As I continue to examine the more than 40 diaries of Dr. Swancey W. Kennedy (1844-1923), who was a doctor in the Fork, the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston rivers, I see multiple references to “Grangeville,” a place name unfamiliar to me. Where was Dr. Kennedy going when he visited there? Upon investigation, I realized I actually had the answer in my collection of stuff! And no, Dr. Kennedy wasn’t talking about Grangeville, Idaho.

A little research shows that Grangeville was mentioned only a few times in the newspapers between 1876 and 1892. Primarily, it was identified as a place for voter registration and where political meetings were held within the Fork in the 17th District. More specifically, it was associated with Edward G. Pickle, who owned a store that had the local post office in it at the corner of Thorn Grove Pike and Wayland Road, next to the Bowman-Hodges ferry on the French Broad River.

In an article “The History of Riverdale,” resident Elsie Huffaker, who was the daughter of Civil War steamboat explosion survivor Jesse Huffaker, stated that at one point the post office was located at the intersection of Flint Gap and Wayland roads, when the community was known as Grangeville. In later periods, it was also in the home of James Wayland and at the Frazier and Sydney Armstrong stores. These were eventually replaced by a mail delivery route known as “the loop.”

The 1895 Knox County map shows lots of additional post offices in the Fork. Thomas R.C. Campbell had a post office at his store at the corner of Thorn Grove Pike and Kodak Road, while Progressive Post Office was at Smith Brothers’ Store next to the mill on Kodak Road at Tuckahoe Creek. Tuckahoe Post Office itself was near the old Palestine Baptist Church. Another, called Waneta, was in the front room of Cortez Pierce’s home on Thorn Grove Pike just above the Huckleberry Springs intersection, and further up the pike was Thorn Grove’s own post office at the corner of Carter School Road. Lyonton Post Office was near Lyon’s Creek Baptist Church, and the one called Wooddale was near that community’s church. Mayo Post Office was in the Sunnyview community, while High Point was closer to Caledonia Presbyterian. The Hercules Post Office was located near the point of the Fork along Asbury Road, and another one on Asbury Road was nearer Asbury Methodist Church. The Kangaroo Post Office mentioned in an earlier article, was on Strawberry Plains Pike in the Moshina community in the heart of the Fork.

1892 newspaper listing showing overnight guests at The McMillan in Knoxville

Why, people ask me, would they call a post office “Kangaroo”? Well, if you think about it, a kangaroo has a pouch, just as walking mail carriers do! It was named by Robert A. Luttrell, who was the jovial postmaster there. The post office, along with the neighborhood Kangaroo Dairy Farm, have long been forgotten in the Fork.

Jan Loveday Dickens is an educator, historian, and author of Forgotten in the Fork, a book about the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers, obtainable by emailing ForgottenInTheFork@gmail.com.

Enjoyed this article? Read more of Jan Loveday Dickens’s stories about the people, places, and history that make the Fork community unique.

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