Health Parade on Gay Street.

May 14,
1934. Sign for Park Junior followed by
band, banner Health & Happiness Go
Hand in Hand. Millers at left and other
businesses going north on Gay Street,
including Arlene, Ritz Theatre, Dan
Cohen Co. Kress, and Strand Theatre.
Spence Shoes at right.. Back of
Fountain City streetcar at lower left.
Courtesy of Thompson Photograph
Collection, McClung Historical
Collection. (N-4977)

225 YEARS

OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

A History of Knoxvilles Diverse Business Community
Knoxville is celebrating its 225th anniversary in 2016, and with that celebration comes an observance
of the citys vibrant and industrious past. While a number of elements have shaped Knoxville into
the dynamic city it is today, none have been as impactful as the evolution of business and industry.
Regardless of the era, Knoxville has always been an ideal destination for people to start and run
their businesses, and has served as the hub for a variety of progressive industries and technological
advancements.
by: Jessica Karsten

16 | KNOXVILLE CHAMBER knoxvillechamber.com

1791 1840s

Budding Industry in a New Business

Destination
Established in 1791, Knoxville
ambitiously served as the capital of
the Southwest Territory of the United
States. Given its isolated position in
East Tennessee, the citys first initiatives were manifested through the
creation of roads and highways to
make the area more accessible to
early settlers. These people recognized the citys prime location as a
frontier outpost and the possibilities
for future growth and development,
which encouraged significant migration to the area by individuals and
families hoping to take advantage of
abundant opportunities.
During its early years, the city
experienced a number of transitions
and advancements in its developing
industries. Local agriculture began to
transform from frontier-based to
settled field and livestock culture, with
an emphasis on hog and cattle
driving. The Knoxville Gazette,
established the same year as the citys
founding, was the source of news, legislative announcements, and advertisements for locals. This early print
publication was one of the first
newspapers in the U.S. and marked
the beginning of Knoxvilles longstanding media and communication
industry. Blount College, now the
University of Tennessee, was founded
in 1794 as one of the first American
colleges west of the Appalachian
Mountains and continues to serve the
region as a premier research institution.
Knoxville also began attracting a
number of skilled workers and
business professionals including
architects, cabinetmakers, and
physicians during this era. Many
specialists and entrepreneurs established their businesses in the area,
making downtown Knoxville a bustling
center for commerce and industry. A
number of stores opened on Gay and
Main streets like the McClung,
Wallace & Co. wholesale company

which established itself as Knoxvilles

first wholesale house in 1837. The
introduction of the wholesaling
industry marked a significant milestone in Knoxvilles business community, as it would soon become a
dominant center for wholesaling in
the south.

1850 1890s

Knoxvilles Era of Wholesaling and

Manufacturing
Following the Civil War, the
expansion of railroads made Knoxville
a leading distribution center and also
led to the capitalization of natural
resources in surrounding rural areas.
Iron ore, coal, marble, and timber
were utilized in the manufacturing
industry during this time, leading to
the creation of a wide range of
products and jobs.
A substantial manufacturing boom
in the 1870s and 1880s led to the
formation of a number of establishments like the Knoxville Iron Company, which quickly became one of
the most successful businesses in the
city. Other general manufacturing
operations in Knoxville included
marble and stone work, timber
products, and furniture.
Gay Street served as the citys
commercial and cultural center with a
number of wholesale and jobbing
houses nestled in the heart of downtown. By 1896, the city was the third
leading wholesale center in the south
with 50 wholesale houses generating
a total of $50 million in sales a year.
A number of entrepreneurs started
their businesses in this commercial
hub including a former slave named
Caldonia Cal Fackler Johnson who
became a self-made real estate mogul
operating three saloons in addition to
several other interests. Cal Johnson
died in 1925 as the richest AfricanAmerican in Knoxville and one of the
richest in the state of Tennessee.
The extensive business growth in
Knoxville led to the creation of the
Board of Trade in 1869, which later
became the Knoxville Chamber of

Commerce. The organization worked

to encourage industrial plants to
locate in or around the city, foster
educational initiatives, and encourage
city improvements to increase the
desirability of Knoxville as a place of
residence and commercial enterprise.
The Chamber still remains the active
voice for the Knoxville business
community 147 years later.

