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Stanley Mohr, owner of The Tower at Morgan Hill, announces the new name at a public press conference on 11/9/09

On November 9, 2009, Stanley Mohr of Vols Equities and Chuck Morris of Morris Creative Group held a press conference to publicly unveil the name and logo for The Tower at Morgan Hill. Several of the “Name the Tower” contest finalists were on hand to accept their awards, including James Banks, whose name was chosen as the winning entry among over 1100 submitted ideas.

Congratulations to all our finalists:

• Eric Kieschnick
• Haley Mynatt
• Jessa Meyers
• Daniel Topping
• Douglas Trovinger
• Nathan Fox
• Patrick Hunt
• Ryan Sowell
• Nick Zasowski
• Jeff Malik
• Joey Smith
• Kayla Yancey
• Waqas Ahmad
• Iyakndue Udo
• Steve Weber
• Drew Thomas
• Jennifer Hammond
• Phyllis Davis
• Vickie Wells
• Sarah Kennedy
• Sean Vasington
• Richard Mileham
• Joe Atkins
• Meaghan Briggs
• Logan Davis
• Cory N. Helton
• Dave Chambers
• Katie Cleveland
• Cayce Powers
• Matt Hoag
• Robert Johnson Jr.
• Christine Riggs
• Ashley Parrott
• Connie Sachs
• Airton G. Kohls
• Jewel Morrison

Stanley Mohr (right), owner of the Tower at Morgan Hill, presents James Banks with a check for $1000 for his winning name entry

Over 1,100 people submitted names for the contest through the website, NameTheTower.com, with prizes ranging from $1000 cash for first place to gift certificates to local stores and restaurants for 37th place.

Today, the property’s developer, Stanley Mohr of Vols Equities LLC of New York, announced that Banks penned the property’s new name, The Tower at Morgan Hill, and presented him with a check.

Banks thought of the name based on the recent archaeological discovery that the apartment tower is located near an historic Civil War site. The area is known today as Morgan Hill. The discovery of Civil War trenches was made during archaeological surveys in preparation for the University of Tennessee’s Sorority Village, which is directly across Kingston Pike from the tower. There, archaeologists uncovered what they believe to be the only archaeologically-confirmed Confederate battle site in all of Knoxville.

Steve Dean, president of the East Tennessee Civil War Alliance, who is advising the University of Tennessee on the excavations, said, “It is very likely the rifle trenches, though not the gun emplacements, extended onto the tower property. Captain Orlando Poe’s maps have proved remarkably accurate. I am not sure exactly where the modern building sits in regard to his map, but it seems very likely the trenches crossed onto the property, if not directly under the building.”

Morgan Hill is not a name that was used during the Civil War era, but it seems likely to have been named later for the UT College of Agriculture Dean, Harcourt Morgan, who owned the property.

“The timing of the archaeological find and this competition could not have been better,” said Marcia West of Wood Properties, which is doing leasing and management for the property. “It provided us with an opportunity to not only give this beautiful residential building a new name, but also to have the tower tie to the rich history of its community and the very ground on which it stands.”

Dr. Jeff Chapman of University of Tennessee’s McClung Museum says an exhibit will be opening in the coming months that showcases the Morgan Hill excavations.

Renovations to The Tower at Morgan Hill were designed by Faris Eid of Design Innovations Architects. The property is currently pre-leasing fully furnished 1 and 2 bedroom units for occupancy in Fall 2010.

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