First surveyed in 1750, it is among the first land grants in what became Tennessee. It spans 3,000 acres, extending nine miles from today’s Downtown Kingsport upstream to Holly Springs Church (Bloomingdale Road at U.S. 11W). It was granted to Edmund Pendleton by the Governor of Virginia in 1782, but this presented a problem since the land was ultimately determined to be in North Carolina. Finally, North Carolina agreed to recognize the grant, which was recorded in Sullivan County (NC) in 1792. In 1794, a parcel was sold to Samuel Moore, who paid partial payment in cattle worth 22 pounds, 10 shillings. Moore built his log home, called “Meadow Place,” which still stands on a rise above the north side of Reedy Creek (the Cleek farm).
