Knoxville, Tennessee

For over 200 years, this street has been the heart of Knoxville's downtown. Originally part of Charles McClung's 1791 plan for Knoxville, Gay Street quickly became the city's main hub. It was *the* place for business…

This quiet Knoxville neighborhood was once the scene of a desperate, bloody battle that determined the fate of the city. In November 1863, Confederate General James Longstreet launched a surprise attack on Fort Sanders,…

Imagine this spot in Knoxville buzzing with activity, a gateway to adventure and opportunity during the golden age of train travel. This is the Southern Terminal, built in 1903 by the Southern Railway. It was designed…

These aren't just old buildings; this is where Knoxville did business back in the day. This is the Jackson Avenue Warehouse District, and back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this area was the heart of Knoxville's…

Pull over here for a minute; this area, now known as the Old City, has some stories to tell. Back in the mid-1800s, before the Civil War, this wasn't the trendy spot it is today. The arrival of the railroad in the 1850s…

Pull over for a minute! This isn't just *any* fire station – it's Knoxville's oldest, still serving the community since 1909. Back then, Mechanicsville was a growing area, and the city needed a dedicated firehouse. This…

This quiet field of honor whispers tales of a nation divided. Knoxville National Cemetery, established in 1863 during the Civil War, became the final resting place for Union soldiers who fought and died in East…

Did you know you're driving near a silent witness to Knoxville's ancient past? This unassuming mound on the UT Ag campus isn't just a hill; it's a burial mound built by people of the Woodland period. Archaeologists…

Imagine a Union General relaxing in this very spot after years of fighting in the Civil War. This is the General John T. Wilder House. General Wilder, a leader in the Union Army's 17th Indiana Volunteers, also known as…

Ever wonder what Victorian life was like in Knoxville? You're just a stone's throw from Westwood, a beautiful house built in 1890 that gives you a glimpse. John Lutz, and his wife, the artist Adelia Armstrong Lutz,…

Ever wonder what happens when a successful businessman decides to make a house his personal statement? You're about to find out! The Ivan Racheff House started as a simple residence in 1902. But when Ivan Racheff,…

Look out your window! You're approaching a stunning glimpse into Tennessee's frontier past. This isn't just an old house; it's a testament to ambition and early American craftsmanship. Built in 1797, the Ramsey House,…

Imagine escaping the hustle of early 1900s Knoxville in your own private garden oasis. That was the dream Arthur Savage realized here. Arthur Savage, an English immigrant, made his fortune manufacturing marble-cutting…

Get ready to taxi down memory lane! This isn't just any old gas station; it's a 1930s airplane, grounded right here in Powell, Tennessee. Brothers Elmer and Henry Nickle built this quirky landmark back in 1930. Their…

Imagine staking your claim on the Tennessee frontier. That's exactly what Alexander McMillan did when he built this house back in 1785. Alexander McMillan arrived here in 1783, snapping up land thanks to North…

Imagine living in Knoxville in the early 1800s! This area near Statesview offers a glimpse into that time. Originally built around 1805 by architect Thomas Hope, Statesview was the home of Charles McClung, a surveyor.…

Pull over here for a second – you're looking at a place where legends begin. This unassuming little schoolhouse is where Sam Houston, yes, *that* Sam Houston, got his start as a teacher. Before he was a general, a…

The metal this town was built on was once a treasure more precious than gold. In the mid-eighteen hundreds aluminum was so hard to refine that it traded like a jewel. The story goes that Emperor Napoleon the Third of…

Here's the paradox at the heart of this town. Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the entire Earth's crust. It makes up about eight percent of the ground under your tires, more than any other metal there is. And yet…

Most towns are named for a person, a river, or a hometown left behind. Alcoa, Tennessee is named for a spelling trick. ALCOA stands for the ALuminum COmpany of America, and starting around 1919 that company built this…

Making aluminum from raw ore is brutally power-hungry, the whole reason this town sits beside dammed rivers. But there's a shortcut, and it borders on magic. Melting down an old aluminum can to make a new one uses only…

Aluminum went from priceless to pocket change because of two young men who never met. In eighteen eighty-six, an American named Charles Hall and a Frenchman named Paul Heroult independently cracked the same problem in…

This house took nearly a decade to build, starting in 1937! It's called Millennium Manor, and it's right here in Alcoa. William Andrew Nicholson and his wife, Fair, moved here from Georgia, and William got a job at the…

Financial author and radio host Dave Ramsey was born in Maryville, Tennessee, on September 3, 1960 (he was raised in the Antioch area of Nashville). After building a leveraged real-estate portfolio in his twenties, he…

Imagine a time when wheat fields stretched as far as the eye could see right here, giving this place its name: Wheatlands. This was once a bustling plantation, a testament to early Tennessee agriculture. Wheatlands…

Pull over for a minute and imagine weary travelers seeking rest at what was once Campbell's Station Inn. This beautiful Federal-style house, now known as the Avery Russell House, started its life around 1835 as an inn…

This unassuming spot was once the heart of a plantation that rivaled those of the Deep South. John Brabson II bought the ferry here in 1798, and for decades, he steadily grew his land holdings around it. By 1860,…

Pull over here a sec, because this unassuming town of Norris, Tennessee, has a fascinating backstory tied to one of the most ambitious projects in American history. Back in 1933, during the Great Depression, the…

Pull over for a second! This unassuming building, the Alexander Inn, played a surprisingly important role in world history. During World War II, Oak Ridge was built from scratch as part of the top-secret Manhattan…

Welcome to Oak Ridge, a place that vanished from maps and then reappeared with a secret. During World War II, this entire town was constructed in secrecy as part of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort to…

Step back in time at this gristmill, a rare survivor from the hundreds that once dotted East Tennessee. By 1849, a gristmill had been established here, around which the community of Clover Hill developed. The community…

Believe it or not, this unassuming area played a crucial role in ending World War II. The Clinton Engineer Works, or CEW, was the super-secret production facility for the Manhattan Project. During the war, starting in…

One of three secret cities built for the Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge enriched the uranium used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945.