Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Tennessee River within the Appalachian Mountains, it is the largest city in the Grand Division of East Tennessee. Knoxville had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most-populous city in Tennessee. The Knoxville metropolitan area has an estimated 958,000 residents.

Settled in 1786, Knoxville was the first capital of Tennessee. The city struggled with geographic isolation throughout the early 19th century before the arrival of the railroad in 1855 led to an economic boom. The city was bitterly divided over the issue of secession during the American Civil War and was occupied alternately by the Confederate and Union armies, which culminated in the Battle of Fort Sanders in 1863. Following the war, Knoxville grew rapidly and became a major wholesaling and manufacturing center until the 1920s when the city's economy began to stagnate. During the Great Depression, Knoxville's manufacturing sector collapsed, the downtown area declined, and city leaders became entrenched in highly partisan political fights. Hosting the 1982 World's Fair helped reinvigorate the city, and revitalization initiatives by city leaders and private developers have spurred growth in the city, especially downtown.

History of Knoxville

The first people to form substantial settlements in what is now Knoxville were indigenous people who arrived during the Woodland period (c. 1000 B.C. to 1000 A.D.). One of the oldest artificial structures in Knoxville is a burial mound constructed during the early Mississippian culture period (c. 1000–1400 A.D.). The earthwork mound was preserved, but the University of Tennessee campus developed around it.

Other prehistoric sites include an Early Woodland habitation area at the confluence of the Tennessee River and Knob Creek (near the Knox–Blount county line) and Dallas phase Mississippian villages at Post Oak Island (also along the river near the Knox–Blount line) and at Bussell Island (at the mouth of the Little Tennessee River near Lenoir City).

By the 18th century, the Cherokee, an Iroquoian language people, had become the dominant tribe in the East Tennessee region. They are believed to have migrated from the Great Lakes region centuries earlier. They were frequently at war with the Creek and Shawnee.

The Cherokee people called the Knoxville area kuwanda'talun'yi, which means "mulberry place". Most Cherokee habitation in the area concentrated in what American colonists called the Overhill settlements along the Little Tennessee River, southwest of Knoxville.

The first white traders and explorers arrived in the Tennessee Valley in the late 17th century. There is significant evidence that Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto visited Bussell Island in 1540.

However, the first major recorded Euro-American presence in the Knoxville area was the Timberlake Expedition, which passed through the area in December 1761 at the confluence of the Holston River and French Broad River into the Tennessee River. A British soldier and Anglo-American emissary from the Thirteen Colonies to the Overhill settlements, Henry Timberlake appreciated the Tennessee's deep waters after his party had spent several weeks struggling down the relatively shallow Holston.

The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 and the confusion brought about by the American Revolution led to a drastic increase in Euro-American settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the 1780s, white settlers were already established in the Holston and French Broad valleys. In 1785 the U.S. Congress ordered all illegal settlers out of the valley but to little effect. Settlers continued to trickle into Cherokee lands, and tensions between the settlers and the Cherokee rose.

In 1786, James White, a Revolutionary War officer, and his friend James Connor built White's Fort near the mouth of First Creek, on land White had purchased three years earlier. In 1790, White's son-in-law, Charles McClung—who had arrived from Pennsylvania the previous year—surveyed White's holdings between First Creek and Second Creek for the establishment of a town. McClung drew up sixty-four 0.5-acre (0.20 ha) lots. The waterfront was set aside for a town common. Two lots were set aside for a church and graveyard (First Presbyterian Church, founded 1792). Four lots were set aside for a school. That school was eventually chartered as Blount College and it served as the starting point for the University of Tennessee, which uses Blount College's founding date of 1794 as its own.

In 1790, President George Washington appointed North Carolina surveyor William Blount governor of the newly created Territory South of the River Ohio. One of Blount's first tasks was to meet with the Cherokee and establish territorial boundaries and resolve the issue of illegal settlers. This he accomplished almost immediately with the Treaty of Holston, which was negotiated and signed at White's Fort in 1791. Blount originally wanted to place the territorial capital at the confluence of the Clinch River and Tennessee River (now Kingston), but when the Cherokee refused to cede this land, Blount chose White's Fort. Blount named the new capital Knoxville after Revolutionary War General and Secretary of War Henry Knox, who at the time was Blount's immediate superior.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 104.2 square miles (269.8 km2), of which 98.5 square miles (255.2 km2) is land and 5.6 square miles (14.6 km2), or 5.42%, is water. Elevations range from just over 800 feet (240 m) along the riverfront to just over 1,000 feet (300 m) on various hilltops in West Knoxville, with the downtown area setting at just over 900 feet (270 m). High points include Sharp's Ridge in North Knoxville at 1,391 feet (424 m) and Brown Mountain in South Knoxville at 1,260 feet (380 m).

