A small number of Irish Catholics were residing in the area when the city of Knoxville was established in 1794. By 1810 there was talk of establishing a Catholic parish and building a church on the banks of the Holston River. This sparsely populated frontier had received a few visits from traveling priests, however, there was no priest available to take up residence and the plans were never realized. With the creation of the Diocese of Nashville in 1837 and the construction of the railroads in the 1840’s a new group of Irish Catholics migrated to East Tennessee and, more specifically to Knoxville which had become a hub for the construction.
In the early 1850’s, Bishop Richard Miles, first bishop of Nashville, appointed Father Henry Brown as the first resident priest of Knoxville. His main goal was to organize a parish and in February of 1855, Father Brown purchased land on Summit Hill at the corner of Vine Avenue and Crooked Street (now Walnut). Father Brown, a gifted artist and amateur architect, drew up the plans for the church in the Gothic Revival style.
The details of the stone work, the contrasting coloring of the stones, and its graceful proportions made it an architectural gem in a town that still reflected its pioneer beginnings. All the labor for the church was done by its members, most of whom were stone and marble workers. Construction progressed swiftly and the church, perched on the highest hill in the town, was dedicated by Bishop Miles in the fall of 1855.
Over the next quarter century Immaculate Conception parish continued to grow. While no exact numbers are available, genealogical data indicates that many new Irish immigrants, along with Germans and Italians, settled in the area. By 1880 the little stone church was too small for the congregation and plans for a larger structure were begun.
Joseph Baumann, the leading local architect of that time, designed the new church in the Victorian Gothic style. Construction was slow on the new building, due in part to the scarcity of locally produced bricks, as two other major projects (the Knox County Courthouse and Eastern State Asylum) were also under construction. Nearing the end of construction, City Councilman Samuel Rodgers proposed to locate the town clock on the highest hill in downtown Knoxville in the tower of the new Catholic church. While the pastor of the parish, Father Francis Marron, agreed to the proposal, there arose much opposition from the anti-Catholic element in town. An agreement was finally struck; the town would pay for the clock and its installation, and the parish would pay for the redesigning and additional construction costs of the tower, which in the original design was a plain 150 foot tower. The clock tower was barely completed on time for the church dedication on September 19, 1886.
Starting with the multi-talented Father Henry Brown, Immaculate Conception parish has been blessed with many fine spiritual leaders. Father Joseph Biemans became pastor right after the dedication of the new church, and in 1857 opened a parish school in a rented store building on Gay Street. The school was forced to close in 1861 due to the rigors imposed by the Civil War.
The noted priest-poet, Abram Joseph Ryan. became pastor in 1865 after having served as a chaplain in the Confederate Army. Ranked today as a minor American poet, Father Ryan was renowned in his day throughout the South both as a poet of secular and religious poetry and as a preacher. He remained in Knoxville only two years but he left his mark as a healing figure of the Reconstruction Era.
Father Michael Finnegan was pastor from 1866 to 1872; during that time he expanded the school program and he bought land for, and opened Calvary Cemetery. In 1872 Father Francis Marron became pastor. In order to assess his new parish, Father Marron set out to meet his parishioners, hoping to convince some to move closer to Knoxville. Father Marron distinguished himself as a school and parish administrator. He brought in teaching religious sisters to staff the school, thereby ending the era of lay school masters. He undertook the building of the much needed larger church for the expanding congregation. He stayed until 1899.
In 1857 Father Joseph Biemans opened a parish school in a rented store building on Gay Street but was forced to close in 1861 due to the rigors imposed by the Civil War. Father Abram Ryan reopened the parish school in 1865. By 1874 the school, located on the eastern edge of Immaculate Conceptions Property and built by Father Francis Marron, contained multiple classrooms and space for a convent. The two story porch on the rear of the building was replaced by classroom additions in 1903.
Saint Mary’s School was originally staffed by lay school masters who were replaced by the Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1875. In 1887 the Sisters of Saint Joseph were replaced by the Sisters of Charity. In 1896 the Sisters of Charity were replaced by the Sisters of Mercy who staffed it until it was closed in 1969.