The not-so-scruffy little city

Tour de Knoxville: the Medical Arts Building

2009-03-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

So, what does an architecturally minded teacher do on Spring Break when she can't afford to travel further than downtown? Well, she grabs her "Historic Knoxville: A walking and touring guide" (circa 1990) and takes a self-guided tour of the scruffy little city!

Okay, enough of this 3rd person crap. But seriously, I've been waiting for a nice sunny day to come along so I could tour lovely Knoxville! I'm going to try to post 1 building at a time, with a little background.

Today's building is the Medical Arts Building, at 603 Main Street. Designed by Manley and Young of Lexington in 1929/1930, it used to house medical offices, hence the name. At first glance, this gothic style building looks pretty typical, but check out the doors: beautiful ornamental buttresses and Tudor arches, specifically above the garage and main doors. According to my guide book, "the terra cotta facade is probably the "best example of terra cotta in the city". It's currently used for offices and, as an aside, is the building my mom looks out onto every day from her office in the Post Office across the street!

Dumpster diving

2008-11-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

So, this was hanging out of the dumpster at my boyfriend apartment complex. Upon closer inspection:

I Love Hockey? Really? Enough to pull it out of the trash?

Things'll be great when you're....

2008-11-03T07:44:00.001-08:00

...downtown. Or, Market Square to be precise.Is this the dog from the last post?
What a great city :)

Seen: October 3rd

2008-10-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

First Friday/Underground Knoxville Tour

Alright, well as far as capturing "Underground Knoxville" on film, I didn't do too great a job. But, in my defense, there wasn't much to see. I really got my hopes up for this one, but truly it was just a lot of brick foundation work, pipes, and dirt. I'm not saying I didn't find this thrilling and absolutely worth the membership fee of Knox Heritage ($25, go join!). It just didn't blow me out of the water.

One thing I did find interesting was a picture of the actual "raising" of the 100 block:
A picture's worth a thousand words, right? So, a picture of a picture is at least half that. :)

Now, check out this dog:

J's Mega Mart

2008-10-06T17:04:00.001-07:00

Ode to J's Mega Mart: the only place downtown (and probably in town) that you can find. . .
An entire aisle devoted to scrunchies

Remember slouch socks? Wonder where they've been since '92? Here:

And...this? Somewhere in China, someone is looking for Pete's number.

I wish I knew more about J's. Like, what the hell this old signage is about:

I believe it reads "Pizza, Beer, Pinball, Kiddies Rides, More Videos"

Heard a rumor this week that J's will be closing it's doors soon. Downtown will lose a bit of charm and a lot of wigs.

To make a house a home

2008-10-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

near Alex Haley park

Williams-Richards House – 2225 Riverside Drive

http://www.knoxheritage.org/2008_Fragile_15/index.htm