Sun
Jan 16 2011
08:01 pm

Went over to South Knoxville this afternoon to look at some property. While driving around over there I put the cameras in p-mode and took some snaps. Click the above image to get an idea about why South Knoxville is special to us folks who grew up there.

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R. Neal's picture

Re. #7. Yes, that appears to

Re. #7. Yes, that appears to be a shotgun blast to the front of someone's house.

It looks like whoever did it was too drunk to aim for the window. Typical for South Knoxville.

I only noticed it because this is the first actual house we lived in when we were first married (not counting the trailer), and we were admiring all the improvements that had been made in the ensuing 37+ years (shotgun damage notwithstanding). We rented the house from my Dad back then. (Well, sort of rented, when we could pay the rent.)

It's for sale, again, if anyone's interested.

fischbobber's picture

The South's gonna do it again.

I really hope the city does the same sort of things for south Knoxville that they did for downtown. I used to love heading to Surplus City and DD. Even West Knoxville has drunks that can't shoot straight. Hell, a lot of the folks we have here can't shoot straight when they're sober.

bizgrrl's picture

The Step House Homes for the

The Step House Homes for the Homeless Veterans was a nice surprise. There were seven good sized home on a small side street, all fixed up and well kept.

Guess we'll have to get some similar type of benefactors to do something for the old South Junior High/High School and Galbraith School. Both are sitting there so sad and neglected. South Junior High/High School more so than Galbraith School. It's almost criminal.

R. Neal's picture

More about Step House...

Bbeanster's picture

The Step House program really

The Step House program really works.
I believe it saved my little brother's life.
I bet they are very good neighbors, too.

R. Neal's picture

Their houses on that street

Their houses on that street are immaculately maintained. They are bringing up the neighborhood over there.

(I saw a car parked at one place with "Vietnam Vet" tags. Made me a little emotional.)

The Dude's picture

Thanks for posting. Those of

Thanks for posting. Those of us no longer living in Knoxville especially appreciate it. I was wondering what the bridge looked like.

It's truly a unique place in the city. I spent countless hours wandering the aisles of the Disc Exchange. I really hope they can overcome the 3 year period in which Henley is closed. It's nice to have a record store in town that employs people with wide ranges of musical knowledge. Once a guy directed me to Pink Floyd's Mettle off a stupid hum I "sang" to him. Thanks again.

bizgrrl's picture

It is hard to get an angle

It is hard to get an angle that truly depicts the steepness of Dixie hill in South Knoxville, picture 14. It's pratically vertical :) I've been told it is a great sledding hill and I wonder if that is why it has not been cleared or is it just too dang steep.

Opinari's picture

Thanks from this South Knoxville Expat

Those photos were much appreciated, especially the ones of Dixie Hill, and the ol' Roundup. I've wondered what has become of the old elementary schools (Giffin, S. Knox, Flenniken, Mooreland Heights, etc.) and some of the old hangouts (Ken-Jo/Hop-In, the IGA on South Haven, and others that don't immediately come to mind).

R. Neal's picture

The IGA is still there on

The IGA is still there on South Haven, except it's called the Handy Dandy market now and has bars on the windows and doors.

S. Knox Elem. is still there and open. The others are closed. Flenniken is being rehabbed for homeless housing. Photo #4 is Galbraith, it's boarded up. Not sure about the condition of the others.

The Ken-Jo/Hop-in on the corner across from the Roundup is still there and quite busy. In fact that intersection must be one of the busiest in South Knoxville. I waited several minutes to stand in the road to take that photo of the Roundup.

The other Hop-in that was at the corner of Sevier and Moody near the Rock City ball park is gone, a casualty of the James White Parkway ("big gash") project. So is Byrum and Townsend grocery and the old firehouse, but they have a new and bigger firehouse in the same approximate location. And the ball park is still there.

The market/deli across Sevier Ave. from the missing Hop-in is still there. It's called Al's Market and Dave's Deli or something like that. I don't remember what it used to be and don't recall ever going in there.

Sevier Ave. Hardware is gone and is now a bail bond shop. Kent's Drug Store is gone and it's also a bail bond shop. The old original Kent's drug store that was across the street is long gone, but the old King's grocery store is still there and is now a laundromat.

The old Sunshine Bakery (?) building is still there on Sevier Ave. but now it's Everything Mushrooms, not sure what they do. The Bondurant Bros. building is still there and there's still some kind of business in there, not sure what. The old brick Parker grocery building is still there, it's one of the ones with graffitti. The old RC (?) cola distributor at the corner of Davenport and Sevier is still there and there's some kind of business in it.

Anyway, you would barely recognize it, depending on how long you've been away.

ETA: And, the White Store building is gone. So is the gas station that used to be at the corner of Davenport and Sevier, and the one on the other end where Sevier curved right and Island Home went straight.

Rachel's picture

Moreland Heights is still an

Moreland Heights is still an active elementary school. In fact, I believe it's considered one of the better ones is south Knoxville.

Opinari's picture

I should have remembered the

I should have remembered the Handy Dandy. It's been too long since I've been there. I used to walk by it going to football practice at Maynard Glen. And that old Hop-in/Ken-Jo on Davenport an Sevier hosted quite a few Dragon's Lair tournaments between my friends and me. Heh.

Wasn't the store across the street one of the Vol Markets? There are several others (one on Western near Lonsdale, if I recall).

When I last lived in the area, the SK Bridge had been finished for a couple of years, they'd just built those townhomes on Hillwood. You're right though, I'd probably hardly recognize it now.

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