No. 7
A Linchpin in America’s Rail System
1858
T
oday, Knoxville is one of a few American cities its size that lack any sort of passenger rail service. However, Knoxville was once notable for its rail connections. Beginning in 1858, when the new East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad met the 3-yearold East Tennessee and Georgia in downtown Knoxville, the city became a linchpin to a regionally and sometimes nationally important rail system. The East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia, as it was known after 1869, served East Tennessee, but also linked the Northeast with the gulf states, moving dozens of trains daily, carrying both passengers and freight. The ETV&G was one of the South’s major lines. For a quarter century, its headquarters was in downtown Knoxville. For passengers, it was an amenity
that suddenly rendered the Eastern cities so accessible that New York hotels advertised in Knoxville papers. But the railroad had a bigger practical impact on industry. Knoxville had always had certain resources, like marble, coal, iron, and lumber, but they were never available for largescale development until the ETV&G made it possible to move them around the country in massive quantities. Big packing houses like Armour set up shop along the rail lines. Raw materials could also be shipped in, for processing in Knoxville. It also enabled wholesale houses, like McClung & Co., to bloom into significant regional and even national presences. The ETV&G improved transportation throughout much of the industri-
alizing South, allowing manufacturing to flourish in suddenly industrial cities like Chattanooga and Birmingham, which grew rapidly during this period. Driven by the railroad-fueled economy, Knoxville quadrupled in population in the 30 years after the Civil War, developing baseball, streetcars, opera festivals, the amenities of a modern American city. In 1894, the ETV&G became a central part of J.P. Morgan’s newly formed Southern Railway, headquartered in Virginia, but the city retained an important status as a hub for the system, and as Southern’s primary railroad-car repair center—the Coster Shops, named for one of Morgan’s New York associates, were located in Knoxville for almost a century.
Couretsy of the Calvin M. McClung Digital Collection
The East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad
first through train from louisville
1043 Craigland Court Knoxville, TN 37919
''Craiglen'' considered to be ''the most elaborate & beautifully detailed of all the Barber homes'' was built to withstand the test of time with marble walls, columns, ceilings & floors and all masonry construction. This Charles Barber design is reminiscent of a 15th century Tuscan villa with interiors patterned after the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence, Italy. Craiglen was commissioned in 1926, by John F. Craig to showcase the highest quality marbles quarried and imported by his firm, the Candoro Marble Co. A gracious entrance Courtyard is surrounded by two wings of the home and connected by a loggia with six sets of Palladian doors. Terraces afford views of the two acres of Gardens & Woodlands with ponds, exedra, herbs, and swaths of lawn suitable for a pool. All in the heart of Bearden for quick easy access to everywhere you need to be. You must come see for yourself. Shown by appointment only, to qualified buyers. Pass thru Private Road sign to view. $1,850,000. (865) 250-5522 • (865) 584-4000 bapking@coldwellbanker.com
Barbara Apking
140 Major Reynolds Place, Bearden Hill
Broker, CRS, GRI
Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated
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