A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about trying to nail down what is to me one of the most intriguing sites in Knoxville history. “Vagabondia Castle” was the old house where Frances Hodgson Burnett and her brothers and sisters—most […]
A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about trying to nail down what is to me one of the most intriguing sites in Knoxville history. “Vagabondia Castle” was the old house where Frances Hodgson Burnett and her brothers and sisters—most […]
The centennial of the First World War I on my mind, I was going through some library files when I ran across a picture I’d never seen. A photocopied image from an unknown book showed two stout marble pillars on […]
Friday, the 7th, at 5 p.m., Knox Heritage will host a rare opportunity to visit the ca. 1931 Kern’s Bakery building on Chapman Highway. The tour is free to KH members, and it’s not too late to join. Preservationist developer […]
One hundred years ago, the United States entered World War I . So did Knoxville. The United States was slow to join the World War, but when the country declared war on Germany, in April, 1917, thousands of young men, […]
Granville Henley McGhee was born in Knoxville on March 23, 1918 (some sources say 1917, but available government records favor the later date). His older brother, Brownie McGhee, who became a famous blues singer and guitarist, was unable to walk […]
Immigrants fleeing difficult or dangerous circumstances in their home countries have always been part of Knoxville’s history. A few Irish political exiles settled here in the 1790s. Right about 170 years ago, Knoxville began receiving hundreds of refugees. Many […]
A researcher happened across some clues to an old mystery that’s been nagging at me for a quarter century. In the mix is a pretty incredible coincidence. For a column in Metro Pulse back in the ’90s, I outlined the […]
The Beck Cultural Exchange Center was founded in honor of James and Ethel Beck, at what had been their comfortable home on Dandridge, just east of downtown. The Becks were one of the most interesting couples in Knoxville history. Although […]
This winter several have noticed a bit of oddity in a surgical demolition project on the corner of Gay and Church. The greenish cube known as “the old KUB Building,” has been losing its skin for the last several weeks. […]