Old City (Knoxville)
Encyclopedia
The Old City is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee
, USA, located at the northeast corner of the city's downtown area. Originally part of a raucous and vice-ridden section of town known as "The Bowery," the Old City has since been revitalized through extensive redevelopment efforts carried out during the 1980s and 1990s. Presently, the Old City is an offbeat urban neighborhood, home to several unique restaurants, bars, clubs, and shops.
In spite of its name, the Old City is not the oldest section of Knoxville. Most of the neighborhood was not part of the city until the 1850s, when the arrival of the railroad encouraged the city to annex the areas north of Vine Avenue. The railroad brought an influx of Irish immigrants, who established the Old City's first saloons and shops. After the Civil War
, Knoxville developed into one of the southeast's largest wholesaling centers. Wholesalers built large warehouses, such as the ones along Jackson Avenue, where rural East Tennessee merchants came to buy the goods with which they stocked their general stores.
By the early 1900s, Central Street was lined with saloons and brothels. Violent crime and prostitution continued to be a problem into the 1960s, causing many of the neighborhood's businesses to flee the area. Beginning in the 1970s, successful redevelopment efforts led by Kristopher Kendrick (who coined the name "Old City") and Peter Calandruccio revitalized the neighborhood. In 1985, most of the neighborhood's historic buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as part of the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District
.
system). The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Magnolia Avenue on the north, Gay Street
on the west, Summit Hill Drive on the south, and the interstate overpasses on the east. Interstate 40
passes just north of the Old City, and is accessible via the Downtown Loop from Summit Hill Drive.
in 1854 and the arrival of the railroad in 1855 catalyzed development north of the city, however, and by the end of 1855 the city's limits had pushed northward to what is now Emory Place
.
The arrival of the railroad had a major impact on the city's cultural makeup, as hundreds of Irish immigrants arrived in town to help construct the railroad tracks and facilities. Many of these immigrants settled in what is now the Old City, so much so that at one point the area was known as "Irish Town." After the Civil War, Irish businessmen began building saloons and shops along Central (originally Crozier) Street that served the city's railroad traffic. Among these businesses was a saloon built by Patrick Sullivan (1840—1925), which initially operated out of a wooden structure before Sullivan erected the elaborate brick building that still stands at the corner of Central and Jackson.
In 1869, Knoxville's two main rail lines merged to form the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad
, which in subsequent years constructed or acquired over 2500 miles (4,023.4 km) of track across the southeast, leading to a wholesaling and industrial boom in the city. By 1886, several factories had moved into the Old City. The Burr and Terry Sash Factory stood at what is now the intersection of Central and Jackson. The four-story City Mills (later White Lily) plant and the Beach's Marble Works finishing mill stood along Depot, and the Elridge Carriage Factory operated near the modern corner of Central and Summit Hill.
. A 1900 article described the Bowery as being "congregated by nine-tenths of the criminal element" of Knoxville, and according to historian Jack Neely, "saloons, whorehouses, cocaine parlors, gambling dens, and poolrooms" lined Central from the tracks to the river. Florida Street, which ran adjacent to Central prior to expressway construction, developed into a red-light district
known as "Friendly Town."
Bar fights and shootouts were not uncommon at the Bowery's saloons. The most well-known of the Bowery's gunfights occurred at Ike Jones' bar on Central on December 13, 1901, when outlaw Kid Curry (a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch
) shot and killed two Knoxville police officers. Curry was eventually captured and jailed, but managed to escape. The shooting became a rallying cry for the city's prohibitionists, who shouted down Knoxville mayor Samuel Heiskell with chants of "Harvey Logan" (Curry's real name) during a rally on Market Square in 1907.
While the Bowery was one of the most crime-ridden sections of Knoxville, it was also one of the most diverse, and was one of the few parts of town where black-owned businesses functioned next to white-owned businesses. Black-owned businesses in the neighborhood included the Gem Theater, the Dogan-Gaither Motel, Gleaner Printing Company, and Easley's Grocery. In the early 1900s, Greek immigrant Constantine Stergiokis opened one of Knoxville's first Greek restaurants along Central. After citywide prohibition shut down Knoxville's saloons, the Italian-American Armetto family opened an ice cream parlor in the Sullivan building.
