Originally written by Paul James and published by Inside of Knoxville. Have you ever noticed how quiet it is around Gay Street and Main Street in the evening? During the day, it’s reasonably lively with lawyers, bankers, government employees milling […]
Buildings
The Town With a Dozen Accents
December 5, 2025
The often-forgotten diversity of 1790s Knoxville Ken Burns’ The American Revolution was a powerful prelude to the 250th anniversary of the United States. One point the documentary makes over and over concerns the surprising diversity of America’s original patriots. If […]
Just beyond the edge of the town’s original 64 lots laid out in 1791, the intersection of Gay Street and Clinch Avenue has long been a bustling place in downtown Knoxville. Today, thousands of people walk or drive through here […]
The Knoxville Paper Box Co. Building
November 4, 2025
Another historic downtown building whose future is in question We recently ran a piece about the 1875 Peabody School / Labor Temple building, threatened by the fact that it appears to be erased in a landowner’s proposal for the property, […]
It’s interesting how the use of a certain spot on a street basically stays the same for decades, if not more than a century. The site of a courthouse typically indicates a long tenure, but how about hotels? Hyatt Place, […]
The Old Red Schoolhouse
October 6, 2025
Peabody School, Knoxville’s first public school, later known as our Labor Temple, is in peril On a broken segment of half-forgotten Morgan Street is a building not like any other downtown. It’s getting a lot more attention lately, partly just […]
The steps of the Dr. John Mason Boyd memorial arch at the corner of Gay Street and Main Street offer a fine perch to ponder bygone times in this old section of downtown. Anyone who has more than just glanced […]
Ghost Walking the Streets of Knoxville: Early Movie Theaters
August 12, 2025
Just like we do today, Knoxvillians have long come downtown looking for some entertainment. For many years, Staub’s Opera House (later known as Staub’s Theatre and the Lyric) served as the city’s most dependable live-performance venue. But in the early […]
Stereographs at the Calvin M. McClung Collection
August 1, 2025
When you browse the online Calvin M. McClung Digital Collection, you might see what look like the exact same historical photographs placed side by side. These are stereograph images, which were produced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries […]
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EDITOR
Jack Neely is executive director of the Knoxville History Project. He has become one of Knoxville’s most popular writers and its unofficial historian. Jack is well known for his thoughtful, well-researched, and provocative pieces of long-form journalism, not to mention his books, speeches, and other public appearances...
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123 S. Gay Street Ste. C
Knoxville, TN 37902JACK NEELY
jack@knoxhistoryproject.org
(865) 337-7723PAUL JAMES
Development Director
paul@knoxhistoryproject.org
(865) 300-4559NICOLE STAHL
Administrative Coordinator
nicolestahl@knoxhistoryproject.org
(865) 360-8053©2025 Knoxville History Project
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