Welcome to Colonial Village

                                                      Colonial  Village History

                    CHRONOLOGICAL  HISTORY OF COLONIAL VILLAGE AREA 

                                                       KNOXVILLE, TN

Provided by Sharon Webb Colonial Village resident.

1917  - Year of Annexation into Knoxville for small area of  south Knox County. 

1930 -  Year that construction of Henley Street Bridge began. (September 22, 1930)

1932 - Year that Henley Street Bridge opened. (January 1932)

1934  - 1936 - The Knoxville City Directories still does not list Chapman Highway.                               By 1934, it was referred to as the new Servierville road.

1940  - Colonial Village registered in city deed books - 18 Sept. 1940

1944 - Chapman Highway is listed in the Knoxville City Directory -- all the way to
          6000 block.  (Intersection of Colonial Road)

1944 -In what would become Colonial Village, these were the only residential section                             streets at this time: Stone, Magazine, Neubert Springs, Old Valley, West Ford                             Valley, Colonial, West Redbud  and Mapleloop Roads, also Mayflower,
         Catlett, Royal Heights, Lakeview and Brandau Drives.

1945 - The area between West Ford Valley and Chapman Highway, was still an                                open  field.

                                                   SAMUEL A McCALL FARM               

The area of the 6000 block of Chapman Highway, was a part of the  original 200 acre farm of Samuel A McCall (1856-1934). The new highway, went through the middle of his property. This                     proved to be disastrous for Mr. McCall. On October 28, 1934,  while attempting to cross the new road to get to his barn to feed his livestock, he was struck by 

an automobile and died later that evening at Ft.  Sanders Hospital. Note: When Mr.                     McCall wrote his Will in 1932, he stated he had seventy-three and one-half acres left to distribute to his heirs.

The rural area did not stay vacant for long. Progress came and commercial development was flourishing along this main route. The residential development became fast growing into                     a beautiful little neighborhood and eventually with four  churches, (Meridian Baptist Church, Colonial Heights Methodist Church, South Knoxville Church of God and Moorland                     Heights Baptist Church) one elementary school (Mooreland  Heights School) and one city park. The park, named for the  former Knoxville city councilman for our district, is the                     Gary Underwood Park and Greenway and is located on Moore Road. At this same park is the Ras P. Neal Soccer Field and the South Knoxville Optimist Club Building, which serves as                     the voting precinct for the 27th Ward. However, just on the edge of our district is a second park, and that is the 26 acre Charter Doyle Park, that in 1984, was donated to the city and county by former long-time Superintendent of Knox County Schools, Mildred Doyle. This parcel of land was part of a land grant issued for his service to his country, to Pvt. John Doyle, Mildred's Revolutionary War patriot ancestor. He is buried in a family cemetery on the hill in a fenced  area park.

                                                         BUTTERFLY LAKE 

                              GIBBS FAMILY BUTTERFLY LAKE WETLAND PARK

                                                     History by Terry Caruthers

The popular Butterfly Lake at the entrance to Colonial Village, bounded by Easton Road and Manchester Road, was formed by a series of sinkholes and fed by natural underground springs and aquifers, along with its sister, Sam McCall Pond on the east side of Chapman Highway. A third body of water was once located in the vicinity of the Lakeview Motel, but its springs collapsed when the structure was built. All three of these bodies of water were once watering holes for native and migratory fowl and wildlife and as well as the domesticated barnyard animals that inhabited Sam McCall’s farm. Butterfly Lake appeared first and may be found on the 1886 and 1892 TOPO maps in 1886 and 1892. Sam McCall Pond doesn't appear until 1894. As for the unnamed body of water, it appears sometime between 1901 and 1935. 

While impossible to prove positively, there is the outside chance that the outlaw Harry Logan alias Kid Curry may have watered his stolen horse there after escaping jail and fleeing across the Gay Street bridge into South Knoxville on June 27, 1903. Records indicate those who saw him fleeing down Neubert Springs called their neighbors and told them to go out and watch him ride by. 

According to residents, Logan spent a great deal of time in the area following his late afternoon escape, and there were several sightings of him around Sam McCall’s farm—what is now Colonial Village. At one point Kid Curry was seen by Lee Wrinkle on the Valley Road, turning onto a by-path that led to Sam McCall’s Woods. Harvey Logan’s last known sighting was at about 6:30 p.m. that evening, He was riding along Sevierville Pike back toward McCall’s Woods.
 

Then, as now, Butterfly Lake acts as a watershed, collecting and funneling rain runoff for the fifty contiguous acres surrounding it. In fact, there is a large culvert that aids runoff from W. Ford Valley and the surrounding streets of Arcadia, Hartford, and Manchester.
 

When the Colonial Village community was established in 1940,  the lake was cozily surrounded by the verdant growth of weeping willows, overhanging privet, wild honeysuckle, and other natural growth that provided ample shade and cooling  for the water. At that time, Butterfly Lake remained home to Sam McCall’s flocks of muscovies, ducks, geese, and several pairs of elegant swans. Descendants of these muscovies and some of the farm ducks continued to inhabit the  water until 2016, when a resident privately contacted an out-of-state conservancy and oversaw their removal and  relocation, creating much displeasure among longtime residents who viewed this act as a theft of neighborhood  history. Amidst the few domesticated water fowl that remain,  we often glimpse migratory Great Blue herons, Great White egrets, Canadian geese, mallards, wood ducks, etc. along the water’s  edge. In fact, the back cove area acts as not only a wildlife corridor but wood duck breeding habitat.

