Southern Terminal, Knoxville, Tennessee
Encyclopedia
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 designed by noted train station architect Frank Pierce Milburn
(1868–1926). In 1985, the terminal complex, along with several dozen warehouses and storefronts in the adjacent Old City
and vicinity, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District.
During the 1850s, the arrival of the railroad— namely the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad
and its predecessor lines— transformed Knoxville from a small river town of just over 2,000 residents to one of the southeast's major wholesaling centers. Wholesaling firms built dozens of large warehouses along Jackson Avenue and adjacent streets, where smalltown merchants from across East Tennessee
would purchase goods and supplies to resell at rural general stores. In 1894, the ETV&G was absorbed by the Southern Railway, which in turn became part of the Norfolk Southern Railway
in 1982.
The terminal station and freight depot sit on the north side of the tracks, at the intersection of Gay Street and Depot Avenue. Several large early-20th-century warehouses rise between Jackson Avenue and the south side of the tracks, with the buildings' loading docks facing the tracks and storefronts facing Jackson Avenue. The Old City, a neighborhood that developed along with the railroad in the latter half of the 19th century, is concentrated around the intersection of Central Street and Jackson Avenue.
-based businessmen, which would connect Knoxville with the Charleston and Hamburg line in Dalton, Georgia
, and provide a link to the Atlantic Coast. After struggling with finances for nearly a decade, the Hiwassee was rechartered as the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, and construction began in 1848. The first train rolled into Knoxville on June 22, 1855.
What is now the Southern Terminal and railyard was originally a swamp known as the "Flag Pond," which Knoxvillians considered a health threat and long sought to drain. Because this swampy area provided the flattest land in Knoxville, however, the East Tennessee and Georgia chose it for the location of its Knoxville terminal and railyards. The company built a roundhouse
and machine shops where the Southern Terminal complex now stands. By 1858, another rail line, the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad, had been completed, connecting Knoxville with Bristol
.
, forcing Confederate authorities to invoke martial law in the region. In June 1863, General William P. Sanders
conducted a raid of the Knoxville area in which he destroyed tracks from Knoxville to Lenoir Station
, and burned a railroad bridge in Strawberry Plains
. In November 1863, Union forces burned the Roundhouse and machine shops to prevent Confederate forces from capturing them.
East Tennessee and Georgia president Campbell Wallace, an ardent Confederate, accused the pro-Union Knoxville Whig editor William "Parson" Brownlow
of instigating the November 1861 bridge-burning conspiracy, and demanded he be hanged. After the war, when Brownlow was governor of Tennessee, he seized control of the railroad, claiming Wallace had "basely prostituted" the line to the Confederate cause. Ironically, it was an ex-Confederate, Charles McClung McGhee
, who formed a syndicate which bought the East Tennessee and Georgia and the East Tennessee and Virginia lines, and merged the two into the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad in 1869.
, Knoxville Woolen Mills, and Brookside Mills
. The railroad aided the rise the Tennessee marble
industry, with eleven quarries in operation in Knox County
alone by 1882.
Under the direction of McGhee and New York financier Richard T. Wilson, the ETV&G expanded rapidly. During the 1870s, the company completed lines to Kentucky and through the rugged French Broad valley
into North Carolina. It also purchased lines in Georgia and Alabama. By 1890, the ETV&G controlled 2500 miles (4,023.4 km) of tracks in five states. Its tracks stretched as far west as Memphis
, as far southwest as Meridian, Mississippi
, and Mobile, Alabama
, and southeast to Brunswick, Georgia
, on the Atlantic Coast.
and several investors purchased the ETV&G and the Richmond and Danville Railroad
, and consolidated the two into the Southern Railway. The Southern immediately began making upgrades to the system's trackage and equipment, and built the Coster Repair Shops, which originally employed over 1,000 workers, and led to the development of the Oakwood neighborhood in North Knoxville. In 1925, Southern built the vast John Sevier railyard east of Knoxville, which is still used today by Norfolk Southern as a classification yard
.
In 1902, Southern hired architect Frank Pierce Milburn (1868–1926) to design a series of new train stations across the South, including the new terminal in Knoxville. The new Knoxville terminal and accompanying freight depot opened in 1904. That same year, the New Market train wreck
occurred several miles east of Knoxville, killing 56 passengers. An obscure Knoxville street musician named Charlie Oaks, who often played at the terminal for "nickels and dimes," wrote a song about the wreck. In 1924, Oaks became one of the earliest musicians to commercially record what is now country music
.
