Page 11 - Nov-Dec2017 Vol35 No5

KNOXVILLE By Jack Neely 2017 CONFERENCE TECHNICAL SESSION

Knoxville: Becoming a City

History often seems to be about troop where the poor often lived in the dark, without plumbing or
movements and legal documents. However, it’s electricity, and would for decades to come.
usually not generals or presidents who make the
difference. What separates a city from a camp- In 1933, Knoxville became the headquarters of one of the big-
site is, in large part, Public Works. That change gest Public Works projects in American history, the Tennessee
comes about, over the centuries. Valley Authority—which, despite lots of problems, did prevent the
catastrophic flooding and erosion that had been part of life in East
Knoxville is one of Tennessee’s oldest cities, Tennessee for generations.
dating back to an early fortified settlement in
1786. The town was, in fact, the birthplace of The city still had problems, especially in terms of general filth,
Tennessee, in 1796, when delegates from around an attribute mentioned by most newcomers of that era.
the territory got together to create a state
constitution, and offer some law and order and Knoxville was struggling with its own garbage situation when
organization to what had been a mostly wild it became, unexpectedly, the birthplace of the Dumpster—seri-
territory. And Knoxville became Tennessee’s ously, George Dempster, who happened to be city manager at
first capital. the time, introduced that iconic piece of equipment to the entire
world in Knoxville in 1936, and named it for himself. Still, get-
However, when we’re talking about the basics ting a better handle on garbage wasn’t enough to prevent one of
of road paving, trash removal, landscaping, fire Knoxville’s biggest embarrassments: being called, in 1947, the
protection, etc., Knoxville may be most useful “Ugliest City in America.” That was an insult, at least partly ac-
to discuss because it is, in many ways, a typical curate, that Knoxville had a very hard time getting over.
American city. Although Knoxville is unusual
in a few ways, the story of Knoxville, in terms of People don’t say that much anymore—not infrequently, travel-
Public Works, is the story of most cities. ers even call Knoxville a “beautiful city”— and improved Public
Works deserve a lot of credit for that fact.
In its early days, it was almost like a medieval
town. Taxes weren’t adequate to hire city work- From one of the South’s biggest events in history, the 1982
ers, so the citizens themselves were required to World’s Fair, to the regular massive logistical crisis of traffic and
serve roles such as fireman and night watch- waste known on several Saturdays in the fall as Game Day, Public
man. In fact, every citizen between 15 and 50 Works have boldly faced several unusual challenges.
had to do his time as a fireman.

As the city grew, it faced serious problems,
from devastating fires and catastrophic floods
to deadly epidemics. In Knoxville, an 1838 plague killed at least
one-tenth of the population. A hastily formed health committee
concluded that the problem might be the stagnant mill ponds
along a swollen creek on one side of town. They didn’t know that
mosquitoes carried germs, or that germs caused disease. They
just knew these old mill ponds smelled terrible, and thought it
wouldn’t hurt to clean it all up.

And maybe that helped. Knoxville had epidemics after that,
but never one quite as bad.

A few wise citizens looked around and realized that some of
these disasters could have been prevented, with careful mainte-
nance. Bit by bit, the settlement became a town, and the town
became a city, and the difference was mainly the degree of city
public services.

The city was just starting to seem modern—with gas lights and
a public farmers’ market and a couple of selected paved streets—
when a Civil War intervened, but left Knoxville with its first
bridge across the river.

By the 1890s, Knoxville had paved roads, electric lights, a gas
plant, water plant, a sewage system, electric streetcars, a good
bridge over the river, smaller viaducts over all the creeks—and
even college football! All these things combined to make Knox-
ville a lively and convenient urban place, with vaudeville shows
and soon movies, dances, and even bowling alleys and roller-
skating rinks open late into the night—albeit an urban place

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