Extensive detail on the founding, development, history, and culture of Bristol—a city located on the Tennessee–Virginia state line—is coupled with tourist information on shopping and hotels in this city guide. Arranged in order of importance based on locals' responses, the included information covers the historic backgrounds of Bristol's railroads, cemeteries, and medical services as well as full explanations of the impact of the automobile age and the community's continuing belief in the morals of the masses. An explanation of the city's unique city dual-government system is also included.

This second in a series of books on Bristol's history gives a vivid account of her most trying years—the Civil War period. It begins with a look at slavery as it existed in the new town in those years just prior to the beginning of the war. For a town its size, Bristol had a surprising number of slaves. Information given in the opening section of the book was largely obtained from the writings of two persons who lived in the new town at that time—thus a valuable insight into slave life is given by those who saw it firsthand. The author has endeavored to show how this great civil conflict affected the everyday lives of local citizens. An effort is made here to show that Bristolians suffered more from the atrocious acts of roving bands of bushwhackers than by the invasion of conquering Yankees.

Covering Bristol's formative years, this is the story of people and events surrounding the rise of this city between two states—the town that Joseph R. Anderson, its founder, wanted to call "Paradise." The book reveals a cross section of Bristol's ancestry, ranging from the noble and well-known to the humble and obscure. Containing a myriad of facts that will be of wide local interest, the narrative offers insight into the human condition as it existed during the last century. Enhanced with numerous old photographs, this carefully researched volume is a definitive reference on Bristol.