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When Ridgefields & Fort Robinson were county neighborhoods
There’s an old adage about each generation carrying the baton for one leg of the race before handing off to the next generation to carry it for the next leg. And once we do, future generations may not remember how hard it was to move the needle in a positive direction. It’s human nature to…
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Kingsport’s Newcomers: Younger, More Diverse, Mostly from Tennessee
KINGSPORT, TN – Newly released census data confirms the success of a vision more than 26 years in the making. The Model City Coalition was formed in 1997 to set a vision for Downtown. Shortly thereafter, a major Economic Summit was held in 1999. These initiatives occurred after Eastman Chemical Company spun off from Eastman…
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Unraveling Appalachian Ancestry: The Untold Legacy of Dr. Brent Kennedy
In 1996 I read a book by Dr. Brent Kennedy about Melungeons, a mysterious, dark-skinned people living in the remote Appalachian Mountains on the edge of Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky & West Virginia. In summary, Dr. Kennedy developed a mysterious, life-threatening illness while living in Atlanta. Emory University gave him a diagnosis that it was related…
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Rotary Club of Kingsport marks a century of service
On December 11, 1923, the Kingsport Times made a historic gesture by dedicating its entire front page to honor the charter celebration of the Rotary Club of Kingsport. Among the founding members, J. Fred Johnson stands out as the visionary behind the term, “Kingsport Spirit”. Other charter members included Frank Cloud, who held the distinction…
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First time visitors’ visceral response
Recently, I was giving a tour of Kingsport to a group of ladies from Richmond, Virginia. It was their first visit to East Tennessee. They were very much “Old Virginia” in the sense that their roots went back to ancestors who had discovered the new world and never saw a reason to venture any further.…
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Social Media’s Surprising Boost: How One Comment Reinforces the Value of Home
The use of technology and social media is a two-edged sword. Sometimes we become disheartened by the seemingly perpetual barrage of negative comments on just about everything. On the bad days, it’s enough to make you want to stop trying. Then out of the blue something happens that restores your faith. Lately, I’ve been sharing…
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1926 State of the City
Yesterday, Kingsport City Manager Chris McCartt gave the annual State of the City address. It’s an exhausting task to put it together–I speak from experience. It forces us to pause from our daily grind and reflect on our community’s progress, challenges, and vision. I always leave energized, optimistic, and grateful. But I’m also empathetic to…
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The First 11W “Super-Highway” Wasn’t Stone Drive
My first recollection of the term “super-highway” was in reference to Stone Drive in the early 1960s. But did you know that Kingsport’s first “super-highway” was built at least 20 years earlier? Kingsport was incorporated in 1917 as a compact, walkable town. The founders wanted to create a model city with a variety of housing…
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Kingsport’s First War Hero: Rogan Showalter
Every now and then you come across a story that needs to be told. I’ve lived here my whole life–an avid Kingsport history buff–and never knew. As I was preparing for the upcoming Betty Gibson Memorial Lecture at the Kingsport Archives and decided I wanted to know more about her. It turns out I’m very…
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Kingsport Spirit 