009
On Thursday April 30, 2009, members of the Friends of Wears Valley and Bill Crowson, greeted Ethiel Garlington of the Knox Heritage organization. Knox Heritage is based in Knoxville and has successfully preserved historic and culturally significant structures for over 35 years. Ethiel is the Director Field Services and operates under a grant from the National Trust for Historical Preservation. Bill Crowson is a descendent of Aaron Crowson, the first white settler of Wears Valley who entered Wears Cove in 1792. Members of The Friends present were John Edwards, president, Lisa Lines, vice-president, board members Rev. Frank Weir and George Kiefer. After meeting at The friends’ office, the group toured several local historic sites including the Crowson Cemetery, the Crowson home on Valley View and the old stone fence in the northeastern end of the cove.
Particular attention was paid to the Crowson home. The family place, now maintained by the efforts of Bill Crowson, is well over 100 years old and is still rock solid but needs constant repair. Most recently, the wind storm of 2006 twisted the two story addition off kilter and moved the structure several inches away from the main house. Mr. Garlington, after taking many photographs of the place indicated that, “An historic place like this, something that people can see and touch, is ideal for the people to support and would definitely be a candidate for matching funds”. The idea of preserving the Crowson place as an historic site was looked upon as extremely desirable by those present.