Historians in Maryville celebrated a little known piece of the city's past on Friday.
Descendants of William Bennett Scott, Sr. traveled to Maryville to view a portrait of their ancestor, who served as the city's first and only black mayor in 1869. The portrait is hanging in the Maryville Municipal Building.
Scott moved to the city from North Carolina and started a horse and saddle business. He eventually established the first newspaper published by an African-American in Tennessee in Nashville.
Scott moved back to Maryville about a year later and began publishing The Maryville Republican in 1868.
He served as mayor of Maryville in 1869, only four years after the Civil War ended.
Scott remained active in his community and local government throughout his life.
Historians say they're glad to be able to share this part of Maryville's history with the community.
"I didn't learn any of this in my school. I was 60 years old before I ever knew we had a black mayor right here. There are markers down on the street that I just pass by, I never knew the significance of the markers. So this is exciting that I am actually able to educate the community about some of the things that were little known," said historian Shirley Carr Clowney.
Scott's descendants say the family eventually moved away from the area and they didn't know his part in Maryville's history until recently. They're proud of what he did for the community and civil rights.
