Category: History
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Son, Never Forget
Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around Kingsport’s Independence Day parade. We lived one block from the parade route. I remember the rush of anticipation when the American flags started going up on the light poles. By dawn’s early light on the Fourth of July, I was as excited as a kid on Christmas…
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River Crossings and the Story of Pactolus
Recently, the Kingsport Times-News reported that the Sullivan County Commission deliberated acceptance of grant funding to upgrade the swinging bridge over the Holston River in Bluff City. The article reminded me that development in a county like Sullivan, which is divided by the Holston River, has always been shaped by river crossings. First came fords…
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Sullivan 250 | 1780: When the War Passed Through Sullivan County
Sixth in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America June 2026 | 6 of 12 By 1780, the Revolutionary War had reached the frontier in force. For the Overmountain settlements, the struggle shifted from simply holding on to taking action. The implications went far…
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Long (Island) Before Kingsport
I found a reference — new to me, at least — during a recent visit to the East Tennessee History Museum in Knoxville. The exhibit (on display through February 14, 2027) is “Lines Were Drawn: The Treaty of Holston and Its Legacy,” and one map stopped me in my tracks. It showed Long Island of…
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Sullivan 250 | The Holston River: From Long Island to the Future Capital
Fifth in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America May 2026 | 5 of 12 Rivers functioned much like an early version of our modern interstate system, especially when they were navigable. Long Island (later King’s Port) in Sullivan County was considered the head…
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Blair Court
“Blair Court” is one of the new streets in Kingsport’s Brickyard Village, named after Blair & Company. But who were they? To answer that, we have to begin not in Kingsport, but in New York City — in the world of late 19th- and early 20th-century finance, when Wall Street banking houses helped build railroads,…
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The Model City Rewind
Former Mayor Pat Shull has been after me for years to write a follow-up to Margaret Ripley Wolfe’s 1994 book, Kingsport, Tennessee: A Planned American City. That book was not a “Chamber of Commerce” piece that simply celebrated the good points. In many ways, it was a warning. Wolfe captured Kingsport at a turning point.…
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The Story Hidden in Church Circle
I was recently asked why half of the four church buildings on Kingsport’s historic Church Circle are Methodist. As a history buff, I knew why, but it occurred to me that others may not. Long before Kingsport became the Model City, Methodist worship had already taken root here. Organized Methodism in this region dates to…
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Sullivan 250 | Before Countyhood: How Order Came to the Holston Valley
Fourth in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America April 2026 | 4 of 12 Even as violence flared in the Holston Valley during the Revolutionary era, settlers made a choice that would shape the region’s long-term character: they insisted on order. Long before…
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Leading From the Back
This week, community members gathered to cut the ribbon on the new BlueCross Healthy Place at Riverwalk Park. But ribbon-cutting is only the visible moment. It is the latest public expression of a vision that began decades ago. One thing stood out to me in the photo of dignitaries cutting the ribbon: City Manager Chris…
Kingsport Spirit 