There’s a picture in the National Archives, credited to TVA, of the old village of Concord in West Knox County, taken sometime in 1942. No doubt it was taken as part of TVA’s planning for the Fort Loudoun Dam and the inundation of water and what to do with all that stuff in the future lake’s way. The railroad tracks would be raised, the train depot would be gone.

Many of the buildings still stand today, looking out over the cove that didn’t used to be there at Lakeside Tavern. A few blocks back, the Masonic Lodge still stands next to the cemetery where many of my Winfrey ancestors are buried. My great-great grandfather, the Rev. William Winfrey, founded First Baptist Concord (see story here). His brothers were renowned stone masons who, among other things, worked on Knoxville’s downtown post office (see that story here).

Funny thing now is, First Baptist Concord isn’t even in Concord anymore, it’s smack in the middle of Farragut. When I was a kid, Farragut mostly meant schools, namely the high school my traitorous cousins (just kidding) attended instead of going to Central like everyone else in the family. Farragut as a municipal entity didn’t exist until the 1980s.

Anyway, I checked a few books out from the library searching for a story or two about Farragut-Concord or Concord-Farragut (if you prefer) that hadn’t been done by my former KnoxTNToday colleagues Mona Smith and Tracy Haun Owens. And the pickings are kinda slim.

But a story I found was in the creation of one of the books itself: Not So Long Ago in the Concord-Farragut Area: Stories, Paintings and Sketches by Margaret Angel. Angel was a lover of history and a gifted artist. She was born Margaret Larson in Athens, Tennessee, but moved to Knoxville with her parents when she was 12 years old. She graduated from Knoxville High School and UT. She eventually met and married Charles Angel and moved out to Concord-Farragut. And there she began collecting stories and painting things.

The first edition of her book was published in 1986, in the early days of Farragut being its own thing. An updated second edition was produced in 2010, and is the one I am perusing for story ideas. It was renewed with an appendix updating the status of some of the places from the first edition. In some cases, the landscape around a historic structure was greatly changed or the structure was no longer there at all. This updated edition was put together by Margaret and Charlie’s son, Dick.

Margaret’s painting of Concord, done in 1966, graces in the cover of this edition. It looks like a lovely space to go back in time to. Her sketches and paintings include the Lone Star Texaco, Aud’s Modern Camp, the Boring-Bondurant Farm, the Benson Super Market and the Old Masonic Hall. The book expressly prohibits the reproduction of images, so I haven’t. My recommendation is try to find a copy for yourself or at least check it out of the library for a spell.

Margaret Angel was a treasured member of the community she documented with artistic flair. She passed away in 2011 at the age of 91.

Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.

Sources: Not So Long Ago in the Concord-Farragut Area: Stories, Paintings and Sketches by Margaret Angel, National Archives, Tennessee Valley Authority

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