OLD NORTH KNOXVILLE

Once known as the City of North Knoxville, and incorporated as a city in 1889, this neighborhood boasted its own fire hall, schools, city hall and streetcar lines. Old North Knoxville was developed as a streetcar suburb between the 1880's and the 1940's. Streetcar suburbs had a strong pedestrian orientation.  Most people walked to their homes from the street car stop.  The automobile did not have a major influence on Knoxville until the 1920's, so there are few driveways or garages in the neighborhood. Some carriage houses remain behind the oldest houses, but most people did not own a horse and carriage. They depended on the streetcars for transportation and used the neighborhood sidewalks to reach the streetcar lines.

The City of North Knoxville was incorporated on January 16, 1889.

It was a desirable residential area and grew rapidly. North Knoxville provided a water supply, improved streets, fire protection, a city hall, and a school for approximately 100 students. Its distinctive mix of Victorian architecture once housed prominent local company presidents, business leaders, lawyers, physicians and educators. It once was referred to in The Knoxville News-Sentinel as “…a subdivision for Knoxville’s elite.”

The architectural styles in the neighborhood reflect economic conditions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of Old North Knoxville's houses were probably designed by architects for the affluent residents. Homes by George F. Barber, his son Charles Barber, and David Getaz are located in the neighborhood. The buildings of Old North Knoxville make a unified statement about Knoxville's history and architectural development. 

Late 19th Century styles found in the neighborhood include: Queen Anne, Queen Anne Cottage, Eastlake, Shotgun, and Folk Victorian. Early 20th century architecture include: Craftsman and Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival, Neoclassical, American Four Square, Minimal Traditional, and French Eclectic.

The City of North Knoxville was annexed to the City of Knoxville in 1897. The neighborhood fell on hard times during the Depression in the 1930s, when many owners of these large homes began taking in boarders for income. Some of these historic homes ultimately were subdivided into apartments, and the neighborhood’s decline continued through the late 1980s.

The neighborhood organization, Old North Knoxville, Inc. (www.oldnorthknoxville.org) successfully spearheaded the drive in the early 1990s to place the neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places, and also undertook an effort to raise funds for the installation of more than 20 turn-of-the-century-style streetlamps. Each December, the organization sponsors the Old North Knoxville Holiday Tour of Homes.