Tag: travel
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Kingsport and Maryville: Two Strong Tennessee Communities
Recently, I was asked to compare Maryville and Kingsport. I gave what I believed was a fair answer, but it was worth checking the facts. Make no mistake: my job is to advocate for Kingsport. But I also want to preserve a reputation for candor, accuracy, and truth. Maryville (population 32,553) has earned its place…
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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 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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Centennial of the Dobyns-Bennett High School Band
Kingsport is celebrating a milestone this year: the Centennial of the Dobyns-Bennett High School Band—100 years of music, discipline, school spirit, and community pride. For generations, the band has helped define the Dobyns-Bennett experience: representing Kingsport on a national stage, elevating parades and civic events, and setting the tone on Friday nights at J. Fred—but…
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Sullivan 250 | July 1776 at Island Flats: When Independence Reached the Holston
Third in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America March 2026 | 3 of 12 In July 1776, independence was declared in Philadelphia. Along the Holston River near Island Flats, it arrived as a crisis. The Battle of Island Flats, also called the Battle…
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Zinc Mines in Fall Branch?
A while back, I was asked if I’d ever heard of zinc mines in Fall Branch. I replied that I had seen some mining symbols on a map near Fall Branch, but that’s the extent of what I knew. When researching the Hicks Block Building in Downtown Kingsport, I came across a 1916 article in…
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Hicks Block, Reborn
THE FULL STORY (THERE’S A CONDENSED VERSION, TOO) Perhaps you, like me, have been following the renovation of the Hicks Block Building at the corner of Broad and Market Streets in Downtown Kingsport. If you haven’t, I encourage you to go to Facebook and search “Hicks Block – Kingsport” and browse through the photographs. Architect…
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Allandale and the Rise of Angus in America
Chances are that if you order a steak at one of America’s finest steakhouses—or a burger at almost any restaurant—the beef is Angus. But that wasn’t always the case. In the early 1900s, Angus cattle competed with Herefords and Shorthorns for commercial dominance. Angus had been imported from Scotland beginning in 1873, and the American…
Kingsport Spirit 