Andrew Johnson Building

Andrew Johnson Hotel
South facade of the Andrew Johnson Building, viewed from the Gay Street Bridge
Location912 S. Gay St.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Coordinates35°57′41″N 83°54′56″W / 35.96139°N 83.91556°W / 35.96139; -83.91556
Area.35 acres (0.14 ha)[1]
Built1918–1929
ArchitectBaumann & Baumann
Architectural styleSecond Renaissance Revival[2]
NRHP reference No.80003840
Added to NRHPJuly 9, 1980

The Andrew Johnson Building is a high-rise building in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. Completed in 1929 as the Andrew Johnson Hotel,[3] at 203-foot (62 m), it was Knoxville's tallest building for nearly half a century.[3]

Named for President Andrew Johnson, the Andrew Johnson Hotel was Knoxville's premier hotel from the time of its completion through the 1960s. In its early years, the hotel was popular with foreign dignitaries visiting Knoxville to inquire about the newly created Tennessee Valley Authority, as well as with tourists en route to the newly created Great Smoky Mountains National Park.[4] Country music singer Hank Williams spent the last night of his life at the hotel, on December 31, 1952.[5] The studios of WNOX, which played a role in the early development of country music, were located in the Andrew Johnson in the late 1930s, and musicians such as Roy Acuff became regional stars broadcasting from the building.[5]

In the 1980s, it was converted to office space by Knox County. In 1980, the Andrew Johnson Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[6] In 2017, BNA Associates announced plans to convert it back to a hotel. The plans were approved in 2020.[7] As of 2024, work on the hotel, set to be named Hotel Americana, has not yet begun.[8]

  1. ^ Ronald Childress, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Andrew Johnson Hotel, March 1980, p. 4
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nrhp2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Ronald Childress, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Andrew Johnson Hotel, March 1980, p. 3
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference shadow1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Jack Neely, Knoxville's Secret History (Scruffy Books, 1995), pp. 90-91.
  6. ^ Ronald Childress, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Andrew Johnson Hotel, March 1980, p. 1
  7. ^ "What's next for Andrew Johnson Building development now that it's approved by Knox County?".
  8. ^ https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2024/03/20/knox-county-considers-legal-action-gay-street-hotel-americana-delays/73026910007/