Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Knoxville

Located in Summit Hill, Knoxville, the historic Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception has a rich history. The city had a small Roman Catholic congregation in the early 1800s, which was visited by Father Stephen Badin on several occasions. The arrival of Irish immigrant laborers during the late 1840s and early 1850s, due to railroad construction, significantly increased the congregation's numbers. In 1855, the Church of the Immaculate Conception was founded on the same site as the current church, becoming Knoxville's first Roman Catholic parish. The church was named in honor of the official church doctrine of Immaculate Conception, declared by Pope Pius IX a year earlier.

The Poet-Priest of the Confederacy, Father Abram Joseph Ryan (1836–1886), was once a priest at this parish. He wrote famous pieces like The Conquered Banner and Requiem of the Lost Cause, which he penned soon after the surrender at Appomattox.

The current church sanctuary, a brick Victorian Gothic-style building, was designed by Joseph Baumann in 1886, in front of the earlier structure. Baumann was one of Knoxville's first prominent architects, along with George Franklin Barber. The sanctuary is two stories tall, and a central clock tower in a turreted spire adds to its grandeur.

Although the church continues to serve as a Roman Catholic parish in the downtown area of Knoxville, the Roman Catholic Bishop's seat is at Sacred Heart Cathedral, located in the west Knoxville community of Bearden.