Stop #4: Delaney Family Home Site
815 Vine Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37915
Welcome to the Beck Cultural Corridor. You are currently located at the former home site of the Delaney family.
The Delaney Family
Rev. Samuel Delaney, known as Brother Delaney, was a circuit riding preacher for the Methodist Episcopal churches in Knoxville and Jefferson City. He married Delia Johnson Delaney, a gifted seamstress and quilt maker on April 9, 1885 and the two settled in Knoxville. They reared their children at 815 East Vine Avenue nestled in the heart of Knoxville's Black community. Samuel and Delia had ten children: Carabelle, Sterling, Samuel Emery, Percy, Clifford Henry, Ougust Mae, Marion, Beauford, Joseph, and Naomi. Only four children will survive adulthood, Sterling, Samuel Emery, Beauford and Joseph.
815 East Vine Avenue
The Delaneys lived at 815 East Vine Avenue for several decades.
Vine Avenue
Vine Avenue was once the heart of the Black community in Knoxville, Tennessee before Urban Renewal completely changed the area. There were shops of every kind and families who lived in close proximity. Among the establishments that were owned by Black people and catered to the Black community included churches, cafes and eateries, taxi services, drugstores (pharmacies), Gem Theatre which was Knoxville’s premiere Black movie house, and Carnegie Library, a free public library built to service the city’s Black residents and stood next door from the Delaney family home.
Urban Renewal's Impact on the Delaney Home
Vine Avenue was heavily impacted by Urban Renewal. After the first Urban Renewal Project, called the Riverfront-Willow Project, razed The Bottom, Vine Avenue was the next target for demolition. It fell within the
