General Information

From the 1760’s, travelers came by horse and wagon down the Island Road to the Holston riverbank where they built boats and migrated west.

Built by William King in 1802, for the purpose of developing a boat yard from which to ship his salt, the Inn was sold at a Sheriff’s sale in 1818 to Richard Netherland. He immediately procured a stage stop contract and established it as an inn and tavern on the old Great Stage Road, the main route to Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. The Inn has hosted many famous persons including Presidents Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson and James K. Polk and became a popular place in the busy boat yard community.

Today, Netherland Inn hosts tours of the inn and grounds as well as special events throughout the year. Rising above the Holston River, the Inn has been fully restored as a historic house museum. Additional buildings on the property include a reconstructed kitchen wing, a Log Cabin, which was moved to Netherland Inn from Boone’s Kentucky Wilderness Road in Virginia. Daniel Boone and his family lived in this cabin between 1773-1775. Other structures on the property are the Weilhouse which shelters the old stone-line well, a schoolhouse and the Pence Reception Center and Gift Shop.

The Museum of Pioneer Transportation in the Hal T. Spoden Bank Barn tells the story of settlement and movement west and houses ledgers and artifacts from the King’s Boat Yard and George Hale’s Boatyard Store.