Knoxville Chronicles Knoxville History Project
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- History
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Knoxville Chronicles is a podcast series produced by the Knoxville History Project highlighting some of the most interesting of the city’s old stories that still have relevance today.The Knoxville History Project is an educational nonprofit with a mission to research, preserve and promote the history and culture of Knoxville, Tennessee.Learn more at KnoxvilleHistoryProject.org
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Creature of the Cumberlands
In early 1794, barely just over two years after the town of Knoxville was established, a short but strange news item appeared in the Knoxville Gazette. A detachment of soldiers, 30 miles outside of Knoxville, encountered a “creature” that appeared nothing like they had ever seen or heard about before. And it wasn’t happy to see these soldiers in its own woods. Soon, the story was run in the Belfast Northern Star in Ireland and the English paper, the Derby Mercury, always crediting the Knoxvil...
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Halloween 2: Tricks and Treats
Following on from "Halloween Begins," the holiday puts on a mask and heads out on to Knoxville city streets. Although trick or treating and jack-o-lanterns were uncommon here until the early 1900s, by the roaring twenties, Halloween began to take on a livelier, and sometimes a darker turn. Costumed revelers paraded all parts of downtown, especially up and down Gay Street, blowing horns and displaying general merriment. By the early 1940s, the boisterousness had turned into mayhem and th...
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Halloween Begins
Some holidays haven't changed much over the years. Fourth of July has always been noisy, public, and hot; Easter is always centered around church, and Thanksgiving mainly revolves around a family meal. But Halloween is the shape-shifting monster of holidays. And like the Blob, it just keeps getting bigger. In this episode, take a brief historical journey through the evolution of Halloween in Knoxville, from its initial stirrings in the mid-1800s, through to its increasing popularity in the 18...
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Love in the Time of Upheaval: The Cansler Elopement
There are some names in Knoxville history that seem rarer than others. Cansler is one. In Mechanicsville, there’s a Cansler Street, and on University Avenue, a Cansler Building. Off Western is the old Laura Cansler School, a former “colored” elementary school, now home to Wesley House. And in East Knoxville, there’s the Cansler Family YMCA. The Cansler family had a big impact on Knoxville in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th. And that name wouldn’t be here if not for a...
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The Hottest Day and the Immortal Kiosk
The elegant old weather kiosk on the corner of Clinch Avenue and Market Street looks like something built for an Exposition of the beaux-arts era. But in fact, it was originally installed in 1912, not long before Knoxville’s gigantic and elegantly appointed National Conservation Exposition of 1913. People used to gather around it to see what the federal weatherman had observed, and what they could expect next. Checking on the weather was a social event. So many people hung out around it,...
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Matilda X
In 1856, before the Civil War, Dr. William J. Baker, with assistance from a few others including his suffering patient, hurried medical science along a bit by performing one of the first hysterectomy surgeries in the United States here on Gay Street. Of that historic team of four surgeons, the youngest is the one best remembered today. Knoxvillians may recognize the name, even if they don’t remember right away where they’ve seen it. It’s the name of “Our Beloved Physician,” memoria...
Customer Reviews
A vivid step back into Knoxville history
Jack Neely’s vivid storytelling delights in this well-researched and colorful recollection of Knoxville‘s past. I highly recommend Knoxville Chronicles to modern Knoxvillians - both new and old - for a look back at the stories and places that have shaped Knoxville today. Learning the buried history of the city, especially of downtown and the surrounding areas, will surely paint a picture of Knoxville that you will carry with you as you experience these places today.