1953 Map of Blockhouse

About this map

The edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park meets the expanding southern outskirts of Maryville in this 1953 survey of the Tennessee foothills. This landscape is defined by the heavy ridgelines of Chilhowee Mountain and Sulphur Ridge, where deep hollows like Dillon Hollow Creek and Lynn Hollow Creek create a complex topography. Settlement is concentrated along the valleys, with the historic community of Blockhouse and the resort-tinged area of Montvale Springs serving as local anchors. The map reveals a high density of rural institutions, including the Sam Houston School, Chilhowee View School, and numerous community churches such as Piney Grove Church and Lays Chapel Church. These scattered schools and cemeteries, like Grandview Cemetery and the Sixmile Cemetery, provide a detailed record of the family-centered settlement patterns in Blount County before late-twentieth-century development altered the rural character of the area south of the county seat.