Town of the Week, September 19, 1998

Take a visit to Knoxville, Tennessee; Listen in.

Knoxville, Tennessee

Between the Great Smoky mountains and lakes in East Tennessee, stands the state's original capitol and the urban center of mining in Tennessee. Knoxville and Knox County are named for General Henry Knox, Secretary of War under President George Washington.

Knoxville became the capitol of Tennessee in 1796 and remained so until 1811, when Nashville took control. With impressive physical assets including water, land, coal and mountains, Knoxville prospered as a city of industrialization and manufacturing. Because of coal mining, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is a national leader in research on the efficient use of coal. It is also a college football powerhouse.

Back in the 1930s, Knoxville became the home of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplied much-needed inexpensive electric power, flood control and jobs. Then in the 1940s, this area housed a secret city, "Oak Ridge," which helped create the atom bomb. Today Oak Ridge is one of the most technologically advanced laboratories in the world.

Knoxville area attractions include the American Museum of Science & Energy; Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture; Knoxville Museum of Art; Knoxville Zoo; and The Sunsphere, an Eiffel Tower-like 266 foot tall structure built for the 1982 World's Fair.

It's also the birthplace of Green Bay's Minister of Defense, Reggie White, who treats opposing quarterbacks as if they were flaming liberals. And it's our Town of the Week, Knoxville, Tennessee.