Knoxville
The town of Knoxville came into being in 1791 when William Blount, governor of the recently-created Territory South of the River Ohio, chose this location as the territory capital. Blount chose this area because of its proximity to Cherokee lands, since one of his duties was the handling of Indian affairs, and because James White's fort was nearby for protection there in case the Indians proved to be unfriendly.
James White and his family were the first persons of European extraction to settle in this particular locale and, because of a land grant awarded for his service in the Revolutionary War, White was the owner of 4,000 acres, including all of the site that today is downtown Knoxville. It was only natural that he would ask his son-in-law, Charles McClung, a surveyor, to lay out lots for a new town, making Knoxville one of the few frontier towns that was actually planned.
Centennial and sesquicentennial festivities were held in 1841, 1891, 1941, and 1991 to commemorate the founding of the frontier town. More than two hundred years later, Knoxville is a metropolitan area that has spread north, south, east, and west. The original Knoxville settlement is now known as Downtown Knoxville.
East Knoxville
East Knoxville was a small incorporated town east of Knoxville established in the 1850s and 1860s. This area of residences and businesses was located east of the original Knoxville settlement and west of First Creek. East Knoxville was incorporated by Knoxville in the 1860s, but was known as East Knoxville for the next hundred years. The original East Knoxville area is known today as the Old City.
The area further east of the village of East Knoxville was farmland dotted with country towns throughout the 1800s. James White's son Moses White farmed the land just east of First Creek, then known was White's Creek, in the early part of the century. Some of the earliest small towns in the area, established around the 1850s, included Macedonia, Eastport, Shieldstown, and Burlington. Macedonia grew up around a church and its cemetery established in the early 1800s, as did Eastport in the 1840s. Shieldstown, established in the 1850s, is mentioned in Knoxville city directories of the 1850s-1880s, and both Eastport and Shieldstown are listed in the 1880 Knox County census records. Some of the Victorian subdivisions that grew up around these towns during the 1880s-1890s included Elmwood Park, Poplar Springs, Cold Springs, East End, Mountain View, Chestnut Ridge, Edgewood Park. In the early 1900s, Lake Park Springs, Holston Hills, and Chilhowee Hills grew up around a well-known resort in the area, Chilhowee Park.
In 1907, the towns and neighborhoods that were located between First Creek, Castle Street, Glenwood Avenue, and Vine Avenue, were incorporated as the town of Park City. Park City operated independently for a decade before annexation by Knoxville, and kept its Park City identity until the 1950s or 1960s. Park City was not referred to as "East Knoxville" until about the 1960s.Today, Park City is still the name used by residents, former residents, and their families, and some use the name to refer to a larger area. But more and more we hear the local media lump all of the neighborhoods together as "East Knoxville," without using their names: Park City, Chestnut Ridge, Chilhowee Park, Chilhowee Hills, Holston Hills, Burlington, and Macedonia.
West Knoxville
West Knoxville was developed as a streetcar suburb of Knoxville in the 1880s, and was incorporated as a separate town in 1888. The town was then annexed by Knoxville only nine years later, in 1897. Today this old area of West Knoxville is known as Fort Sanders, for the Civil War fort located here and the battle fought on its premises in 1863. The Fort Sanders historic district includes Cumberland Avenue to the south, Forest Avenue to the north, Eleventh Street to the east, and Twenty-Second Street to the west. Media references to "West Knoxville" now refer to other areas of metropolitan Knoxville much further west.
North Knoxville
North Knoxville was developed as a streetcar suburb of Knoxville in the 1880s, and was incorporated as a separate town in 1889. The town was then annexed by Knoxville only eight years later, in 1897. Today the Old North Knoxville Historic District includes the triangle of land is bounded by Broadway running northwest, Central Street running northeast, and Woodland Avenue on the north side of the triangle. The historic district includes the old town of North Knoxville and several surrounding subdivisions. Media references to "North Knoxville" now include many other areas in the northern hemisphere of metropolitan Knoxville.