Part of the Knoxville Riot of 1919
, one of the city's worst racial episodes, took place in the Bowery on August 30, 1919. Early that morning, a white woman was murdered, and police arrested Maurice Mayes, a prominent local mulatto
, for the crime. That afternoon, a lynch mob broke into the jail, and failing to find Mayes, freed several inmates and looted the liquor storage room. As the riot spread into the streets, the rioters made their way to the Bowery, where they attacked and exchanged gunfire with black residents along Vine Avenue. The National Guard
finally restored order the following morning.
Several scenes in Cormac McCarthy
's 1979 novel, Suttree
, take place in the Old City. In one scene, the title character passes along Central, where "loud and shoddy commerce erupted out of the dim shops into the streets and packs of scarred dogs wandered," en route to sell his fish to a Central Street butcher. In another scene, a friend of Suttree's tells a story about a murderer showing off his victim's severed head at a bar on Central. The book also mentions the "Corner Grill" (later the Corner Lounge), which operated on North Central from the 1930s until 2008.
During the 1970s, developer Kristopher Kendrick began buying up properties in the Old City. In a 1994 interview, Kendrick mentioned a conversation he had had with Coca-Cola bottler Patrick Roddy that would inspire the new name for the neighborhood. "I told him that we had bought property down there," Kendrick recalled, "and he said, 'Kris, that's the old city,' and I said, 'Pat, that's the perfect name.'" By the late 1980s, several new business had opened in the Old City, including Annie's, Old City Mercantile, Kerby's Antiques, and Hewgley's Music. Sullivan's Saloon "reopened" as Patrick Sullivan's Steakhouse and Saloon on St. Patrick's Day in 1988.
ing company, has operated on West Jackson since 1928.
There are several loft apartments in the older buildings of the Old City, many located behind and above offices and stores. The Jackson Ateliers Building and Hewgley Park lofts have been residential locations for many years. The Jacksonian Condos, JFG Flats, and Fire Street Lofts, have been redeveloped more recently as upscale condominiums, some listing in excess of $600,000.
The area tends to attract young single adults, who are sometimes affiliated with the University of Tennessee
, which is less than two miles away. The Old City's proximity to entertainment and nightlife make it an attractive place to live for many young adults. The Old City has a noticeable presence of homeless people, but violence is uncommon and the main concern is panhandling.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, USA, located at the northeast corner of the city's downtown area. Originally part of a raucous and vice-ridden section of town known as "The Bowery," the Old City has since been revitalized through extensive redevelopment efforts carried out during the 1980s and 1990s. Presently, the Old City is an offbeat urban neighborhood, home to several unique restaurants, bars, clubs, and shops.
In spite of its name, the Old City is not the oldest section of Knoxville. Most of the neighborhood was not part of the city until the 1850s, when the arrival of the railroad encouraged the city to annex the areas north of Vine Avenue. The railroad brought an influx of Irish immigrants, who established the Old City's first saloons and shops. After the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Knoxville developed into one of the southeast's largest wholesaling centers. Wholesalers built large warehouses, such as the ones along Jackson Avenue, where rural East Tennessee merchants came to buy the goods with which they stocked their general stores.
By the early 1900s, Central Street was lined with saloons and brothels. Violent crime and prostitution continued to be a problem into the 1960s, causing many of the neighborhood's businesses to flee the area. Beginning in the 1970s, successful redevelopment efforts led by Kristopher Kendrick (who coined the name "Old City") and Peter Calandruccio revitalized the neighborhood. In 1985, most of the neighborhood's historic buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as part of the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District
Southern Terminal, Knoxville, Tennessee
The Southern Terminal is a former railway complex located at 306 West Depot Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. The complex, which includes a passenger terminal and freight depot adjacent to a large railyard, was built in 1904 by the Southern Railway. Both the terminal and freight depot were...
.
Location
The Old City is concentrated around the intersection of Central Street and Jackson Avenue, adjacent to the Southern Terminal tracks and railyard (now part of the Norfolk SouthernNorfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
system). The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Magnolia Avenue on the north, Gay Street
Gay Street (Knoxville)
Gay Street is a street in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that traverses the heart of the city's downtown area. Since its development in the 1790s, Gay Street has served as the city's principal financial and commercial thoroughfare, and has played a primary role in the city's historical and cultural...
on the west, Summit Hill Drive on the south, and the interstate overpasses on the east. Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
passes just north of the Old City, and is accessible via the Downtown Loop from Summit Hill Drive.
