Andrew Johnson Building

rdf:langString Andrew Johnson Building

rdf:langString Andrew Johnson Hotel

rdf:langString Andrew Johnson Hotel

rdf:langString South facade of the Andrew Johnson Building, viewed from the Gay Street Bridge

rdf:langString The Andrew Johnson Building is a high-rise building in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1929 as the Andrew Johnson Hotel, at 203-foot (62 m), it was Knoxville's tallest building for nearly a half-century. In the 1980s, it was converted to office space by Knox County. In 1980, the Andrew Johnson Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2017, BNA Associates announced plans to convert it back to a hotel. The plans were approved in 2020. As of 2022, the county offices have been almost entirely vacated in preparation for the extensive renovations. Named for President Andrew Johnson, the Andrew Johnson Hotel was Knoxville's premier hotel from the time of its completion through the 1960s. In its early years, the hotel was popular with foreign dignitaries visiting Knoxville to inquire about the newly created Tennessee Valley Authority, as well as with tourists en route to the newly created Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Country music singer Hank Williams spent the last night of his life at the hotel, on December 31, 1952. The studios of WNOX, which played a role in the early development of country music, were located in the Andrew Johnson in the late 1930s, and musicians such as Roy Acuff became regional stars broadcasting from the building.