Knoxville is situated in the Great Appalachian Valley (known locally as the Tennessee Valley), about halfway between the Great Smoky Mountains to the east and the Cumberland Plateau to the west. The Great Valley is part of a sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains known as the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, which is characterized by long narrow ridges flanked by broad valleys. Prominent Ridge-and-Valley structures in the Knoxville area include Sharp's Ridge and Beaver Ridge in the northern part of the city, Brown Mountain in South Knoxville, parts of Bays Mountain just south of the city, and parts of McAnnally Ridge in the northeastern part of the city.

Arts & culture

Knoxville is home to a rich arts community and has many festivals throughout the year. Its contributions to old-time, bluegrass and country music are numerous, from Flatt and Scruggs and Homer and Jethro to The Everly Brothers.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO), established in 1935, is the oldest continuing orchestra in the southeast. The KSO maintains a core of full-time professional musicians and performs at more than 200 events per year. Its traditional venues include the Tennessee Theatre, the Bijou Theatre, and the Civic Auditorium, though it also performs at several non-traditional venues. The Knoxville Opera performs a season of opera every year, accompanied by a chorus. Knoxville was the location of Sergei Rachmaninoff's final concert in 1943, performed at Alumni Memorial Auditorium at the University of Tennessee.

Knoxville's underground music scene is rooted with the promotion by AC Entertainment around 1979. AC Entertainment, a local entertainment group, sought to expand the city's scene. In the 1990s, noted alternative rock critic Ann Powers referred to the city as "Austin without the hype". Knoxville is home to a vibrant punk rock scene, having emerged from venues in the Old City district, specifically the Mill & Mine and Pilot Light venues. Such punk and hardcore bands include UXB, the STDs, and Koro. Knoxville hosts the Big Ears music festival since 2009. The festival, dubbed the "most ambitious avant-garde festival in America in more than a decade" in a 2014 Rolling Stone article, hosts musicians ranging from punk rock to chamber pop.

Economy

In 2011, 15.9% of the Knoxville MSA work force was employed by government entities, while 14.1% were employed in the professional service sector, 14% worked in education or health care, 12.7% were employed in the retail sector, 10.5% worked in leisure and hospitality, and 8.9% worked in the manufacturing sector. The region had an unemployment rate of 7.9% in 2011. In the 2010 ACCRA Cost of Living Index was rated 89.6 (the national average was 100). In 2007, there were over 19,000 registered businesses in Knoxville. The city's businesses are served by the 2,100-member Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership. The Knoxville Chamber is one of six partners in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley, which promotes economic development in Knox and surrounding counties.

The TVA, the nation's largest public power provider, reported $10.5 billion in revenue in 2021 and employs over 12,000 region-wide. The largest company based in Knoxville is privately held Pilot Flying J, the nation's largest truck stop chain and sixth-largest private company, which reported over $29.23 billion in revenue in 2012. Knoxville is home to the nation's fourth-largest wholesale grocer, the H. T. Hackney Company, which reported $3.8 billion (~$5.03 billion in 2024) in revenue in 2012, and one of the nation's largest digital-centric advertising firms, Tombras Group, which reported $80 million in revenue in 2011.

Education

Knoxville is home to the main campus of the University of Tennessee (UTK), which has operated in the city since the 1790s. As of 2011, UTK had an enrollment of over 27,000 and endowments of over $300 million. The school employs over 1,300 instructional faculty, and offers more than 300 degree programs.

Pellissippi State Community College is a two-year school governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents that offers transfer programs, two-year degrees, and certificate programs. Its main campus is located off Pellissippi Parkway in western Knox County. As of 2011, the school had a system-wide enrollment of over 11,000 students.

Johnson University (formerly Johnson Bible College) is a Bible college affiliated with the Christian churches and churches of Christ. As of 2012, the school had an enrollment of 845. Johnson traditionally specializes in training preachers and ministers, but also offers degrees in counseling, teaching, music, and nonprofit management.

South College (formerly Knoxville Business College) is a for-profit school located in West Knoxville that offers undergraduate and graduate programs in business, health care, criminal justice, and legal fields. The school had an enrollment of 717 as of 2010.