Knoxville, Tennessee

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Knoxville, a hilly city, is the largest city in East Tennessee and the county seat of Knox County. In 2020, its population was 190,740,^[1] making it the state of Tennessee's third-most-populous city (after Nashville and Memphis).^[2] In 2020, the larger metropolitan area had 879,773 people.^[3] The city is bisected by the Tennessee River and lies just west of where the Holston and French Broad rivers join to form the Tennessee River.

Knoxville surrounds the main campus of the University of Tennessee, whose basketball and football teams are enormously popular in the entire state. Knoxville is also home to the headquarters of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for East Tennessee, and the corporate headquarters of several national and regional companies. The widely visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park is nearby.

Arts and culture[edit]

Knoxville is home to a rich arts community and has many festivals throughout the year. Its contributions to old-time, bluegrass and country music are numerous, from Flatt and Scruggs and Homer and Jethro to The Everly Brothers. Also, the city has always had a thriving gay community.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO), established in 1935, is the oldest continuing orchestra in the southeast.^[4] The KSO maintains a core of full-time professional musicians and performs at more than 200 events per year. Its traditional venues include the Tennessee Theatre, the Bijou Theatre, and the Civic Auditorium, though it also performs at several non-traditional venues. The Knoxville Opera performs a season of opera every year, accompanied by a chorus.^[5] Knoxville was the location of Sergei Rachmaninoff's final concert in 1943, performed at Alumni Memorial Auditorium at the University of Tennessee.^[6]

Knoxville's underground music scene is rooted with the promotion by AC Entertainment around 1979.^[7] AC Entertainment, a local entertainment group, sought to expand the city's scene.^[8] In the 1990s, noted alternative rock critic Ann Powers referred to the city as "Austin without the hype".^[9][10] Knoxville is home to a vibrant punk rock scene, having emerged from venues in the Old City district, specifically the Mill & Mine and Pilot Light venues.^[11] Such punk and hardcore bands include UXB, the STDs, and Koro.^[12][13][14] Knoxville hosts the Big Ears music festival since 2009. The festival, dubbed the "most ambitious avant-garde festival in America in more than a decade" in a 2014 Rolling Stone article, hosts musicians ranging from punk rock to chamber pop.^[15]

The city also hosts numerous art festivals, including the 17-day Dogwood Arts Festival in April, which features art shows, crafts fairs, food and live music. Also in April is the Rossini Festival, which celebrates opera and Italian culture. June's Kuumba (meaning creativity in Swahili) Festival commemorates the region's African American heritage and showcases visual arts, folk arts, dance, games, music, storytelling, theater, and food.

The Knoxville Christmas in the City event runs for eight weeks of events at locations throughout the city including the Singing Christmas Tree and ice skating on the Holidays on Ice skating rink.^[16][17]

• Asian Festival^[18]
• Big Ears Festival^[15]
• Boo At The Zoo^[19]
• Brewfest^[20]
• Concerts on the Square^[21]
• Dogwood Arts Festival^[22]
• Fantasy of Trees^[23]
• Festival on the Fourth^[24]
• First Friday ArtWalk^[25]
• Greek Fest^[26]
• HoLa Festival^[27]
• International Biscuit Festival^[28]
• Knox Food Fest^[29]
• Knoxville Hardcore Fest^[30]
• Knoxville Horror Film Festival^[31]
• Knoxville Marathon^[32]
• Knoxville Powerboat Classic^[33]
• Market Square Farmers' Market^[34]
• NSRA Street Rod Nationals South^[35]
• Rhythm & Blooms Festival^[36]
• Rossini Festival^[37]
• Tennessee Valley Fair^[38]
• Vestival^[39]
• Volapalooza^[40]

Economic history[edit]

First settled in 1786, Knoxville was the state capital until 1843. The city struggled with geographic isolation throughout the early 19th century, until the arrival of the railroad in 1855 led to an economic boom.^[41] During the American Civil War, the city was bitterly divided over the issue of secession and was occupied alternately by the Confederate and U.S. (Union) armies, leading to the Battle of Fort Sanders in 1863.^[41] After the 1860's, Knoxville became a major wholesaling and manufacturing center until the 1930's, when its economy stagnated as the manufacturing sector collapsed and the downtown area declined. City leaders became entrenched in highly partisan political fights.^[41] Hosting the 1982 World's Fair helped reinvigorate the city,^[41] and revitalization initiatives by city leaders and private developers have spurred growth, especially downtown.^[42]

Attribution[edit]

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References[edit]