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Rejuvenated Cal Johnson Building Pays Tribute to African-American Innovator and Pioneer

There are places around Knoxville that hint of the fascinating legacy of one of Knoxville's most notable sons: Caldonia Fackler Johnson, who was born a slave in 1844 and by sheer willpower raised himself up to become the City's first African-American millionaire.

There's a plaque at Marble Alley Lofts that marks the approximate location of his final home. A City recreation center on Hall of Fame Drive bears his name; Johnson had financially supported the park at the site that served African-American families.

The oval-shaped roadway in Burlington, Speedway Circle, was once a Cal Johnson racetrack.

But no place evokes the spirit and drive that defined Johnson so much as the three-story 14,848-square-foot Cal Johnson Building at 301 State Street, the warehouse he constructed in 1898 in the Vernacular Commercial style.

It's the last of Johnson's buildings that remains standing - and the Jed Dance family that owns it has just completed a top-to-bottom revitalization of the 122-year-old landmark, which had been sitting empty for decades.

Remembering and Honoring Cal Johnson

The prominent but unpretentious State Street building - which will continue to bear Johnson's name and gives many a nod to its storied first owner - features 4,100 square feet of ground-level retail or restaurant space and eight upper-floor apartments.

By far, the biggest commitments to giving the Cal Johnson Building a new life were made by the Dance family, but others supported the redevelopment.

The City of Knoxville and Downtown Knoxville Alliance took steps to financially assist with the rejuvenation of the building. The City provided $807,929 through a 15-year financing assistance plan called a PILOT, or Payment in Lieu of Taxes, to help close the gap in making the project viable. The City's Housing and Neighborhood Development Department also provided $100,000 through the Historic Preservation Fund.

The Downtown Knoxville Alliance, formerly the Central Business Improvement District, provided a $150,000 facade grant.

Conversion Properties - the force behind Regas Square and the Southeastern Glass Building, among other projects involving historic buildings - worked with the Dance family on the Cal Johnson Building overhaul.

Given its age and the lengthy time it sat empty, it was not a foregone conclusion that the Cal Johnson Building would survive or could be modernized. It had been on Knox Heritage's Fragile 15 list for years. However, the roof was intact and the building remained structurally sound, so the Dance family proceeded with the painstakingly meticulous overhaul. And the Dances wanted to make sure Johnson's spirit was recognized.

"Working with the City and Conversion Properties to restore Cal Johnson's legacy only made sense," says Dance, owner of Bacon & Co., a multi-generational company that offers custom embroidery, screen printing, promotional products, personalized gifts and other specialty items.

Dance's father had bought a cluster of downtown buildings, including the Cal Johnson Building, in the 1950s as the base for his business.

Walking into the lobby of the Cal Johnson Building, a large image of Johnson covers one wall. Another image in the lobby shows what the building looked like in an earlier century.

The original Cal Johnson Building marble inset was preserved in the facade. The wooden beams and floors and the original bricks were all preserved. In fact, original pieces of flooring were used to build stairs and for the nameplates identifying of the apartment units, all named for people or places in Cal Johnson's life.

The Lone Tree Loft, so-named because Johnson operated a saloon that later took that name. It had been located at Gay Street and Vine Avenue.

View from the upper loft of the penthouse apartment in the Cal Johnson Building.

Jed Dance, owner of Bacon & Co. and the Cal Johnson Building

Master bathroom in the Cal Johnson Building penthouse apartment.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Cal Johnson Building had been on the edge of downtown proper. However, in recent years, the footprint of downtown has been getting bigger. More and more people were wanting to live downtown, Dance says. Marble Alley opened. State Street became a two-way instead of a one-way street; the City added three new decks atop the State Street Garage to keep up with demand for more parking.

"The timing was right" to make over the Cal Johnson Building, Dance says.

Logo for the Cal Johnson Building, at the entrance to the lobby. Workers were putting the finishing touches on the interior walls - affixing images of Johnson and his original building - last week.

Ground-floor space in the Cal Johnson Building can accommodate either a retailer or a restaurant. Interested? Contact Conversion Properties at 865-246-1331.

Cal Johnson: Innovator, Rags-to-riches Success Story

Johnson's story is remarkable and worth celebrating.

It's been said of him: He was completely self-made. His entrepreneurial vision, his drive, were relentless. He was born into slavery and freed at age 21. Can you name anyone who came so far after starting with so little?

Cal Johnson in the 1920s at a park he helped finance.

Cal Johnson circa 1920 at the park he helped finance.

Historians say Johnson seems to have inherited a love of horses from his father, Cupid Johnson, who trained horses as a slave and was a winning jockey in the mid-1800s, but he died young.

A freed black man a short time after losing his father, Cal Johnson started out the hardest way imaginable. He was awarded a federal contract and took on the grisly task of digging up the bodies of Civil War soldiers buried in temporary graves for reinterment in Knoxville's national cemetery. He used the money he earned to open a racetrack and saloons.

The first airplane to travel to Knoxville is said to have landed on Johnson's Burlington racetrack on April 13, 1911. (Courtesy Beck Cultural Exchange Center)

Before the turn of the century, he was building the warehouse on State Street.

Historian Bob Booker says that Johnson donated a house at Vine Avenue and Patton Street that was used to open the first African-American YMCA in Knoxville.

Three years before his death, the park carrying Cal Johnson's name was established. It was to serve African-American families. Dedicated on Sept. 21, 1922, a crowd of 12,000 people attended, Booker said. Johnson donated more than $1,250 for amenities that included a water fountain, a flagpole, lights and sidewalks.

Posted by evreeland On 10 July, 2020 at 5:35 PM