Mechanicsville, Knoxville
Encyclopedia
Mechanicsville is a neighborhood in Knoxville
, Tennessee
, located northwest of the city's downtown area. One of the city's oldest neighborhoods, Mechanicsville was established in the late 1860s for skilled laborers working in the many factories that sprang up along Knoxville's periphery. The neighborhood still contains a significant number of late-19th century Victorian homes, and a notable concentration of early-20th century shotgun houses. In 1980, several dozen properties in Mechanicsville were added to the National Register of Historic Places
as the Mechanicsville Historic District.
Post-Civil War railroad construction lured heavy industry to the Second Creek valley, starting with the Knoxville Iron Company
, which built a massive foundry
just southeast of Mechanicsville in 1868. In the 19th century, when the neighborhood acquired its name, the word "mechanic" typically referred to factory workers. Mechanicsville was developed during this period to provide housing for Welsh iron specialists and African-American laborers working at Knoxville Iron and other area factories. By the 1880s, Mechanicsville was surrounded by large factories and mills, and contained most of Knoxville's railroad maintenance shops.
In the early twentieth century, Mechanicsville developed into a primarily African American neighborhood, and was home to the traditionally black Knoxville College
, and several early black entrepreneurs and professors.
on the south, Interstate 275
on the east, Beaumont Avenue on the north, and Western Avenue (part of State Highway 62) on the west. Knoxville's downtown area, namely the Old City
and the Southern Railway tracks
, lie opposite I-40 to the southeast. The North Knoxville area lies east of I-275, and the Lonsdale area lies to the north. The Fort Sanders neighborhood lies on the other side of I-40 to the south.
University Avenue divides Mechanicsville into "Old Mechanicsville," which consists of the neighborhood's older, southeastern section, and "New Mechanicsville," which consists of the more recently-developed northern section. The 39 acres (15.8 ha) campus of Knoxville College dominates the western portion of Mechanicsville.
Second Creek, which attracted numerous factories and mills to the area in the late nineteenth century, passes just west of Mechanicsville. Railroad tracks (now used by the Southern Railway), which also attracted industry to the area, pass just south and east of Mechanicsville, running roughly parallel to I-40 and I-275.
, in which Confederate
forces under James Longstreet
surrounded Knoxville in hopes of starving out Union
forces occupying the city, Confederate lines criss-crossed the Mechanicsville area. Confederate picket
s stretched between what is now Arthur Street and Clark Street from Western Avenue to Fifth Avenue, as well as along Iredell and Pickett. Several Confederate batteries, which provided part of the artillery barrage during the Battle of Fort Sanders
, were situated in the hills where Knoxville College is now located.
In 2006, amateur Civil War
historian Gary Goodson announced that he had determined that the Confederate
Camp Van Dorn was located in Malcolm Martin Park, just west of Knoxville College, but his hypothesis was received with some skepticism.
were brought to the area from Pennsylvania by the Welsh-born Richards brothers, Joseph and David, to work in a local rolling mill. The Richards brothers secured a tract of land in is now Mechanicsville from railroad tycoon Charles McClung McGhee
(1828–1907), which was subsequently laid out in lots, and the new settlers began building houses. This new neighborhood, known as "McGhee's Addition," was the first successful Welsh colony in Tennessee.
In 1868, Civil War general-turned-entrepreneur Hiram S. Chamberlain and the Richards brothers established the Knoxville Iron Company, which erected a massive foundry and nail factory across Second Creek from McGhee's Addition (part of this complex, now known simply as "The Foundry," still stands). Chamberlain provided the business expertise, while the Richards brothers provided the technical expertise. Several houses in Mechanicsville still have fences made from iron cast at the Knoxville Iron foundry in the 1870s and 1880s.
