Fountain City, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville, was founded in the late 1700s by John Adair. The city's planners decided that a college would also boost development and, having heard of the Holbrook family's role and influence in the field of higher education, approached the family. The Holbrook Normal College, established in Fountain City in 1893, was taken over in 1900 by the Tennessee Baptist Association, who paid the Knoxville and Fountain City Land Company approximately $13,000 for the defunct college.
As first president of Fountain City's Holbrook Normal College, Josiah Holbrook, II, (1844-1921) was continuing the Holbrook family legacy in American education. Josiah's father, Alfred Holbrook (1816-1909), was a leader in the early development of professional teacher education in the Midwest and his grandfather, Josiah Holbrook (1788-1854), organized the lyceum movement of adult education.
From the description of Knoxville, Tenn., and Fountain City land agreement, ca 1890. (Western North Carolina Library Network). WorldCat record id: 316309492
