Due to its condition, as reported by engineers, the future of the Gay Street Bridge is in question. The Gay Street Bridge is a Knoxville icon. The steel bridge, designed and constructed by the Youngstown, Ohio, Bridge Co., is the […]

When checking the status of a flight, whether you are heading out of town or waiting on a family member or friend to arrive, it can be handy to know the three-digit code for the Knoxville airport. Those three letters—TYS—actually […]

The elderly British sailor with an Italian name who became suddenly famous after his death Thomas F. Grimaldi was fairly new to town, a cobbler arriving in the very early 1870s, but in the rapidly growing railroad town he rose […]

The Knoxvillian Who Invented the Famous New Year’s Eve Celebration in Times Square   For many, the last few seconds of a year are marked by watching the “Ball Drop” in Manhattan’s world-famous Times Square. It may be hard to […]

A long-unopened box of holiday cards reveals startling designs from a past era     For close to 90 years, a box containing unopened Christmas cards, many depicting rich, stylish illustrations, was found in the attic of an old house […]

Parades of all kinds were popular in Knoxville in the late 19th and early 20th Century: circus parades, bicycle parades, Labor Day Parades, Memorial parades, and even the University of Tennessee held Carnival Days throughout the downtown area. By the […]

Knoxville’s Extraordinary Marble World For anyone who has spent much time in Knoxville, there is one thing that you might encounter in almost every part of the city, and that’s Tennessee marble. It graces several impressive buildings downtown and you […]

The current closure is another chapter of catastrophes and construction projects across the Tennessee River Despite several periods when the Gay Street Bridge has been closed for repairs, mostly recently during a major renovation from 2001 to 2004, the structure […]

Knoxville’s Fondly Remembered Painter and Toy Maker During the second half of the 20th century, one of Knoxville’s best loved painters was William Russell Briscoe, an artist who captured the spirit of ages past through his vivid depictions of the […]