The following images were shared by members of the community with the Knoxville History Project as part of an ongoing effort to expand what we know visually about the history of culture of the city.
Chilhowee Park
After it was completed in the late 1800s, Chilhowee Park immediately drew thousands of people from across Knoxville to escape city life for a while and enjoy the calming influence of the greenspace. Many arrived there on the Magnolia Avenue streetcar. Today, the shallow lake at Chilhowee Park is just a remnant of the once expansive Lake Ottosee that day tripper’s used for boating, and during the Appalachian Expositions of 1910 and 1911 and they also enjoyed other watersports including water baseball. Shared by Alec Riedl.
Circle Park
It’s hard today to imagine that UT’s Circle Park, where the Volunteer Statue stands, was once a residential neighborhood featuring large Victorian homes on comfortable lots. First known simply as “The Circle” it served as the city’s first park as early as 1885, attracting folks for picnics and pick-up games. On the site of these homes today is the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, open to the public since 1961, and the UT Communications building. Shared by Adrienne Webster from the Lib Cooper Knoxville Postcard Collection.
Tours of the Smoky Mountains Magazine
Once the Great Smoky Mountains National Park opened in the 1930s, the lure of the great outdoors was appealing to everyone. As the tourist industry began to grow, magazines and pamphlets such as this one not only showcased the splendor of the mountains, but also advertised hotels and restaurants. As can see here, with the dedication of the Henley Street Bridge in 1932, Knoxville life was also covered in the pages. In this issue, you can see what was playing at the Bijou Theatre (The Peruchi Players appearing in a “Grand Old Rustic Comedy with Plenty of Romance”), an illustrated round-up of the Tennessee Vols vs. Mississippi at Shields-Watkins Field, and the schedule at the Union Bus Terminal on Gay Street at Wall Avenue. Shared by Paul James.
Brockway Crouch
Professional florist Brockway Crouch was an inventor who created his own spring-loaded candelabras for weddings and social events around Knoxville. He was also a noted dog breeder and a birding enthusiast serving as a founding member of the Knoxville Bird Club, which is still active today. Crouch explored the Smoky Mountains frequently to explore the peaks and valleys, and also to blaze trails in the 1920s before the Smokies became an official national park. Passionate about birds and animals, Crouch often went to great lengths to find and photograph birds such as these Peregrine Falcon nestlings he found in a nest near Alum Cave on Mt. Le Conte.
Knoxville Lives
Each year, we research and produce a new story collection about Knoxvillians of the past. These people often have little in common except that they interacted with this city at pivotal times. The first two volumes, Knoxville Lives I and II, include biographical narratives on Tennessee Williams’ extended family and their times here; Isaac Gammon, one of the first elected Black city councilmen in the United States; Professor Ijams, who brought the Tennessee School for the Deaf back to prominence after the Civil war; the city’s first female stenographer, Alice Williams; internationally renowned artist Beauford Delaney’s time in Knoxville; and the life and times here during the Roaring Twenties.
ABOUT
The Knoxville History Project is a local educational nonprofit with a mission to research, preserve and promote the history and culture of Knoxville. KHP gives talks, presentations, writes books, and engages the public online through stories, oral history conversations, driving tours and much more.
If you have interesting old photographs of your own, from any era, please contact Paul James at (865) 337-7723 or Paul@KnoxHistoryProject.org.
Learn more at KnoxvilleHistoryProject.org/Knoxville-Shoebox/