Rocky Mount, in Piney Flats,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, also known as the Cobb-Massengill House, was the first territorial capital of the

Southwest Territory The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory or the old Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was ...

. The property of William Cobb, the original residence at Rocky Mount served as the territorial capital from 1790 to 1792. Dendroarchaeological investigations at the site by the University of Tennessee revealed that the present dwelling dates to the late 1820s. The property is owned by the State of Tennessee and has been operated by the Rocky Mount Historical Association, a non-profit organization in partnership with the

Tennessee Historical Commission The Tennessee Historical Commission (THC) is the State Historic Preservation Office for the U.S. state of Tennessee. Headquartered in Nashville, it is an independent state agency, administratively attached to the Department of Environment and C ...

, since 1962. The property is a

living museum A living museum, also known as a living history museum, is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, providing visitors with an experiential interpretation of history. It is a type of museum that recr ...

that recreates the year 1791, when American

Founding Father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...

William Blount William Blount ( ; April 6, 1749March 21, 1800) was an American politician, landowner and Founding Father who was one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States. He was a member of the North Carolina delegation at the Constitution ...

was in residence as governor.RockyMountMuseum.com
/ref> It is next to the DeVault-Massengill House.

References

External links

Rocky Mount MuseumRocky Mount State Historic Site
Historic sites in Tennessee Former colonial and territorial capitals in the United States Houses in Sullivan County, Tennessee Southwest Territory Museums in Sullivan County, Tennessee Living museums in Tennessee Historic house museums in Tennessee Tennessee State Historic Sites Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Protected areas of Sullivan County, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, Tennessee Homes of United States Founding Fathers {{Tennessee-museum-stub