Have you ever walked by the beautiful yellow-brick house on the corner of Melrose Avenue and wondered, who uses this?
That Colonial-style house is the Tyson Alumni Center, formerly known as the Tyson Alumni House, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The house serves as a hosting point for all alumni who visit, including game day tailgates, and is one of the oldest standing buildings on campus.
Originally built in 1895, the house started as a two-story Victorian-style home and was bought a year later by Bettie McGhee Tyson. Tyson’s father was Charles McClung McGhee, and her husband was Lawrence Tyson. Both were prominent Tennessee figures at the turn of the 20th century: her father was the namesake of the McGhee Tyson Airport, and Bettie Tyson herself was a successful entrepreneur…