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TAZEWELL – In Claiborne County the past is the future.

Local officials, historians, state representatives and more gathered at the historic Graham-Kivett House in Tazewell to celebrate an historic announcement that will take the oldest structure in the county and make it firm part of the county’s future.

State Rep. Gary Hicks and State Rep. Dennis Powers – who share parts of Claiborne County in their respective new districts – presented local officials with a big check for $750,000 towards the renovation of the site which will now include a Heritage/Welcome Center that will also house the local Chamber of Commerce.

Rob Barger – chairman of the Claiborne County Chamber and Claiborne office of Economic and Community Development – began the festivities with an overview of the history of the house – which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The limestone home was built circa 1810 by William Graham, a businessman, builder and founder of Tazewell. Graham immigrated from Ireland and built the house in the style of his home land on a hill with a wide view of the valley below.

According to the application to the historic register, written in 1975, the home was “originally a four-room house of Federal style.”

The home survived a Civil War era fire that burned much of the town.

James Kivett – a coal mine operator and lawyer – purchased the home in the early 1900s. Kivett family tradition claims that Gen. Ulysses S. Grant stayed at the home – which served as a hospital during the Civil War – in 1864 as he travelled from Union County to Kentucky. Tazewell’s historians have been unable to substantiate the claim but say it is likely.

The house stayed in the Kivett family for more than 100 years, Barger said. John Kivett – the county historian – was the last member of the family who lived there up until the time of his death in 2004.

“When he passed away, he had no descendents. The home sat here for years in a state of disrepair,” Barger explained.

During that time, though the grounds and home fell into disrepair, there was work done to fight the lost of history

Dr. Kim Bolton – dean of the Walters State Claiborne campus – noted the work of the Service Learning Club – which spent a day as a community project clearing vines and weeds that had overtaken the grounds. They uncovered the historic three-foot high limestone wall as well.

Bolton said she’s proud that the club was part of the start of an initiative to bring the site back to life, work that continued with the Sheriff’s Office maintaining the grounds.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” said Bolton, a past president of the foundation and chamber.

“The chamber and the economic development board got together and said ‘we’ve got to save this home.’ We formed a foundation to do just that. We were able to purchase the home at a delinquent tax sale. That gave the foundation a clear title,” Barger said.

From there the work on the building itself began.

First the roof and rooftops chimneys were fixed. Then following some community fundraising, the stone work was cleaned and solidified with mortar and sealed.

With the rooftop and walls done the inside – which is reportedly in relatively good condition – was protected but the foundation lacked the funding to move forward with the next stage.

“At that point, we had used up all our money,” Barger said. “We said, ‘What are we going to do? The home is secure. We know that. It doesn’t look so good. What are we going to do with these grounds?’

“At the same time, we had discussions about us needing a permanent chamber office. We talked about the history of Claiborne County was being lost. We talked about the need for a meeting space – and a welcome center.

“We said how can we utilize this property. We came up with the idea to do a Claiborne Heritage Center that would not only preserve the historic home but would include a new structure on the back of the property that would house the chamber and also provide meeting space.

“We said ‘All right, how can we do this? How can we make this happen?’ That’s where our state reps came in.

“Gary and Dennis they went to work, they said, ‘Give us a concept plan. What are you trying to do? send it to us and we’ll try to get it into the governor’s budget.’”

Hicks said he and Powers – as relatively new representatives of the county – were excited to get a chance to do something positive for the community.

“What an exciting day it is for Rep. Powers and I,” Hicks said. “Of course redistricting happened over the last year. Dennis and I want you to know we didn’t just get thrown over here. We want y’all to understand as redistricting happened, we chose to come to Claiborne County.

“As part of choosing to come here, we want to be a part of Claiborne County. And so talking to Rob, we want to make a splash. What can we do? Where are the needs?

“We realized real quick this was the project that we wanted to focus on and to try and get this into the governor’s budget,” Hicks continued. “We showed him what we were trying to do. He was all excited. The next thing I know he says ‘let’s get this done, I’m all on board.’’’

Powers added that he was impressed with the history of the site.

“I just love the history of the house,” he said. “William Graham was an immigrant from Ireland – being irish and having been in Ireland it’s amazing how much our beautiful area looks like Ireland and why they wanted to come settle here.

“What he did to build this home and the little part we did to help preserve it, we’re honored to be here.”

With the site’s optimum location, officials expect it will be a boon for county tourism as well as to the business community.

“This is great,” Bolton said. “To see it have the funds to make it work. It’s the perfect spot to serve the chamber and as a heritage center.”