Montvale Springs
| Montvale Springs | |
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| Resort, campground | |
1910 postcard of the third hotel
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 Montvale Springs
Location in Tennessee
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| Coordinates: 35°38′25″N 83°57′42″W / 35.640309°N 83.961694°WCoordinates: 35°38′25″N 83°57′42″W / 35.640309°N 83.961694°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Blount |
| First resort hotel | 1832 |
| Founded by | Daniel Davis Foute |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,500 acres (1,800 ha) |
| Elevation | 1,234 ft (376 m) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code | 865 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1308084 |
Montvale Springs is a location in Blount County, Tennessee, United States, that was once the site of a fashionable resort hotel, and is now a summer camp.
It is said that Sam Houston, later president of the Republic of Texas, discovered the springs that gave the resort its name. The vicinity of Montvale Springs was used as the locale for the novel by Charles W. Todd, Woodville; Or Anchoret Reclaimed (1832).
In 1832 the local entrepreneur Daniel Davis Foute bought 6,300 acres (2,500 ha) of land on Chilhowee Mountain, including a black sulphur spring, and built a ten-room log hotel. Foute used Cherokee laborers to build roads to connect the hotel to turnpikes to Georgia and North Carolina. He planted vineyards and orchards. The hotel was first advertised in 1832. It was described as a "resort hotel and spa". The two story building was "pretentious rustic" in style.
The hotel attracted a wealthy clientele from throughout the Cumberland Valley and the lower Mississippi Basin. They came to relax with their families and to drink "... the healing waters of the springs." A stage line from Knoxville to Montvale was open by 1837. If guests caught the 6:30 AM stage coach in Knoxville they would reach the hotel in time for lunch at noon. In the 1840s the hotel included a store. Foute is listed as operating a post office at "Montvail Springs" in 1846.
In 1850 Foute sold 3,840 acres (1,550 ha) including the hotel to Asa Watson. Watson tore down the log hotel in 1853 and built a much grander structure. The new three-story hotel was named "The Seven Gables Hotel", an elegant building with large porches on each floor, 200 feet (61 m) long. The hotel, with 125 rooms, could accommodate 300–400 guests and was the largest in the region. There were also sixty cottages, some for use by the servants of the guests.
Watson landscaped the site with exotic trees and bushes from as far afield as Japan and California, some of which are still present. The hotel became known as "The Saratoga of the South". At its peak, Montvale was one of the most fashionable of the great watering places, providing luxurious accommodation, food and entertainment. Railroad communication between Georgia and Knoxville made the Springs much more accessible. In the summer of 1857 the Maryville East Tennessean reported that the Springs were "'All the go' nowadays. Passengers go through this place by fifties". By the late 1850s the majority of the guests were from Georgia. Some guests would spend the entire summer at the resort, paying $40 per month for room and board to escape from the heat of the south.
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Wikipedia