As more factory specialists and laborers moved into the area, Mechanicsville began to grow. The Welsh community expanded to include an area known as the Deaderick–Swann Addition, which included much of modern Deaderick and Arthur streets, and adjacent streets. Residents in this section built many of Mechanicsville's elaborate Victorian homes in the 1880s and 1890s. African-American factory workers settled primarily in the Middleton–Weatherford Addition, which was concentrated around what is now Calloway and Boyd streets. McAnally's Addition, commonly called McAnally Flats, consisted of the area south of Western Avenue, in the vicinity of Leslie Street Park. This latter section developed a reputation as a rough slum in later years, and provided the setting for part of the Cormac McCarthy
novel, Suttree
.
In 1883, when it was annexed by Knoxville as the city's Ninth Ward, Mechanicsville reported a population of just over 2,000, three churches, two schools, six general stores, and a greenhouse. Along with Knoxville Iron, factories located in and around Mechanicsville during this period included the Knoxville Brewing Company (on McGhee), the Standard Handle Company, the W. H. Evans and Son marble company, the Knoxville Car and Wheel Company, and the Greenleaf Turntable Manufactory.
.
In the early 20th century, Mechanicsville evolved into a prosperous neighborhood of African American businesses and working families, and remained so for several decades. One of the first African-American institutions in Mechanicsville was the Fairview School, built on land donated by John Moses in 1875 (Dora Street is believed to have been named for Moses's daughter). The school was later renamed the Moses School, with the present building completed in 1930. Knoxville College, established in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church, remained the city's primary black institution throughout the first half of the 20th century. Cansler Street in Mechanicsville is named for Charles W. Cansler
(1871–1953), a leading black citizen and advocate for African-American rights in the early 1900s.
Mechanicsville experienced a decline during the second half of the 20th century as Knoxville's middle class moved from urban areas to suburbs on the city's periphery. A number of old homes were demolished to make way for the construction of the expressway that would eventually become I-40, and others deteriorated as they were converted to into low-rent apartments. College Homes, a public housing development, was built as an urban renewal
project near the commercial center of the neighborhood, northwest of Knoxville College. High crime rates continued to drive residents away, however, leaving many homes vacant.
In 1997, the local public housing authority, Knoxville's Community Development Corporation (KCDC), received a $22 million HOPE VI grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to revitalize the College Homes portion of the neighborhood. The families living in the College Homes barrack style-apartments were relocated and the housing project was demolished. The area was then rebuilt with single family and duplex homes designed to blend architecturally with remaining late 19th century neighborhood. In addition, KCDC purchased over 100 vacant lots throughout the neighborhood for new construction, which was also designed to fit in architecturally with the remaining neighborhood. Efforts were made to enable low income families from the area to rent or purchase these homes.
A number of corporations have recently located offices and business in the area, including the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Cherokee Health Systems, Pilot Oil, Fort Sanders Health System, and the newest addition, a Food City grocery store.
and Gothic
influences uncommon in nearby neighborhoods such as Fourth and Gill and Old North Knoxville
. The section of Old Mechanicsville along Calloway and Boyd contains Knoxville's largest concentration of early twentieth century shotgun house
s.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, located northwest of the city's downtown area. One of the city's oldest neighborhoods, Mechanicsville was established in the late 1860s for skilled laborers working in the many factories that sprang up along Knoxville's periphery. The neighborhood still contains a significant number of late-19th century Victorian homes, and a notable concentration of early-20th century shotgun houses. In 1980, several dozen properties in Mechanicsville were added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as the Mechanicsville Historic District.
Post-Civil War railroad construction lured heavy industry to the Second Creek valley, starting with the Knoxville Iron Company
Knoxville Iron Company
The Knoxville Iron Company was an iron production and coal mining company that operated primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, and its vicinity, in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The company was Knoxville's first major post-Civil War manufacturing firm, and played a key role in bringing heavy...
, which built a massive foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
just southeast of Mechanicsville in 1868. In the 19th century, when the neighborhood acquired its name, the word "mechanic" typically referred to factory workers. Mechanicsville was developed during this period to provide housing for Welsh iron specialists and African-American laborers working at Knoxville Iron and other area factories. By the 1880s, Mechanicsville was surrounded by large factories and mills, and contained most of Knoxville's railroad maintenance shops.