Fish abounded in these waters as well, especially catfish and bass. Even though Butterfly Lake was privately owned, some of our residents chose to fish there. The largest catches in Butterfly Lake history include ten-year-old Alan Gilbert landing a 30 pound catfish on July 1, 1965, John Vaught hooking a 25 pound channel catfish on March 13, 1988, and Chris Flynn and  Kristian Dennis catching a 50+ pound flathead catfish on July 27, 1985. Fourteen-year-old Randy Tuggle hooked the  largest recorded bass in Butterfly Lake history on April 6, 1977. It was a 5 pound 8 oz. largemouth. On August 11, 1970,  twelve-year-old Lance Sergeant caught a 4 pound 11 oz. carp.
 

In addition to being a popular summer fishing hole over the years, Butterfly Lake became the place to ice skate in when the temperatures dropped. It was also the venue for an impromptu game of ice hockey during extreme winters.

As the years passed, Butterfly Lake's health suffered. Long term droughts beginning in 2000 negatively impacted its levels. The lush vegetation which once surrounded, protected, and cooled the water is now sparse in some areas and barren in others. Through natural erosion and the lack of adequate rainfall, some of the limestone beds below the surface of the lake have collapsed, rerouting and reducing the flow of the natural underground springs and aquifers that had maintained the water levels over the years. 

Contributing to Butterfly Lake's declining health was the improper feeding of bread to the water fowl that inhabit the lake. That resulted in an overgrowth of algae at times from the indigestible yeast product in their waste. This acceleration of algae growth depleted oxygen levels in the water  and resulted in several multiple fish kills over the years, most notably in 1993, 2008, 2012, and 2016.

Due to severe drought conditions in 2007, the lake’s water level receded significantly, motivating resident Patti Thigpen to act. After receiving permission from the five governmental entities that must approve the changes in any public or private waterway, she approached and received permission from the property owner to refill the lake. An appeal was also made to KUB to purchase the water at a reduced rate. She then proceeded to raise donations to fill Butterfly Lake. 

When the lake level fell again in 2008, Patti partnered with Greg and Kenlyn Stewart’s Over Your Head productions to raise money for a second lake fill. This was largely done through Butterfly Lake t-shirt and sweatshirt sales. Part of the 2008 lake fill was financed by KUB, due to the controversy that a sudden drop in the water level may have been attributable to some excavation work on Easton Road that likely impacted some of the underground springs. Lake levels remained somewhat stable until another drought in 2016. Patti once again raised funds for what proved to be a very short-lived refill, for a few months later the water had receded again.

Butterfly Lake is a much-loved and treasured part of Colonial Village life. We've known its needs for years: (1) Sufficient rainfall to fill the aquifers and natural underground  springs that maintain its water level. (2) More native plantings to shade and cool its surface. (3) Trenching out accumulated silt and excrement to  deepen its water levels and cool its surface. (4) Educating residents and visitors on the proper feeding of water fowl: regular bird seed, bird chow, chopped lettuce, and peas,  instead of bread and its products! For healthier ducks = a healthier lake! In reality, we've known that most of these things are beyond are capabilities. 

Our one hope for this acreage was to see this privately held acreage donated to Legacy Parks for preserving. To that end, the CVNA board reached out to the owners on several occasions over the years to no avail. Then in 2024, the remaining owner passed away. When the house and lake acreage was placed for sale in 2025, resident Mark Gibbs--realtor and CVNA board member bought it. He then graciously donated the lake acreage to Legacy Parks. 

Unfortunately, the reality is the lake itself is no more and nothing will ever bring it back due to karst collapse, re-routed springs, and shallowed aquifers. The acreage will continue to hold water at times. What we have now is a thriving wetland with a diverse frog population that is being studied by the University of Tennessee. Jessie Tanner, and assistant professor with the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology has been conducting this research with her students since about 2023.

In November of 2025, a community meeting conducted by the East Tennessee Design Center to determine what residents would like to see done to the property. From that meeting, a roughly 16-member committee took the meeting comments and the survey results to create a wetland plan for the acreage. The East Tennessee Design Center will be providing an architect to develop it.

Once completed, the Gibbs Family Butterfly Lake Wetland Park will feature a walking path accessible from Arcadia, Manchester, and Easton, with park benches along the Easton and Manchester Road sides. Informational signage about the lake's history and wetlands will be incorporated as well. Native plantings will be added to support pollinators and bat boxes will be established to aid in natural mosquito control. 

The back cove area will remain off limits, since this is a wildlife corridor and breeding ground for wild waterfowl.

                                               DOGWOOD TRAILS

By the late 1950's, the Chapman Highway Dogwood Trail was etched into the                   neighborhood by the city traffic engineers. The problem of folks being able to take the scenic tour without a guide, was  solved with an ingenuous plan of painting the street with  white markings on the pavement. The only change in that plan  is what it is now painted pink.

                                             WHAT'S IN A NAME?

   Chapman Highway
         Named for David C. Chapman, who is called the "father of the  Great Smoky Mountains

          National Park".
  West Ford Valley Road
           Named for early Knoxville settler, Joseph Ford.
  Neubert Springs Road
           Named for Neubert family & Neubert Springs Resort.
                                   (The resort burned down in 1922)
  Magazine Road
          Powder magazine for a  plant run by Atlas Powder company that                                     supplied the  powder used in blasting Chapman Highway.
 Stone Road
          Named for Cecil V. Stone, magazine keeper for Atlas Powder Company.

 Mooreland Heights School Road
           Named for local man, William Carrick Moore, an entrepreneur in the                              wrought iron stove industry.
 Catlett Drive
            Named  for William A. Catlett, Colonial Development Company.

  Judith and Larry Drives
            Named for the children of developer, Jay Henry
 

Copyright(c) 2002 Colonial Village                 Neighborhood Association. All rights reserved.