The Sunsphere

Basketball in Knoxville: A Quick History

Basketball Begins In Knoxville in 2025, as tens of thousands of orange-clad fans cheer both men’s and women’s games, it’s hard to imagine an era without basketball . But for the first half of the nation’s history, it didn’t exist in any form. Many 19th-century Americans, from General Grant to Emily…

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Knoxville’s Historic Holston Hills Golf Course

Tough, well-trapped, and cantankerous: Knoxville’s Historic Holston Hills Golf Course The site of this month’s Visit Knoxville Open is one of the most beautiful golf courses in the region, on the banks of the Holston River. Now almost a century old, Holston Hills is also one of the most historic…

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A Guide to the Historic House Museums of Knoxville

In and around Knoxville is an array of photogenic historic homes, houses noted for their age, architecture, and stories of the people who lived there. No two are very much alike. Some have been known and respected as house museums for almost a century, while another is a relatively recent addition…

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Knoxville's Civil War History: The Last Voyage of the Sultana

This April marks the 160 th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. By the time Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in a meeting more than 300 miles northeast of here at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, things had been pretty quiet in Knoxville for more than a year. Longstreet’s…

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Historic Churches in Knoxville

Many of us enjoy seeing the architecture of a city, and houses of worship have played a major role in architecture, design, and history. From Neo-Classical columns to soaring Gothic Revival, Knoxville has a wide range of church styles in an array of denominations. For those who travel during Easter…

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The Secrets of Marble Springs

About six miles south of downtown Knoxville, Marble Springs is a bucolic idyll, a cluster of very old cabins in a creekside glade, surrounded by woods. It’s unlike most historic homes in that the touring is mostly outside, peering into four historic cabins arranged in a compound. It’s a good place…

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