At its height, the Southern Terminal was servicing 26 passenger trains daily. With the rise of automobile and bus travel, however, passenger rail service declined. After World War II
, the Southern was operating eight expresses and twelve local lines out of Knoxville. By 1956, the local lines had been eliminated, and most of the expresses were eliminated by the late 1960s. The last regularly scheduled passenger train left the Southern Terminal on August 12, 1970.
There were originally 75 contributing buildings and structures in the Southern Terminal district, although some of these are no longer standing. The listing included the old Gay Street Viaduct, which was demolished and replaced by the current viaduct in 2005. Other non-extant listings include an 1870s-era freight depot once located at 406 West Jackson (now a parking lot), and several warehouse buildings on West Jackson's 500-block. In 2004, the Southern Terminal district was extended to include the Southeastern Glass Building at 100 North Broadway.
d roofs. The terminal building is two-and-a-half stories, with the lower level originally containing the dining rooms, baggage check, and mail rooms, and the upper level originally housing the ticketing and waiting rooms. A bridge connects the upper level with Depot Avenue. The building originally included a clock tower, which was removed in 1945, apparently due to structural problems.
The freight depot consists of a -story central section flanked by two 1-story wings. The design of the central section matches the design of the adjacent main terminal building. Part of the depot's east wing has been removed to create an open courtyard. Both the main terminal building and freight depot are now used for office space.
with his parents in the 1850s, established his saloon in what is now the Old City just after the Civil War
. The saloon initially operated out of a wooden building before being replaced by the current elaborate brick structure. The building housed a saloon until 1907, when it was forced to close due to citywide Prohibition. Today the saloon is home to Patrick Sullivan's Steakhouse and Saloon, which was established in 1988. The building has been called the "best extant example of a downtown saloon in the southeastern United States."
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. The complex, which includes a passenger terminal and freight depot adjacent to a large railyard, was built in 1904 by the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (US)
The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
. Both the terminal and freight depot were designed by noted train station architect Frank Pierce Milburn
Frank Pierce Milburn
Frank Pierce Milburn was a prolific architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While Milburn designed commercial buildings and residences, his practice was primarily focused on public buildings, particularly courthouses and legislative buildings...
(1868–1926). In 1985, the terminal complex, along with several dozen warehouses and storefronts in the adjacent Old City
Old City (Knoxville)
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...
and vicinity, 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 the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District.
During the 1850s, the arrival of the railroad— namely 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...
and its predecessor lines— transformed Knoxville from a small river town of just over 2,000 residents to one of the southeast's major wholesaling centers. Wholesaling firms built dozens of large warehouses along Jackson Avenue and adjacent streets, where smalltown merchants from across East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
would purchase goods and supplies to resell at rural general stores. In 1894, the ETV&G was absorbed by the Southern Railway, which in turn became part of the Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk 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...
in 1982.
Location
The Southern Terminal complex and the adjacent railyard lie at the north end of Knoxville's downtown area, occupying a natural declivity about 15 feet (4.6 m) below the adjacent street levels. The tracks run in a southwest-to-northeast direction, roughly parallel to Jackson Avenue on the south and Depot Avenue on the north. The railyard, which consists of eleven parallel tracks at its widest point, stretches from Broadway on the southwest to Central Street on the northeast. Gay Street crosses the railyard via the Gay Street Viaduct.The terminal station and freight depot sit on the north side of the tracks, at the intersection of Gay Street and Depot Avenue. Several large early-20th-century warehouses rise between Jackson Avenue and the south side of the tracks, with the buildings' loading docks facing the tracks and storefronts facing Jackson Avenue. The Old City, a neighborhood that developed along with the railroad in the latter half of the 19th century, is concentrated around the intersection of Central Street and Jackson Avenue.
Early railroad development
Mountain barriers were an impediment to economic development in East Tennessee throughout the first half of the 19th century, and as early as the 1830s, Knoxville's leaders considered the railroad a solution to this isolation. Among the earliest proposals was the Hiwassee Railroad, conceived by several Athens, TennesseeAthens, Tennessee
Athens is a city in McMinn County, Tennessee, United States. It is the county seat of McMinn County and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Chattanooga-Cleveland-Athens Combined Statistical Area. The population was 13,220 at the 2000...
