ODDS AND ENDS IN KNOXVILLE IN 1913

Ron Allen

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I recently located some notes I made several years ago while searching for some information in old 1913 Knoxville newspaper microfilms. I've reproduced those notes here, thinking since I had recorded the information, someone might find a tidbit of interest here, albeit this is nothing other than some random information about some places, and events in Knoxville during the first several months of that year.

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The new University Club opened on New Years Day, January 1, 1913, at 623 West Main Avenue, at the corner of Henley street.

The Bonita Theater was under new management and opened under a new name, Cable Theater, on January 4, 1913, as a silent movie theater.

Social news about the Proctor community appeared in the Journal and Tribune on January 10, 1913. Proctor was in the section south off Western avenue, beyond where the News Sentinel building stands today.

The workhouse was located near Macedonia, where workers were preparing to rebuild the Armstrong Ferry pike, from the race track to the ferry. A few weeks later mention was made of the Macedonia School, with ten grades and twenty-three students. Macedonia was a community in East Knoxville, near are perhaps a portion of the section that would later be known as Burlington.

The Morrill funds authorized by Congress had been used advantageously by Knoxville College since the school was originally organized in 1875. More than 450 students had graduated from the school since its inception.

In a lover's quarrel, Paul "Spud" McKee shot and killed Elsa Osborne, a madam who operated a brothel at 124 Florida street. The murder occurred at a downtown soft drink stand. No relatives were located and her body was buried in the Woodlawn cemetery.

Parents Day was held at Central High School and at South Knoxville High School.

Movies were being shown at Staub's Theater.

A home that was being offered for sale on Rutledge Pike in Park City was described as facing the golf course. An indication that the Highland golf course was still in existence in January, 1913.

A new theater opened, called the Hippodrome. The manager was W. T. Ambrose. It was a combination vaudeville and movie theater, with admission cost ten cents. Not verified, but probably located on the west side of the block of Gay street between Main and Henley.

The Episcopal Church men held services at the Grand Theater on February 10, 1913. On February 23 the YMCA met at the theater to hear a speech by Reverend Frank Y. Johnson.

The extension of the Kingston Pike Railway was completed, the end of the line now being opposite the gates at the Lyons View Asylum.

Community news from various sections of the city and county was being published in the Journal and Tribune in 1913. Those social column included information concerning communities including the following places : Grove City, Beaumont, Third Creek, Lyons Bend, Shooks, Ball Camp, Graveston, Virtue, Corinth, Marble City, Beaver Ridge, Cedar Bluff, Halls Cross Roads, Byington, Washington Pike, Fountain City, Mountain View, Proctor, Lincoln Park, Lonsdale, Island Home, Park City, Vestal, Oakhill, Oakwood, Hardin Valley, and Church Grove.

Teams playing in the City League were Knoxville Knitting Mills, the L & N, Appalachian Mills, Fort Sanders, YMCA, Mountain View, Littlefield and Steere, Fountain City, and the Red Seals. Other amateur baseball teams in town included East Hill Avenue, Caswell, and Park City.

Local African Americans celebrated the emancipation of slaves on April 9, 1913. Festivities included a Gay street parade and speeches at the Auditorium. Two hundred from Chattanooga were in town to participate in the celebration.

A fire caused an estimated ten to twelve thousand dollars damage at the Cumberland Club, located at the corner of Clinch and Walnut.

Luttrell Park, at the south side of the river near the Gay street bridge, opened for the season on May 5, 1913.

Chilhowee Park opened for the season on May 4, 1913. Attractions included the Merry-Go-Round, the roller coaster, a photo gallery, a penny arcade, and the dancing pavilion.

The Appalachian Hotel opened on May 9, 1913, at the old hotel site that previously had been in operation under various names, including the Lamar House.

Knoxville's professional baseball team, playing in the Appalachian League, opened the season at Chilhowee Park with a 7-4 victory over Middlesboro.

The Grand and Bijou theaters were showing live stage entertainment. The Rex and Crystal theaters were movie houses. The Gay theater installed a refrigeration plant, with "every square foot of air cleaned every two minutes."

Teams in a newly formed junior baseball league were North Knoxville, East Knoxville, Wait Field, and the "Pickups".

The Jones Dog and Pony Show in Knoxville was preparing to go on the road for its first performance of the season, after rehearsing for several weeks. Owner W. N. Jones kept the animals at his Knox County farm in Macedonia.

The second annual Knoxville Music Festival was held May 7, 8 and 9, 1913. Activities took place at Staub's Theater and also at the National Conservation Exposition grounds (Chilhowee Park.)

Commencement exercises were held at Young High School were on May 28.

A baseball game played at the Coster Shops field between the Coster team and an "All Star" team ended in a 1-1 tie.

Dr. H. E. Christenberry was seeking reelection as the Mayor of Lonsdale, at a meeting of the "Progressives". The "Regular Progressives" then held a meeting and nominated A. J. Wilson as its Mayoral candidate. In the election, Christenberry again was elected, taking the ballot by a count of 239 to 80 votes.

The University of Tennessee baseball team finished the season with five victories, eight losses, and one tie.

Wait field, the home field of the University of Tennessee, was in poor shape, covered with gravels and rocks. It was anticipated that improvements would be forthcoming.

The cornerstone was laid for the new Gibbs High School on May 30.

The Gay and Bijou theaters were showing movies produced in a new process called called "Kinemacolor".

The combination Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Pawnee Bill's Far East show performed at the Bell Avenue grounds.

An Old Harp Singing was held at the Commerce Avenue fire hall. The same event was later held at the Beaver Ridge Church, Powell Station Church, East End Methodist Church, and Island Home Baptist Church.

Two graduates received diplomas from the Baker Himel School. Ten boys and six girls graduated from Farragut High School.

The Knoxville Railway and Light Company purchased the Auditorium, for a parking facility and repair shop for the company's streetcars. Work was already going on to convert the large building.

Colonel William Caswell offered to donate six acres of land to the city of Knoxville, for use as a public park, if the Knoxville Real Estate Board would donate an approximately similar sized track of land that adjoined Caswell's property. The locate was north of Park Avenue, north to Caswell street.

The new Sand Branch church was completed, at the fork of the river, six miles east of Knoxville.

Local African Americans celebrated July 4^th at Chestnut Park. On that day, horse racing events were held at Johnson's track in East Knoxville, beyond Chilhowee Park.

A newspaper advertisement offered memberships in at the YMCA indoor underground swimming pool for the summer. Rates were four dollars for four months for men, two dollars for boys.

Negro militia men from Nashville were camped at Camp Sevier, in Fountain City.

Charles Cole, 230 East Oldham avenue, was accidentally drowned at Beaman's Lake, "near the race track."

On July 6, in the Journal and Tribune's Park City Notes, was the following notice : "Since the name of the race track cars has been changed to Burlington on the cars going beyond the park, it is very confusing for some people, not knowing where Burlington is, but very soon they will get accustomed to the name." This seems to be the first mention of the Burlington community, and even today seemingly no record has been located to determine whether that name was chosen by an official of the railway company, someone in the neighborhood who perhaps had previously lived in a city named Burlington, such as those in North Carolina or Vermont, or some other still to be determined reason.

The Baker Himel private school, also long called the University School, would open for the fall session on September 1, 1913. The school advertised that all classes would have one teacher for each fifteen students.

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