19th century
During the first half of the 19th century, Knoxville's northward expansion was slow. By 1852, Vine Avenue marked the city's northern limits. The establishment of Market SquareMarket Square, Knoxville
Market Square is a pedestrian mall located in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Established in 1854 as a market place for regional farmers, the square has developed over the decades into a multipurpose venue that accommodates events ranging from concerts to political rallies, and has long provided a...
in 1854 and the arrival of the railroad in 1855 catalyzed development north of the city, however, and by the end of 1855 the city's limits had pushed northward to what is now Emory Place
Emory Place Historic District
The Emory Place Historic District is a historic district in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, located just north of the city's downtown area. The district consists of several commercial, residential, religious, and public buildings that developed around a late nineteenth century train and trolley...
.
The arrival of the railroad had a major impact on the city's cultural makeup, as hundreds of Irish immigrants arrived in town to help construct the railroad tracks and facilities. Many of these immigrants settled in what is now the Old City, so much so that at one point the area was known as "Irish Town." After the Civil War, Irish businessmen began building saloons and shops along Central (originally Crozier) Street that served the city's railroad traffic. Among these businesses was a saloon built by Patrick Sullivan (1840—1925), which initially operated out of a wooden structure before Sullivan erected the elaborate brick building that still stands at the corner of Central and Jackson.
In 1869, Knoxville's two main rail lines merged to form the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad
The East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad was a rail transport system that operated in the southeastern United States during the late 19th century...
, which in subsequent years constructed or acquired over 2500 miles (4,023.4 km) of track across the southeast, leading to a wholesaling and industrial boom in the city. By 1886, several factories had moved into the Old City. The Burr and Terry Sash Factory stood at what is now the intersection of Central and Jackson. The four-story City Mills (later White Lily) plant and the Beach's Marble Works finishing mill stood along Depot, and the Elridge Carriage Factory operated near the modern corner of Central and Summit Hill.
Early 1900s
By the early 1900s, Central Street had developed into a raucous area known as "The Bowery," presumably after the New York neighborhood of similar reputeBowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
. A 1900 article described the Bowery as being "congregated by nine-tenths of the criminal element" of Knoxville, and according to historian Jack Neely, "saloons, whorehouses, cocaine parlors, gambling dens, and poolrooms" lined Central from the tracks to the river. Florida Street, which ran adjacent to Central prior to expressway construction, developed into a red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
known as "Friendly Town."
Bar fights and shootouts were not uncommon at the Bowery's saloons. The most well-known of the Bowery's gunfights occurred at Ike Jones' bar on Central on December 13, 1901, when outlaw Kid Curry (a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch
Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch
Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch was one of the loosely organized outlaw gangs operating out of the Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming during the Old West era in the United States. It was popularized by the 1969 movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and took its name from the original Wild Bunch...
) shot and killed two Knoxville police officers. Curry was eventually captured and jailed, but managed to escape. The shooting became a rallying cry for the city's prohibitionists, who shouted down Knoxville mayor Samuel Heiskell with chants of "Harvey Logan" (Curry's real name) during a rally on Market Square in 1907.
While the Bowery was one of the most crime-ridden sections of Knoxville, it was also one of the most diverse, and was one of the few parts of town where black-owned businesses functioned next to white-owned businesses. Black-owned businesses in the neighborhood included the Gem Theater, the Dogan-Gaither Motel, Gleaner Printing Company, and Easley's Grocery. In the early 1900s, Greek immigrant Constantine Stergiokis opened one of Knoxville's first Greek restaurants along Central. After citywide prohibition shut down Knoxville's saloons, the Italian-American Armetto family opened an ice cream parlor in the Sullivan building.
Part of the Knoxville Riot of 1919
Knoxville Riot of 1919
The Knoxville Riot of 1919 was a race riot that took place in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, on August 30–31, 1919. The riot began when a lynch mob stormed the county jail in search of Maurice Mayes, a mulatto man who had been accused of murdering a white woman...
