John Smith (1795-1883) built an imposing handmade brick house on the Tazewell and Jacksboro Turnpike in 1839 in the distinctive Flemish Bond pattern. Simple but elegant woodwork highlighted the fireplaces …
The Civil War in Fountain City: 1861-65
Father and son Fred J. Conner and Thomas W. Conner submitted an article to the 1928 Central High School annual, the Sequoyah, entitled “History of Fountain City.”
The four-page article discusses …
Fountain City Recreation Commission: 1953-Present
Few organizations have had such a positive influence on the physical and character development of our Fountain City children and youth as has the Fountain City Recreation Commission.
Under the outstanding …
Remembering the Fountain City Fire Department: 1941-63
“A privately operated fire department is to begin serving residents of Fountain City, Smithwood, Inskip and Halls Cross Roads May 15.” (Knoxville News Sentinel, April 13, 1941)
Interest in a Fountain …
The Fountain City Water Company, 1931-1966
Fountain City has been called Knoxville’s most fiercely independent community. In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s a welcome sign on Broadway near Greenway proclaimed the message “The Nation’s Largest Unincorporated …
Dr. Samuel Tillery: Fountain City’s first physician
Living in 2019 with the medical breakthroughs we enjoy, we can only imagine the challenges of Fountain City’s first physician who practiced medicine for over 50 years with the diagnostic …
John H. Newman and the development of Hotel Avenue
Long before the Fountain City A&P, well before the White Store (now Food City) and many decades before Kroger, there was J.H. Newman and Sons Grocery Store. Photographic records indicate …
Meet Fountain City’s pioneer businesswoman and unofficial ‘mayor’
Some important Fountain City history was made on March 30, 1903, when a transaction was recorded on the Knox County deed books. Col. J.C. and Nannie J. Woodward and Sol …