Historic landmarks, graceful neighborhoods flavor East Knoxville

East Knoxville is a gumbo of parks, ethnic restaurants, historical sites, old architecture, rooted businesses and tributes to Knoxville’s African-American heritage.

The Knoxville Zoo perches near Chilhowee Park – longtime home of the Tennessee Valley Fair and a place with fond memories for generations of residents.

Magnolia Avenue, paralleling Chilhowee Park, is a nostalgic strip through East Knoxville. Ghosts of drive-in restaurants, Blue Circle, Krispy Kreme and roller coasters from the fairgrounds linger in the memory of Knoxvillians.

Before the population spread west, East Knoxville represented the American dream for many. Knoxville’s oldest Jewish and Catholic graveyards are here. So is Knoxville’s only Confederate graveyard.

Historic landmarks dot the community, from houses by Knoxville’s famous architect George Barber to the Mabry-Hazen House built in 1858.

The Beck Cultural Exchange Center is a museum that preserves African-American history and culture.

Graceful neighborhoods like Holston Hills have retained their charm throughout the years. The neighborhood’s golf course, built in 1927, was immediately recognized as one of the finest in the state.

Burlington, once one of Knoxville’s most thriving communities, is close to Holston Hills, as well as to Chilhowee Park. The Chilhowee Park area once housed many workers and middle managers at Standard Knitting Mill. An opera singer and Coca-Cola executives used to live in that part of East Knoxville.

The area may be on the verge of a rebirth, thanks to renewed community activism. Neighborhood organizations in the East City sector include:

• Burlington Business Association
• Burlington Homeowners and Residents Association
• Chilhowee Park Neighborhood Association
• Cold Springs Community Watch
• CSC Community Club
• East Knoxville Residential Advisory Board
• Five Points Beautification Club
• Five Points Neighborhood Watch
• Magnolia Area Merchants Association
• Park City Town Hall
• Town Hall East.

Click here for for contact names.

• Lions and tigers and bears . . . penguins and chimps and alligators . . . elephants and gorillas and leopards . . . they’re all at the Knoxville Zoo, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive. Open 364 days a year, the zoo has plenty of wild wonders to entertain children and adults. For hours and prices: 637-5331 or www.knoxville-zoo.org.
• Chilhowee Park, 3301 Magnolia Ave., is an 80-acre venue where the Tennessee Valley Fair (www.tnvalleyfair.org) takes place every September. Concerts, cotton candy, rodeos, competitive exhibits, livestock events and tractor pulls are part of the fun. Chilhowee Park has a 4,500-seat amphitheater, picnic tables, shelter and two-story exhibition hall. For park information, call 215-1450.
• East Tennessee Discovery Center (www.etdiscovery.org) is located in Chilhowee Park. The science center hosts the general public, groups and class field trips. Displays have included a bearded dragon, leopard gecko, fire-belly toads, ball python and live honeybee colony. Jacob’s Ladder shows how lightning is created.
• Beck Cultural Exchange Center (www.discoveret.org/beckcec) is a museum on African-American history and culture. Located near downtown Knoxville, the Beck Center lies within easy walking distance of the Alex Haley statue at Haley Heritage Square. Treasures include pictures of Knoxville College, the city’s first and only African-American college; the Knoxville Colored Orphanage, later named the Ethel Beck Home for Children, and famed educator and activist W.E.B. Dubois, who visited the area in the 1920s.
• Alex Haley Statue and Haley Heritage Square, Morningside Park, 1600 Dandridge Ave., pay tribute to the famous author of “Roots.” Knoxville was Haley’s adopted home, and the city honors him with a larger-than-life statue.
• Mabry-Hazen House (522-8661, www.mabryhazen.com), built in 1858, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The elegant home of the Victorian and Civil War periods showcases original artifacts including china, silver, crystal and antique furnishings. The house at 1711 Dandridge Ave. served as headquarters for Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War. Grounds include the four-acre Civil War Bethel Cemetery.
• Knoxville Center Mall, 3001 Knoxville Center Drive at Exit 8 off Interstate 640 (544-1500, www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=195), has Belk, Dillard’s, JCPenney and Sears as anchor stores, plus 130 retailers and a Kids Soft Play Area with baby-changing station, stroller parking, interactive games and comfortable seating for the grown-ups.