In the early twentieth century, Mechanicsville developed into a primarily African American neighborhood, and was home to the traditionally black Knoxville College
Knoxville College
Knoxville College is a historically black liberal arts college in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Founded in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church of North America, the school has an enrollment of approximately 100 students, and offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Liberal Studies and an Associate...
, and several early black entrepreneurs and professors.
Location
Mechanicsville is roughly bounded by Interstate 40Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
on the south, Interstate 275
Interstate 275
Interstate 275 may refer to:*Interstate 275 , a loop through Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Bradenton in Florida*Interstate 275 , a western bypass of Detroit, Michigan...
on the east, Beaumont Avenue on the north, and Western Avenue (part of State Highway 62) on the west. Knoxville's downtown area, namely the Old City
Old City (Knoxville)
The Old City is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, located at the northeast corner of the city's downtown area. Originally part of a raucous and vice-ridden section of town known as "The Bowery," the Old City has since been revitalized through extensive redevelopment efforts carried out...
and the Southern Railway tracks
Southern Terminal, Knoxville, Tennessee
The Southern Terminal is a former railway complex located at 306 West Depot Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. The complex, which includes a passenger terminal and freight depot adjacent to a large railyard, was built in 1904 by the Southern Railway. Both the terminal and freight depot were...
, lie opposite I-40 to the southeast. The North Knoxville area lies east of I-275, and the Lonsdale area lies to the north. The Fort Sanders neighborhood lies on the other side of I-40 to the south.
University Avenue divides Mechanicsville into "Old Mechanicsville," which consists of the neighborhood's older, southeastern section, and "New Mechanicsville," which consists of the more recently-developed northern section. The 39 acres (15.8 ha) campus of Knoxville College dominates the western portion of Mechanicsville.
Second Creek, which attracted numerous factories and mills to the area in the late nineteenth century, passes just west of Mechanicsville. Railroad tracks (now used by the Southern Railway), which also attracted industry to the area, pass just south and east of Mechanicsville, running roughly parallel to I-40 and I-275.
Civil War
During the Siege of KnoxvilleKnoxville Campaign
The Knoxville Campaign was a series of American Civil War battles and maneuvers in East Tennessee during the fall of 1863. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside occupied Knoxville, Tennessee, and Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet were detached from Gen...
, in which Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
forces under James Longstreet
James Longstreet
James Longstreet was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the...
surrounded Knoxville in hopes of starving out Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
forces occupying the city, Confederate lines criss-crossed the Mechanicsville area. Confederate picket
Picket (military)
In military terminology, a picket refers to soldiers or troops placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance. It can also refer to any unit performing a similar function...
s stretched between what is now Arthur Street and Clark Street from Western Avenue to Fifth Avenue, as well as along Iredell and Pickett. Several Confederate batteries, which provided part of the artillery barrage during the Battle of Fort Sanders
Battle of Fort Sanders
The Battle of Fort Sanders was the decisive engagement of the Knoxville Campaign of the American Civil War, fought in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 29, 1863. Assaults by Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet failed to break through the defensive lines of Union Maj. Gen...
, were situated in the hills where Knoxville College is now located.
In 2006, amateur Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
historian Gary Goodson announced that he had determined that the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
Camp Van Dorn was located in Malcolm Martin Park, just west of Knoxville College, but his hypothesis was received with some skepticism.
Post-Civil War development
The combination of railroad construction and Northern financing led to a post-war economic boom in Knoxville, and it was during this period that dozens of factories were built along Second Creek. In 1867, 104 Welsh immigrantsWelsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
were brought to the area from Pennsylvania by the Welsh-born Richards brothers, Joseph and David, to work in a local rolling mill. The Richards brothers secured a tract of land in is now Mechanicsville from railroad tycoon Charles McClung McGhee
Charles McClung McGhee
Charles McClung McGhee was an American railroad tycoon and financier, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the latter half of the nineteenth century...
