Knob View Farm

Isaac Lafayette Thomas met Barbara Ann Swadley when he came from Damascus, Virginia to work as a hired hand and was sent to the Henry Swadley homestead. They fell in love and were married in 1889. The land first acquired by the family in 1848 was passed down to Isaac and Barbara. Although Barbara wanted to build a house, Isaac told her "We need to build a barn. The barn is where our living comes from." She relented and the barn was completed in 1898 - its design considered by many a masterpiece in construction. The "new house" was built in 1915. Isaac and Barbara had two sons, Henry and John. Henry pursued a college education and became the first county agent of Greene County, TN, and later began a long career with Ford Tractors. John studied Industrial Arts at what is now ETSU, but remained on the farm which has now been in the family for 150 years. The current owner, granddaughter of Barbara and Isaac and last of the Thomas generation, Marcella Thomas Epperson, fondly remembers the farm in its heyday, comparing it to "Old MacDonald's farm" as animals abounded; horses, mules, chickens, hogs, dairy cattle, and guineas.

Knob View Farm was founded in 1848 by Henry Swadley and his wife Mary. A part of the Princeton Community, the Swadleys established and operated a tannery. On 50 acres they produced hay, corn, flax, eggs, dairy products, and wheat as well as horses, swine, cattle, poultry, and mules.