The drive out Heiskell Road from Emory Road to Raccoon Valley Road is just a tick over four miles. But once you’re past the bustle of Emory and the subdivisions within the first mile, the landscape starts to change. The neighborhoods give way to more spaced-out houses, the drop down Copper Ridge is close with trees hugging the road, then flattens out right as you cross the Childress Branch along the railroad. You go from suburban to country before a song can finish on the radio.
Though you can see I-75 from Bull Run Ridge, cell phone reception can get sketchy out in Heiskell, and it can feel somewhat off the grid for a community not that far out from Knoxville. There’s acres of farmland, crops and cattle. It’s a delight in natural beauty. The area bounded by Heiskell Road, Raccoon Valley, Water Street and Depot Street form what once was the economic heartbeat of Heiskell.
An article published in the Powell Times back in the ’70s referred to Heiskell as an “old time railroad town.” There was a time when people who lived there had their choice of four trains to take to and from Knoxville daily, whether to work (which many did, a good number employed by Southern Railroad at the Coster Yards), to trade in bulk goods or go into town for shopping and entertainment. It was a village that ran by the trains until they began just passing through.
The 1950s is the era when most Americans starting travelling with their own automobiles, and the age of travel by passenger train largely came to an end. The advent of diesel had already killed the romance of the old steam engines. The change didn’t cause Heiskell to wither (it hasn’t), but perhaps caused it to pause exactly where it wanted to – a picturesque rural community conveniently located just minutes from essential services, like hospitals, banks and grocery stores.
I have yet to nail down exactly when the last passenger train pulled out from the Heiskell Depot. A review of recollections online indicates the depot station was gone by 1961. The foundation still sits, lonely and abandoned, at the top of Depot Street by the tracks. On the other side, a Sears and Roebuck house whose components were dropped off by train in 1909, still sits in its well preserved, century old splendor.
The late Bill Irwin, who compiled family trees and histories of the Powell area, wrote the following not long before his “Heiskell: History and Memories:”
What is the future of the Heiskell Community? Some might say at this point in time that progress is rather slow. But how do you define progress? Some may measure progress by the hustle and bustle of new businesses, large subdivisions and heavy traffic. Others may prefer a less hectic pace and more open space around them. Just how the Heiskell community fares in the 21st century, only the relentless passing of time will tell.
Beth Kinnane is the community news editor for KnoxTNToday.com