(1828–1907), which was subsequently laid out in lots, and the new settlers began building houses. This new neighborhood, known as "McGhee's Addition," was the first successful Welsh colony in Tennessee.
In 1868, Civil War general-turned-entrepreneur Hiram S. Chamberlain and the Richards brothers established the Knoxville Iron Company, which erected a massive foundry and nail factory across Second Creek from McGhee's Addition (part of this complex, now known simply as "The Foundry," still stands). Chamberlain provided the business expertise, while the Richards brothers provided the technical expertise. Several houses in Mechanicsville still have fences made from iron cast at the Knoxville Iron foundry in the 1870s and 1880s.
As more factory specialists and laborers moved into the area, Mechanicsville began to grow. The Welsh community expanded to include an area known as the Deaderick–Swann Addition, which included much of modern Deaderick and Arthur streets, and adjacent streets. Residents in this section built many of Mechanicsville's elaborate Victorian homes in the 1880s and 1890s. African-American factory workers settled primarily in the Middleton–Weatherford Addition, which was concentrated around what is now Calloway and Boyd streets. McAnally's Addition, commonly called McAnally Flats, consisted of the area south of Western Avenue, in the vicinity of Leslie Street Park. This latter section developed a reputation as a rough slum in later years, and provided the setting for part of the Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels, spanning the Southern Gothic, Western, and modernist genres. He received the Pulitzer Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction for The Road...
novel, Suttree
Suttree
Suttree is a semi-autobiographical novel by Cormac McCarthy, published in 1979. Set in 1951 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the novel follows Cornelius Suttree, who has repudiated his former life of privilege to become a fisherman on the Tennessee River. The novel has a fragmented structure with many...
.
In 1883, when it was annexed by Knoxville as the city's Ninth Ward, Mechanicsville reported a population of just over 2,000, three churches, two schools, six general stores, and a greenhouse. Along with Knoxville Iron, factories located in and around Mechanicsville during this period included the Knoxville Brewing Company (on McGhee), the Standard Handle Company, the W. H. Evans and Son marble company, the Knoxville Car and Wheel Company, and the Greenleaf Turntable Manufactory.
20th century
As the Welsh immigrant families became more successful, they established other businesses in Knoxville, and in subsequent decades, many Welsh dispersed into other sections of the city. Today, more than 250 families in greater Knoxville can trace their ancestry to these original immigrants. The Welsh tradition in Knoxville is remembered through the Welsh descendants' celebration of Saint David's DaySaint David's Day
Saint David's Day is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March each year. The date of 1 March was chosen in remembrance of the death of Saint David. Tradition holds that he died on that day in 589...
.
In the early 20th century, Mechanicsville evolved into a prosperous neighborhood of African American businesses and working families, and remained so for several decades. One of the first African-American institutions in Mechanicsville was the Fairview School, built on land donated by John Moses in 1875 (Dora Street is believed to have been named for Moses's daughter). The school was later renamed the Moses School, with the present building completed in 1930. Knoxville College, established in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church, remained the city's primary black institution throughout the first half of the 20th century. Cansler Street in Mechanicsville is named for Charles W. Cansler
Charles W. Cansler
Charles Warner Cansler was an American educator, civil rights advocate, and author, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA...
(1871–1953), a leading black citizen and advocate for African-American rights in the early 1900s.
Mechanicsville experienced a decline during the second half of the 20th century as Knoxville's middle class moved from urban areas to suburbs on the city's periphery. A number of old homes were demolished to make way for the construction of the expressway that would eventually become I-40, and others deteriorated as they were converted to into low-rent apartments. College Homes, a public housing development, was built as an urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
project near the commercial center of the neighborhood, northwest of Knoxville College. High crime rates continued to drive residents away, however, leaving many homes vacant.
