Posts by Jack Neely

Jack Neely

Jack is the Executive Director of the Knoxville History Project, an educational nonprofit whose mission is to research and promote the history of Knoxville. He is a journalist who has been writing about his hometown’s character and heritage for many years. He has written several books about Knoxville and its history, and they can be purchased in various places throughout the city including Union Avenue Books and the Visit Knoxville Gift Shop.

The Mystery of the Eugenia Williams House

July 06, 2021 by Jack Neely

On Lyons View, the west-side river-bluff road that is the address of Cherokee Country Club and Lakeshore Park, is a big brick house behind a high wall…

The Knoxville History Project: The Curious Visitor’s Organization

June 03, 2021 by Jack Neely

Editor’s note: If you’re new around here or have been reading our blog for quite some time, you may not be aware of all that our friends at the…

Alex Haley's Knoxville Forerunner

May 11, 2021 by Jack Neely

We all know that Knoxville was the final home of author Alex Haley, author of Roots, a groundbreaking narrative that traces his family back through…

South for the Spring

April 13, 2021 by Jack Neely

April is a historic month, especially regarding the Civil War. It was in April 1865 that the major armies of the Confederacy surrendered to U.S…

Our Female Pioneers: Mary Blount, Elizabeth Roulstone—and Margaret Russell Cowan Humes Ramsey

March 02, 2021 by Jack Neely

It's Women's History Month. In 2020 we celebrated the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, and learned a lot about Women's Suffrage, and it's a…

Birthplace of Tennessee?

February 02, 2021 by Jack Neely

How often do you think of Knoxville as the “Birthplace of Tennessee”? Whether you’ve heard that, or not, it’s one of our city’s distinctions. Many…

Happy Bootleggers' Day!

January 14, 2021 by Jack Neely

Kingston Pike Postcard | Courtesy Knoxville History Project Sunday, January 17, is National Bootleggers' Day, believe it or not. Knoxville…

Dempster Dumpster (Fire)

December 31, 2020 by Jack Neely

In some circles, the year 2020 has been called a “dumpster fire”. Defined as a metaphor for chaotically bad situations or laughably poor performance…

Christmas in the 1920s

December 22, 2020 by Jack Neely

What was Christmas like 100 years ago? Many things in Knoxville were different. There was no TV, no Internet, and for most of the decade, no movies…

What’s Cherokee about Cherokee Boulevard?

November 05, 2020 by Jack Neely

November is National Native American Heritage Month, and visitors often ask about Native American culture and history in Knoxville and the surrounding…