-based businessmen, which would connect Knoxville with the Charleston and Hamburg line in Dalton, Georgia
Dalton, Georgia
Dalton is a city in Whitfield County, Georgia, United States. It is the county seat of Whitfield County and the principal city of the Dalton, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of both Murray and Whitfield counties. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 33,128...
, and provide a link to the Atlantic Coast. After struggling with finances for nearly a decade, the Hiwassee was rechartered as the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, and construction began in 1848. The first train rolled into Knoxville on June 22, 1855.
What is now the Southern Terminal and railyard was originally a swamp known as the "Flag Pond," which Knoxvillians considered a health threat and long sought to drain. Because this swampy area provided the flattest land in Knoxville, however, the East Tennessee and Georgia chose it for the location of its Knoxville terminal and railyards. The company built a roundhouse
Roundhouse
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...
and machine shops where the Southern Terminal complex now stands. By 1858, another rail line, the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad, had been completed, connecting Knoxville with Bristol
Bristol, Tennessee
Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundaries of both cities run parallel to each other along State...
.
Civil War
During the Civil War, the railroad in East Tennessee provided a vital link in the supply line between Confederate forces in Virginia and the Deep South, and thus became a target of Union forces from the war's earliest days. On November 8, 1861, Unionist guerillas destroyed five railroad bridges across East TennesseeEast Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy
The East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy was a Civil War-era guerrilla warfare operation carried out by Union sympathizers in Confederate-occupied East Tennessee in 1861. The operation, which was planned by Carter County minister William B...
, forcing Confederate authorities to invoke martial law in the region. In June 1863, General William P. Sanders
William P. Sanders
William Price Sanders was an officer in the Union Army in the American Civil War, who died at the Siege of Knoxville.-Birth and early years:...
conducted a raid of the Knoxville area in which he destroyed tracks from Knoxville to Lenoir Station
Lenoir City, Tennessee
Lenoir City is a city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 8,642 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area....
, and burned a railroad bridge in Strawberry Plains
Strawberry Plains, Tennessee
Strawberry Plains is an unincorporated community straddling the boundary between Jefferson and Sevier and Knox counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The United States Geographic Names System classifies Strawberry Plains as a populated place....
. In November 1863, Union forces burned the Roundhouse and machine shops to prevent Confederate forces from capturing them.
East Tennessee and Georgia president Campbell Wallace, an ardent Confederate, accused the pro-Union Knoxville Whig editor William "Parson" Brownlow
William Gannaway Brownlow
William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow was an American newspaper editor, minister, and politician who served as Governor of the state of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875...
of instigating the November 1861 bridge-burning conspiracy, and demanded he be hanged. After the war, when Brownlow was governor of Tennessee, he seized control of the railroad, claiming Wallace had "basely prostituted" the line to the Confederate cause. Ironically, it was an ex-Confederate, Charles McClung McGhee
Charles McClung McGhee
Charles McClung McGhee was an American railroad tycoon and financier, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the latter half of the nineteenth century...
, who formed a syndicate which bought the East Tennessee and Georgia and the East Tennessee and Virginia lines, and merged the two into the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad in 1869.
The East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad
The railroad's impact on Knoxville's development was swift. The city's population more than doubled from just over 2,000 in 1850 to over 4,000 in 1860. After the war, the city's wholesaling sector expanded rapidly. By the early 1870s, the Knoxville wholesaling firm, Cowan, McClung and Company, was Tennessee's most profitable company. The railroad also brought heavy industry to the city, such as the Knoxville Iron CompanyKnoxville Iron Company
The Knoxville Iron Company was an iron production and coal mining company that operated primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, and its vicinity, in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The company was Knoxville's first major post-Civil War manufacturing firm, and played a key role in bringing heavy...
, Knoxville Woolen Mills, and Brookside Mills
Brookside Mills
Brookside Mills was a textile manufacturing company that operated in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company's Second Creek factory was the city's largest employer in the early 1900s. Brookside Village, a neighborhood in North Knoxville, was originally...
