The city of Knoxville was the first capital of Tennessee, but that was some 250 years after Hernando de Soto scoured part of the area in search of El Dorado. The plat for the town was surveyed by Charles McClung and included provisions for a town common along the waterfront, a church and graveyard, and a school, which was chartered as Blount College in 1794 (and was the beginning of the University of Tennessee).
Described as an “alternately quiet and rowdy river town,” Knoxville for a time was indeed part of the Wild West. The infamous Kid Curry, a member of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, was arrested and held in Knoxville’s jail. He later escaped and galloped out of town on a horse he stole from the sheriff.
Manufacturing and distributing became an important part of the local economy for Knoxville – and the Tennessee River and rail lines made much of the city’s growth possible. Gay Street was the center of commercial development and was lined with stores, warehouses, stables, and more. And then came the Million Dollar Fire of 1897.
It was 4 a.m. in the morning when flames were seen leaping through the roof of the Hotel Knoxville located right where the Mast Store is now. The fire department scrambled and got as many boarders out as possible.
Knowing that the fire could get out of hand, the fire department in Chattanooga was contacted and made the journey to Knoxville aboard a train in record time (at speeds topping 90 miles per hour). One building had to be dynamited to control the blaze. By the end of the day, only five lives were lost, the Chattanooga fire department returned home to cheers, and two blocks of Gay Street lay in smoldering ruins. The losses were valued at $1 million and the cause is yet undetermined.
Out of the ashes arose the building you see today, which was constructed in 1898.
-
Winkler Knives - Made in Boone, NC
Read More
Master Bladesmith Daniel Winkler and his longtime partner/wife Sheath Maker Karen Shook own and operate Winkler Knives. Daniel Winkler has been making knives and axes since he was in high school and has evolved into one the nation’s top knife makers. His handiwork is in use by police, firefighters and special operations units across the world. They have been featured in movies, such as LAST OF THE MOHICANS, on television, and written about in numerous publications. Your first impression may be, now that’s an expensive knife, but let’s take a look at why. -
Gear Up With Columbia PFG
Read More
Few things in life hit their mark like the Columbia Performance Fishing Gear line. These things come about as close to perfect as you can get without actually catching the fish for you. -
Land Trust Day is Set for June 2
Read More
Mark Twain once said, “Buy land, they’re not making it any more.” It stands to reason, that if they’re not making it any more, then we should consider it rare and care for it as a collector’s item, making certain that it will be passed on to a new generation. In a nutshell, that’s what a land trust does, and why we should celebrate their efforts because we all benefit from them. -
Add to Your Summer Reading List
Read More
There’s nothing like enjoying a good book under a shade tree with a nice breeze blowing or on a warm sandy beach with the sound of waves crashing on the shoreline. Summer reading runs the gamut from bodice rippers and murder mysteries to non-fiction accounts of our times and classics from long ago. We asked our employees to share some of their recommendations to add to your summer reading list.
In the not too distant past, Knoxville was a part of the Wild West. Just down the street from us, Kid Curry made a daring escape from the Knoxville prison..on the sheriff's horse, no less. Employees at the store, at that point in time known as M.M. Newcomer's, may have seen him making his mad dash down Gay Street. The whole block where the Mast Store in Knoxville is burned to the ground in 1897 in the Million Dollar Fire. Most of it was rebuilt in 1898!
Read more
