The first house on Irwin Street
911 Irwin Street is a historic Victorian farmhouse built in 1893. It was originally addressed as 1011 Irwin Street before the block shifted. The house was originally built by the Frankenbergs, a family that immigrated to America from Germany in the mid 1800's. It was the first house on the block and was originally surrounded by a large area of farmland.
A house full of memories
The Frankenbergs.
The father of the household, Alfred Frankenberg, worked at the Coster Repair Shops, a repair depot for the Southern Railway station off of Central Avenue, where he repaired train engines and train parts. His two daughters, Elizabeth and Emma, were active in the local Lutheran church, which had a large congregation of German speaking immigrants.
A house full of memories.
One son was married in the house, a Mr. Louis E. Frankenberg in 1940 while the father, Alfred, passed away at the home after 70 years of life working at the railway repair shop and eventually starting his own clock making business.
Home of a famous Volunteer
Notably the dean of the college of engineering for the University of Tennessee, Nathan Dougherty, lived in the house around 1916 with his wife. UT recognized him by naming the largest engineering building on campus after him, Nathan Dougherty Hall Engineering Hall. Nathan Dougherty also was captain of the football, basketball and track teams at UT and later played important roles in the development of the NCAA and SEC athletics conference and was elected to the National Football Hall of Fame.
Home of important women
Alfred’s two daughters, Elizabeth and Emma, were active in the local Lutheran church which had a large congregation of German speaking immigrants. They taught piano and choir at the church. As well, Elizabeth played historic roles in the women's suffrage movement helping to give women the right to vote.
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