, one of the city's worst racial episodes, took place in the Bowery on August 30, 1919. Early that morning, a white woman was murdered, and police arrested Maurice Mayes, a prominent local mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
, for the crime. That afternoon, a lynch mob broke into the jail, and failing to find Mayes, freed several inmates and looted the liquor storage room. As the riot spread into the streets, the rioters made their way to the Bowery, where they attacked and exchanged gunfire with black residents along Vine Avenue. The National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
finally restored order the following morning.
Revitalization
As crime persisted in the Bowery, businesses began moving away. In the 1940s, JFG Coffee, which had opened its processing plant on West Jackson in 1921, threatened to move to a new location, complaining that the company's truck drivers were consistently mobbed by prostitutes. Walter McGinnis, who operated the Tri-City Barber College at the corner of Jackson and Central from 1952 until 1992, recalled that, "Saturday at noon, the sawmills would close, and the people who worked in the forest would come to South Central. By 5 o'clock that night they were all pretty drunk and fightin.'"Several scenes in Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels, spanning the Southern Gothic, Western, and modernist genres. He received the Pulitzer Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction for The Road...
's 1979 novel, Suttree
Suttree
Suttree is a semi-autobiographical novel by Cormac McCarthy, published in 1979. Set in 1951 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the novel follows Cornelius Suttree, who has repudiated his former life of privilege to become a fisherman on the Tennessee River. The novel has a fragmented structure with many...
, take place in the Old City. In one scene, the title character passes along Central, where "loud and shoddy commerce erupted out of the dim shops into the streets and packs of scarred dogs wandered," en route to sell his fish to a Central Street butcher. In another scene, a friend of Suttree's tells a story about a murderer showing off his victim's severed head at a bar on Central. The book also mentions the "Corner Grill" (later the Corner Lounge), which operated on North Central from the 1930s until 2008.
During the 1970s, developer Kristopher Kendrick began buying up properties in the Old City. In a 1994 interview, Kendrick mentioned a conversation he had had with Coca-Cola bottler Patrick Roddy that would inspire the new name for the neighborhood. "I told him that we had bought property down there," Kendrick recalled, "and he said, 'Kris, that's the old city,' and I said, 'Pat, that's the perfect name.'" By the late 1980s, several new business had opened in the Old City, including Annie's, Old City Mercantile, Kerby's Antiques, and Hewgley's Music. Sullivan's Saloon "reopened" as Patrick Sullivan's Steakhouse and Saloon on St. Patrick's Day in 1988.
Economy
Now considered the "club district" of Knoxville (currently no strip clubs), the Old City is generally made up of warehouses, buildings of light industrial use, and a small historically commercial strip along South Central Street. The White Lily Foods plant, which had operated since 1885, shut down in 2008. JFG Coffee was for decades located in several buildings in the Old City, but has recently moved. John H. Daniel Company, a custom tailorTailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
ing company, has operated on West Jackson since 1928.
There are several loft apartments in the older buildings of the Old City, many located behind and above offices and stores. The Jackson Ateliers Building and Hewgley Park lofts have been residential locations for many years. The Jacksonian Condos, JFG Flats, and Fire Street Lofts, have been redeveloped more recently as upscale condominiums, some listing in excess of $600,000.
The area tends to attract young single adults, who are sometimes affiliated with the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
, which is less than two miles away. The Old City's proximity to entertainment and nightlife make it an attractive place to live for many young adults. The Old City has a noticeable presence of homeless people, but violence is uncommon and the main concern is panhandling.
See also
- Battle of Depot StreetBattle of Depot StreetThe Battle of Depot Street was a municipal dispute and riot that took place in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, on March 1, 1897. The incident began with a disagreement between city officials and Knox County officials over whether or not the Citizens Railway Company, led by William Gibbs McAdoo, had the...
- Jackson Avenue Warehouse DistrictJackson Avenue Warehouse DistrictThe Jackson Avenue Warehouse District is an historic district in the Old City section of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s. The district includes several warehouses along the 100-block of West Jackson Avenue, as well as the Sullivan's Saloon...
- South Market Historic DistrictSouth Market Historic DistrictThe South Market Historic District is a cluster of five buildings at the intersection of Market Street and Church Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996...