Conceived in 1853 as a canny real-estate scheme by two young investors expecting to get rich off the idea, Market Square came to be Knoxville's most public spot, a marketplace familiar to every man, woman, and child in the area. By the 1860s, it was the busiest place in a burgeoning city, a place to shop, work, play, eat, drink, and live. In a town that became bitterly divided by politics, race, and background, Market Square became a rare common ground: a place to buy all sorts of local produce, but also a place to experience new things, including the grandiose Market House itself, considered a model in a progressive era. Beset by urban blight by the mid-1900s, Market Square had become more of a curiosity than a point of municipal pride, and the neighborhood declined. After years of fevered controversy, the city razed the Market House and struggled to modernize the old Square itself. Through a combination of public and private efforts in the 21st century, Market Square seems to be returning to its original diverse spirit. Market Square details the colorful history of this wonderfully eccentric place, a place that is once again familiar to the whole community, suggesting why, on a good day, Market Square can resemble--as a reporter described it in 1900--"the most democratic place on earth." Jack Neely is the award-winning Secret History columnist for Metro Pulse, Knoxville's weekly newspaper. He is the author of From the Shadow Side and Other Stories about Knoxville, Tennessee, and, with Aaron Jay, of The Marble City: A Photographic Tour of Knoxville's Graveyards.

The History of an Historic Cemetery Founded in 1850 and dedicated in 1852, Knoxville's Old Gray Cemetery is one of the area's most iconic landmarks. It provides an important example of planning and design, and is named after poet Thomas Gray. Join author Judy Loest as she details the history of this renowned cemetery.

Knoxville, Tennessee, is a haunted city. Ghosts roam its streets, its old theaters, its graveyards, even the caverns that snake beneath its byways. Knoxville is also a city beset by mysterious beasts—from enigmatic monster cats to big hairy creatures that are said to roam the town by night. Knoxville is a city of legends. There are persistent rumors of an “Old Knoxville” buried beneath the present city, and there is a famous downtown cemetery where there are gravestones, but no bodies. With a firm eye to history, Price tells his chilling stories with perception and good humor—all of which add up to a book that can be read and reread for years to come.

This fabulous work is a county-by-county guide to the genealogical records and resources at the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville. Based largely on the Tennessee county records microfilmed by the LDS Genealogical Library, it is an inventory of extant county records and their dates of coverage. For each county the following data is given: formation, county seat, names and addresses of libraries and genealogical societies, published records (alphabetical by author), W.P.A. typescript records, microfilmed records (LDS), manuscripts, and church records. The LDS microfilm covers almost every record that could be used by the genealogist, from vital records to optometry registers, from wills and inventories to school board minutes. There also is a comprehensive list of statewide reference works.