1900 1940s

Underwear Capital and Business

Development Hub
Today, some might be surprised to
learn the city of Knoxville was once
coined the Underwear Capital of the
World. During a brief period in the
early 1900s, the textile industry grew
to be the citys largest. By 1930 there
were 20 textile and clothing factories
in Knoxville, including Standard
Knitting Mills which employed nearly
4,000 people. At its peak, the industry
employed more than 11,000 workers
in the area and was the citys largest
employer.
This period also marked the
establishment of companies still active
in the Knoxville business community
today. Alcoas Tennessee Operations,
developed in the early 1900s, has
manufactured a variety of products for
the construction, aerospace, military,
automotive, and consumer markets.
Expanding the citys communication
industry, Scripps-Howard (now E.W.
Scripps) founded The Knoxville News,
which later became the Knoxville
News-Sentinel in 1926. This publication, sans the hyphen, continues to
serve as a primary media source for
East Tennesseans.
Family-owned Bush Brothers &
Company made its start in 1908 as a
tomato cannery, later adding other
fruits and vegetables to its products
which were canned locally in Tennessee. As new canning and processing
technologies helped the company
grow through WWI, it expanded its
product line into a variety of beans,
which is its most famous product
today.

RELOCATION GUIDE knoxvillechamber.com | 17

To counter the Great Depression of

the 1930s, President Roosevelt introduced his New Deal to help America
recover. The most ambitious project
was the Tennessee Valley Authority,
created to help with flood control,
improve water navigation, provide
cheap electrical power, bring agricultural assistance to the region, and
create a number of news jobs to assist
with the massive dam construction
projects. Currently headquartered in
Knoxville, this federal corporation is
now the largest public power company
in the United States.

1950 1990s

Attracting Corporate Headquarters

Still recovering from the national
depression, Knoxvilles growth throughout this period was modest, but not
completely suspended. It was during
this time Americas mid-sized cities
were especially attractive to relocating
businesses and families, and Knoxville
benefitted from this trend.
A number of successful business
headquarters in Knoxville made their
start during this time. Although many
companies were created in the city,
others relocated to the area given its
established business climate. James
Haslam II founded Pilot Corporation,
now Pilot Flying J, in Virginia in 1958.
Now headquartered in Knoxville, the
company is the largest operator of
travel centers in North America.
Jim Clayton founded Clayton Homes
in 1966 with $25,000 at an old drive-in
movie theatre in north Knoxville. Today,
Clayton homes is the nations largest
manufacturer of manufactured housing
and modular homes and is headquartered in Maryville and owned by
Berkshire Hathaway.
In 1989 Regal Cinemas was established in Knoxville by local businessman Mike Campbell and quickly began
expanding throughout the next
decade. Today Regal Entertainment
Group is the largest theatre circuit in
the U.S. and plans to expand its
corporate headquarters on Knoxvilles
South Waterfront, creating new jobs
and driving the local economy.

18 | KNOXVILLE CHAMBER knoxvillechamber.com

2000s 2016

Advanced Manufacturing, Digital

Media, and Entrepreneurial Spirit
The City of Knoxville has experienced steady economic growth in the
last few years and consistently enjoys
one of the lowest unemployment rates
in the state. Large employers like the
University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge
National Laboratory helped the local
economy remain fairly insulated
through the Great Recession in the
early 2000s.
With Knoxvilles long history as a
manufacturing center, it comes as no
surprise that one of the citys primary
industries today is advanced manufacturing, marked by significant technological advances and scientific breakthroughs. Given its assets and
resources, Innovation Valley, the
regional economic development
partnership managed by the Knoxville
Chamber, has selected advanced
technology and manufacturing as a
target recruitment cluster for the
region.
While existing manufacturers like
Alcoa and DeRoyal have expanded and
amplified their operations, new area
manufacturers like Local Motors,
ProNova, and Fresenius Medical Care
have established their operations in the
region to utilize the technological
assets it has to offer. These companies
are working toward developments in
areas like vehicle innovation and
medical technology with Innovation
Valleys resources serving as the driving
force for this progress.

Another significant manufacturer in

Knoxville is Radio Systems Corporation, which serves as the leading
manufacturer of pet products, with a
number of successful brands and
products like electronic training and
containment systems, waste management products, and pet doors.
Knoxville has also become an ideal
location to create and design digital
products and is ranked the third largest
video production market in the nation.
The city currently houses a dynamic
community of digital media companies
with focus areas like television production and creative digital marketing
tools. Prominent television production
companies based in Knoxville include
Scripps Networks Interactive, RIVR
Media, and Jewelry Television.
Since its founding, Knoxville has
served as an ideal place for entrepreneurs to start their businesses because
of the wide range of opportunities the
city has to offer. The city has continued
to foster this same business environment by supplying entrepreneurs with
resources through Chamber initiatives
and the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center.
One example is the Young Entrepreneurs Academy in which local middle
and high school students have the
opportunity to develop their own real
businesses from the ground up.
This dedication to local entrepreneurs has allowed for the development
of a number of successful companies in
the community, advancing the citys
economy and making it an ideal
destination for businesses for the next
225 years. n

The Proven Approach to

Downtown Real Estate

Kimberly Dixon Hamilton

REALTOR | Principal Broker

KnoxvilleDowntownRealty.com

865.588.5535
Residential Sales and Leasing