Category: History
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The Power of Community Compound Interest
By Jeff Fleming I was taught early in life that whenever I received a pay increase, I should invest a portion of it for the long term. The advice was simple: if I never got accustomed to spending all of the increase, I wouldn’t miss the money. More importantly, the earlier I invested it, the…
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Model City Matriarchs
Mark your calendars for this very special presentation! There are three ways to participate: (1) Attend in person, (2) watch the livestream on the Archives Facebook page, or (3) watch it on the Archives YouTube channel that will be uploaded a few days after the event.
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Of Doaks, Campbells & Seminoles
Last night, while waiting through the delayed start of the Florida State–SMU football game, I kept hearing the announcers refer to Doak Campbell Stadium. I’d heard the name for years but never really thought about it. Was Doak-Campbell hyphenated? A place? A person? So, naturally, I looked it up. That’s how these stories often start.…
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Sullivan 250 | Rocky Mount: Where Territorial Government Took Root
Ninth in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America September 2026 | 9 of 12 When the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio was organized in 1790, federal authority needed a place where government could operate in practical terms.…
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Milton DeVault and Team Kingsport
I recently visited what our guide called a “museum of stories.” Rather than focusing mainly on artifacts, it sought to preserve the lives of ordinary people. Many visitors were descendants trying to piece together their family histories. That experience reminded me of a conversation. My niece introduced me to a friend in Knoxville who mentioned…
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Sullivan 250 | William Blount and the Business of Building a Territory
Eighth in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America August 2026 | 8 of 12 When William Blount was appointed governor of the Territory South of the River Ohio in 1790, the task before him was immense. The Revolution was over, but order…
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Lexington & Concord–and Kingsport
We all learned in school about “the shot heard ’round the world.” I like to examine parallel history. What was happening here at that same time? How would locals know the Revolutionary War had begun? A war so significant it wrote a new chapter in modern world history. On the morning of April 19, 1775,…
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The County Line Doesn’t Divide Us
Miss Tennessee 2026 recently posted a photo of herself standing in front of Allandale Mansion. She joked that she had come to crown Miss Kingsport and Miss Sullivan County, only to discover that she was standing in the Hawkins County portion of Kingsport. She invited readers to weigh in on Kingsport’s unusual two-county status. It…
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Why Kingsport Is Called the Model City
Kingsport’s municipal election is underway, with early voting through August 1 and Election Day on August 6. This is a good time to remember why we are called the Model City. The name is often associated with Kingsport’s physical plan—Church Circle, an orderly street system, and a balanced layout for businesses, neighborhoods, parks, and schools.…
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Sullivan 250 | A Federal Answer: The Territory South of the River Ohio
Seventh in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America July 2026 | 7 of 12 Victory in the Revolutionary War did not bring immediate clarity to the frontier. In the Holston Valley, the early postwar years exposed a widening gap between rapid settlement…