. The railroad aided the rise the Tennessee marble
Tennessee marble
Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found primarily in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, this stone has been used in the construction of numerous notable...
industry, with eleven quarries in operation in Knox County
Knox County, Tennessee
Knox County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its 2007 population was estimated at 423,874 by the United States Census Bureau. Its county seat is Knoxville, as it has been since the creation of the county. The county is at the geographical center of the Great Valley of East Tennessee...
alone by 1882.
Under the direction of McGhee and New York financier Richard T. Wilson, the ETV&G expanded rapidly. During the 1870s, the company completed lines to Kentucky and through the rugged French Broad valley
French Broad River
The French Broad River flows from near the village of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into the state of Tennessee. Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville is the beginning of the Tennessee River....
into North Carolina. It also purchased lines in Georgia and Alabama. By 1890, the ETV&G controlled 2500 miles (4,023.4 km) of tracks in five states. Its tracks stretched as far west as Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, as far southwest as Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, and Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, and southeast to Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick is the major urban and economic center in southeastern Georgia in the United States. The municipality is located on a harbor near the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles north of Florida and 70 miles south of South Carolina. Brunswick is bordered on the east by the Atlantic...
, on the Atlantic Coast.
The Southern Railway
In 1894, financier J. P. MorganJ. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
and several investors purchased the ETV&G and the Richmond and Danville Railroad
Richmond and Danville Railroad
The Richmond and Danville Railroad was chartered in Virginia in the United States in 1847. The portion between Richmond and Danville, Virginia was completed in 1856...
, and consolidated the two into the Southern Railway. The Southern immediately began making upgrades to the system's trackage and equipment, and built the Coster Repair Shops, which originally employed over 1,000 workers, and led to the development of the Oakwood neighborhood in North Knoxville. In 1925, Southern built the vast John Sevier railyard east of Knoxville, which is still used today by Norfolk Southern as a classification yard
Classification yard
A classification yard or marshalling yard is a railroad yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railroad cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill...
.
In 1902, Southern hired architect Frank Pierce Milburn (1868–1926) to design a series of new train stations across the South, including the new terminal in Knoxville. The new Knoxville terminal and accompanying freight depot opened in 1904. That same year, the New Market train wreck
New Market train wreck
The New Market Train Wreck happened when two Southern Railway passenger trains travelling at great speed collided head on near New Market, Tennessee on Saturday, September 24, 1904, killing at least 56 passengers and crew and injuring 106.-Trains:...
occurred several miles east of Knoxville, killing 56 passengers. An obscure Knoxville street musician named Charlie Oaks, who often played at the terminal for "nickels and dimes," wrote a song about the wreck. In 1924, Oaks became one of the earliest musicians to commercially record what is now country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
.
At its height, the Southern Terminal was servicing 26 passenger trains daily. With the rise of automobile and bus travel, however, passenger rail service declined. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Southern was operating eight expresses and twelve local lines out of Knoxville. By 1956, the local lines had been eliminated, and most of the expresses were eliminated by the late 1960s. The last regularly scheduled passenger train left the Southern Terminal on August 12, 1970.
Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District
The Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 for its late-19th- and early-20th-century commercial architecture and its role in Knoxville's railroad-based commerce and wholesaling industry. The district includes the Southern Terminal complex, all of West Jackson Avenue, the 100 blocks of East Jackson, North and South Central, and South Gay, parts of State Street and Vine Avenue, and the former White Lily plant on Depot. Several buildings in the district, namely Sullivan's Saloon (100 E. Jackson) and the warehouse buildings at 121-123, 122-124, 125-127, and 129-131 West Jackson, were previously listed on the Register in the 1970s as the Jackson Avenue Warehouse District.There were originally 75 contributing buildings and structures in the Southern Terminal district, although some of these are no longer standing. The listing included the old Gay Street Viaduct, which was demolished and replaced by the current viaduct in 2005. Other non-extant listings include an 1870s-era freight depot once located at 406 West Jackson (now a parking lot), and several warehouse buildings on West Jackson's 500-block. In 2004, the Southern Terminal district was extended to include the Southeastern Glass Building at 100 North Broadway.
