Ghost Walking the Streets of Knoxville

 

There are ghost walks and then there is “Ghost Walking,” my own take on life on the city’s streets in bygone times; how these streets and their buildings have changed through the years, and how through old pictures and stories we can glimpse the echoes of people’s past lives and particular events.

Working for KHP since 2017, I’ve become very familiar with the city’s history and many of its downtown spaces. When I was asked by Alan Sims to write a new column for his blog site InsideofKnoxville.com, this idea seemed to be a good fit. Alan has since retired and experienced journalist Leslie Bateman (who worked with KHP’s Jack Neely at Metro Pulse) now owns the site. Register to receive daily emails in your inbox here.

Paul James

 

LINKS TO GHOST WALKING STORIES

 Ghost Walking Market Square

Everywhere you go, layers of history are stacked on top of each other. As a space specifically designed to attract people and businesses, Market Square may be stacked deeper than most. Perhaps it’s not apparent to most folks, but in my mind, there are ghosts of buildings and people everywhere. Like the shuffling on an old train station timetable, I often imagine many different eras at once, all blending in with each other.  Back when the northern edge of downtown lay along Clinch Avenue, there was an open field marked by blackberry bushes, and perhaps a few trees and whatever vegetation wasn’t gnawed on by a stray goat. Continue reading…

 

 

 Ghost Walking a Section of Walnut Street

Walk along Walnut Avenue between Summit Hill Drive and Union Avenue today and you’ll find that it’s a relatively unremarkable spot compared to Market Square, just a few yards away. In fact, the only items of note are the new colorful mural entitled “Better Together” on the Langley Building and the new fencing around the parking lot behind the Daylight Building, which houses the likes of Union Ave Books, Mahlo’s Coffee, and J.C. Holdway.  There’s going to be a new hotel going up in that slender spot behind that fence so Walnut is soon going to become a little livelier. Continue reading…

 

Ghost Walking the Gas-lit Streets of Knoxville: As dark as 40 black cats in the bottom of a well

It’s far too easy to take for granted the casual flick of a light switch. One hundred and fifty years ago in Knoxville it was rather different. During dark and often dreary nights, particularly during the post-Civil War years, local residents were just getting used to a new marvel: the gas lamp. These new flickering lights, erected on the busier street corners, began to shine some light onto a gloomy city. Continue reading…

 

 

 

Ghost Walking Gay Street at Union Avenue

Sometimes you can just step into an old photograph and imagine you’re there. Often, for me, it’s those dynamic images of street life from the late 1800s/early 1900s that seem to capture moments in the city’s past where you wish you could have been there, even just for a few moments. One of the liveliest spots appears to be on Gay Street at Union Avenue (just like it is today), a bustling intersection that over the years included jewelers, music shops, movie theaters, and department stores. Continue reading…

 

Ghost Walking Around the Lamar House

Down on the 800 block of Gay Street it’s generally a lot quieter than a couple of blocks farther north. With the quiet end of a federal building on one side, and a towering office tower (still the tallest building in East Tennessee) on the other, it’s up to the Bijou Theatre and the Bistro next door to thoroughly liven up the place, particularly in the evening. Yet, this section of Gay was once right in the heart of the old rough-and tumble frontier town, right around the corner from the courthouse. A town that became more sophisticated with the march of time. There are still a few echoes of past lives here if you know where to look. Continue reading…

 

Ghost Walking with the Fallen Fireman’s Memorial Monument

Most towns and cities have statues and memorials of all kinds, but for me it’s the unique ones that not only inform the feel of a place, but also convey some local history. The most Knoxville-centric downtown statue is the Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial Monument that stands today outside the fire hall on Summit Hill Drive. The monument has an unusual past in that it has stood in at least four downtown locations since its unveiling 120 years ago, and still honors firemen who lost their lives battling Knoxville fires. Let’s take a look into the history of the monument and see where it’s been. Continue reading…

 

Ghost Walking the Streets of Knoxville: The Movie Theaters of Gay and Union.

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 years of the 20th century, some came to seek and try out a relatively new spectacle: moving pictures.  Several small cinemas came and went quickly in those early days, but one of the most enduring proved to be the Queen Theatre. It opened in 1914 just two doors away from the durable East Tennessee Savings Bank on the corner of Gay Street and Union Avenue. Continue reading…