Mechanicsville today
Major community revitalization efforts in Mechanicsville began in the 1970s with the establishment of the preservation group, Mechanicsville Citizens for a Better Community. In 1985, Knoxville created the Mechanicsville Task Force, which made recommendations on the rehabilitation of historic homes and the construction of new homes. During the same period, a study on the blighting conditions in the neighborhood was conducted, culminating in the report, "A Redevelopment Plan for Historic Mechanicsville, Knoxville, Tennessee."In 1997, the local public housing authority, Knoxville's Community Development Corporation (KCDC), received a $22 million HOPE VI grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to revitalize the College Homes portion of the neighborhood. The families living in the College Homes barrack style-apartments were relocated and the housing project was demolished. The area was then rebuilt with single family and duplex homes designed to blend architecturally with remaining late 19th century neighborhood. In addition, KCDC purchased over 100 vacant lots throughout the neighborhood for new construction, which was also designed to fit in architecturally with the remaining neighborhood. Efforts were made to enable low income families from the area to rent or purchase these homes.
A number of corporations have recently located offices and business in the area, including the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Cherokee Health Systems, Pilot Oil, Fort Sanders Health System, and the newest addition, a Food City grocery store.
Mechanicsville Historic District
Mechanicsville's historic district comprises one of the oldest extant neighborhoods from Knoxville's post-Civil War expansion. Some of its Victorian houses exhibit distinctively ItalianateItalianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
and Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
influences uncommon in nearby neighborhoods such as Fourth and Gill and Old North Knoxville
Old North Knoxville
Old North Knoxville is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, located just north of the city's downtown area. Initially established as the town of North Knoxville in the late-19th century, the area was a prominent suburb for Knoxville's upper middle and professional classes until the 1950s...
. The section of Old Mechanicsville along Calloway and Boyd contains Knoxville's largest concentration of early twentieth century shotgun house
Shotgun house
The shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than 12 feet wide, with doors at each end. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War , through the 1920s. Alternate names include shotgun shack,...
s.
Notable buildings
- Fire Station No. 5 (419 Deaderick Avenue), a two-story Neoclassical-style firehall built in 1909. This building is Knoxville's oldest firehall, and was listed individually on the National Register in 1979.
- Moses School (221 Arthur Street), a three-story brick school building constructed in 1930. A school has existed at this site since the establishment of the Fairview school in 1875. The school was known as the Ninth Ward School in the 1880s, but was eventually renamed for John L. Moses, who had donated the property for the school. The current school building now houses a branch of the Knoxville Police Department Training Academy, and a local chapter of the Boys and Girls Club.
- 501 Arthur (501 Arthur Street), a two-story brick commercial structure with a two-tier porch, built circa 1910. This building was for many years home to a grocery store known as Bradley Food Market, and was most recently home to a restaurant.
- 1524 Western Avenue, a two-story wedge-shaped building with brick band, built circa 1900; originally a restaurant.
- 1545 Western Avenue, a two-story brick Victorian-style commercial structure built circa 1900; formerly home to Western Heights Hardware.
- 244 Deaderick Avenue, a two-story brick commercial structure built circa 1900; wedge-shaped to fit the intersection of Deaderick and Carrick.
- 224 Deaderick Avenue, a two-story house with Gothic Revival elements and a bay window with a sunburst motif, built circa 1900.
- 243 Deaderick Avenue, a two-story Queen Anne-style house with Eastlake-styleEastlake MovementThe Eastlake Movement was a nineteenth century architectural and household design reform movement started by architect and writer Charles Eastlake . The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in terms of broad antique furniture designations...
porch, built circa 1890.
- 415 Clark Street, a one-story Queen Anne-style cottage built in 1910.
- 1007 Oak Avenue, a two-story Queen Anne-style house with an Eastlake-style front porch and a decorated iron fence, built circa 1890.
- 1008 McGhee Avenue, a one-story shotgun house built in 1910.
- 1012 McGhee Avenue, a one-story shotgun house built circa 1900.
- 1509 Boyd Street, a one-story shotgun house built circa 1910.
External links
- Old Mechanicsville — neighborhood website
- Mechanicsville Historic District Design Guidelines — Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission report (2011)