Southern Terminal and freight depot
The terminal station and freight depot, both designed in the same vernacular style with Classical Revival influence, were completed in 1904, and are notable for their signature corbel-stepped gableGable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roofs. The terminal building is two-and-a-half stories, with the lower level originally containing the dining rooms, baggage check, and mail rooms, and the upper level originally housing the ticketing and waiting rooms. A bridge connects the upper level with Depot Avenue. The building originally included a clock tower, which was removed in 1945, apparently due to structural problems.
The freight depot consists of a -story central section flanked by two 1-story wings. The design of the central section matches the design of the adjacent main terminal building. Part of the depot's east wing has been removed to create an open courtyard. Both the main terminal building and freight depot are now used for office space.
Patrick Sullivan's Saloon
Sullivan's Saloon (100 E. Jackson) is a two-story Romanesque Revival building with Queen Anne elements constructed by saloonkeeper Patrick Sullivan (1841–1925) in 1888. Sullivan, who immigrated from IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
with his parents in the 1850s, established his saloon in what is now the Old City just 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...
. The saloon initially operated out of a wooden building before being replaced by the current elaborate brick structure. The building housed a saloon until 1907, when it was forced to close due to citywide Prohibition. Today the saloon is home to Patrick Sullivan's Steakhouse and Saloon, which was established in 1988. The building has been called the "best extant example of a downtown saloon in the southeastern United States."
Other notable buildings
- 121-123 West Jackson, sometimes called the Carhart Building, a -story brick warehouse building with a Romanesque Revival facade, built around 1900. The Carhart Building was designed by the Knoxville architectural firm, Baumann BrothersBaumann family (architects)The Baumann family was a family of American architects who practiced in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the surrounding region, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It included Joseph F. Baumann , his brother, Albert B. Baumann, Sr. , and Albert's son, Albert B. Baumann, Jr....
, and is named for H.B. Carhart and Company, a grocery wholesaler established in 1877. 121 West Jackson is currently home to Crush, a shop that specializes in retro rock fashion.
- 120-122 West Jackson, a five-story vernacular brick warehouse building constructed circa 1900.
- 124 West Jackson, a five-story brick warehouse building with Romanesque Revival facade constructed circa 1900. This building may have originally been occupied by Powers, Little and Company, a clothing wholesaler established in 1892.
- 125 West Jackson, a 3.5-story brick building with a Classical Revival facade, constructed circa 1890. During the 1890s, this building was occupied by two wholesale grocers, Hazen and Lotspeich, and Knaffl and Locke, the latter cofounded by Rudolph Knaffl, a brother of photographer Joseph KnafflJoseph KnafflJoseph Knaffl was an American art and portrait photographer, active in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his 1899 portrait, "Knaffl Madonna," which has been reprinted thousands of times, and is still used for Hallmark Christmas cards...
. Its current tenants include Remedy Coffee.
- JFG Flats (200 West Jackson), a six-story concrete building constructed in 1920, and used for several decades by the JFG Coffee Company. The company's large neon sign still stands atop the building, which now houses residential flats.
- 203 West Jackson, a one-story, 20-bay brick freight depot originally constructed circa 1870. In the late 1990s, this building was extensively renovated by its current occupant, Heuristic Workshop.
- The Emporium Building (102-106 South Gay), a three-story Renaissance Revival warehouse constructed in 1898 by the Sterchi Brothers Company, a regional furniture wholesaler.
- Sterchi Lofts (114-116 South Gay), a ten-story warehouse and office building constructed in 1921 and designed by architect R. F. GrafR. F. GrafRichard Franklin Graf was an American architect, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the vicinity, in the early 20th century. His works include Stratford Mansion , Sterchi Lofts , St. John's Lutheran Church , and the Journal Arcade . His home, the Prairie School-inspired Graf-Cullum...
. The building was used as a warehouse until the late 20th century by the furnture company, Sterchi Brothers, and now houses downtown residential lofts.
- Commerce Building (120-126 South Gay), a four-story Italianate building constructed in the early 1890s.
- White Lily Foods Company building (106 Depot), a four-story brick factory originally constructed in 1885. White Lily operated out of this building until 2008.
- The 100 blocks of North and South Central contain nearly two dozen commercial buildings constructed circa 1880—1925, ranging from one to three stories. These buildings were once part of a vice-ridden section of Knoxville known as "The Bowery," which once stretched along Central from the tracks to the river. Most of these buildings were renovated in the 1980s and 1990s, and the neighborhood was renamed the "Old City."