In 1918, as WWI slowly ground to a halt in Europe and the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic began raging out of the foul trenches of that war, Kingsport was building its first combined school building. The building, much remodeled, still stands at the corner of Watauga Street and East Sevier Avenue.
This post card, probably printed in the early 1920s, is another of the series commissioned by T. J. Stephenson.
I don’t think I ever ate at this restaurant. We always ended up at the Golden Dragon on the corner of North Wilcox Drive and East Sevier Avenue. However, there are many complimentary remarks on the web about this eatery that opened in 1970 and closed sometime before 2010.
This Kingsport Intermountain Telephone Directory was issued in July, 1946. These are two of the three pages of restaurant listings compiled probably in late spring or early summer of ’46. The Center Street Grill building became Center Street Restaurant, then the AAA Office and has been vacant for years.
“Chat & Chew Grill”?!?
Just out of curiosity, I wondered who had the lowest number listing in the directory and it turned out to be Hutchwallen Florists at number 1. Hutchwallen (it’s spelled that way in the directory) was located directly in front of the train station, where that patch of flowers is now.
I couldn’t find a listing for number 2, but Huff Funeral Home and Ambulance Service – at Charlemont and Watuaga – had 3, General Shale Sales Office had 4 and Clinchfield Railroad Company Ticket Agent had 5.
The directory is a fascinating glimpse of the business community in Kingsport as the nation came out of WWII.
This post card, printed by Tichnor in the early 1920s, shows the Homestead Hotel about three or four years after it was constructed. This series, as previously noted, was commissioned by Kingsport businessman T. J. Stephenson.
I attended Lynn View in the 1959 – 1960 school year. I really liked the school and threw a minor (and unsuccessful) tantrum when the parents announced that they were moving the next summer. Over to Sullivan High School for two years and on to the Air Force.
Bob Lawrence's Kingsport 