East Knoxville is the section of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
, USA, that lies east of the city's
downtown area. It is concentrated along Magnolia Avenue (
US-70/
US-11), Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard, Dandridge Avenue, and adjacent streets, and includes the neighborhoods of
Holston Hills,
Parkridge,
Chilhowee Park, Morningside, Five Points, and Burlington. East Knoxville is home to
Zoo Knoxville
Zoo Knoxville, formerly known as the ''Knoxville Zoo'' or ''Knoxville Zoological Gardens'', is a zoo located just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, near exit 392 off Interstate 40. The zoo is home to about 1,200 animals and ...
, the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, and
Chilhowee Park.
History
"East Knoxville" traditionally refers to the part of Knoxville east of First Creek (this creek is roughly paralleled by the eastern portion of the Downtown Loop, namely Neyland Drive and James White Parkway).
[John Wooldridge, George Mellen, William Rule (ed.), ''Standard History of Knoxville, Tennessee'' (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1900; reprinted by Kessinger Books, 2010), pp. 137-138.] A portion of this area was incorporated as the City of East Knoxville in 1855, though it was annexed by Knoxville in 1868.
The advent of
streetcar
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
s and the development of what is now Chilhowee Park led to the establishment of residential areas in East Knoxville in the late 19th century. Two such residential areas, Park City (Parkridge and surrounding neighborhoods) and Mountain View (Morningside), were incorporated as separate cities in 1907, and annexed by Knoxville in 1917.
Urban renewal projects in Downtown Knoxville in the 1950s and 1960s displaced numerous African American residents, many of whom relocated to East Knoxville. Most East Knoxville neighborhoods remain mixed neighborhoods. The Beck Cultural Exchange Center, one of the primary repositories of black history and culture in East Tennessee, is located on Dandridge Avenue in East Knoxville.
Throughout the late 20th century and early 21st century, the Magnolia Avenue area has been considered a
red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light district ...
by residents and the
Knoxville Police Department.
Recent initiatives to revitalize East Knoxville have focused on improving Magnolia Avenue and Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard, preserving historical buildings, eliminating blight, filling or demolishing vacant buildings, and improving sidewalks.
Magnolia Avenue Corridor Plan
2009, pp. 1-8. Retrieved: 29 June 2011.
See also
*Mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
* Old City
References
External links
Magnolia Avenue Corridor Plan
— Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission report
{{coord, 35.98117, -83.90139, region:US_type:landmark, display=title
Neighborhoods in Knoxville, Tennessee