This was issued in 1963 when Latimer Looney was still at 707 East Sullivan Street. The dealership dated from 1938, when it was in the building at 315 Cherokee Street (the building later became apartments. We lived there when I was a kid. There was a concrete car-width ramp that went from the first to the second floor)
Around 1957, my buddy and I trooped down to this dealership, where there was a new Jaguar in the showroom. We were majorly impressed.
This old building (1938 or so) is being renovated. In 1951, the location is shown as Clinchfield Drug Store. By 1957, it was empty, but has been home to various businesses since then. As you can see from the pictures, it may have started as a bank and realty company.
This was lent to me by a buddy whose father worked for Eastman. He didn’t have any idea of the date range.
It’s 1 3/4″ wide and 2 1/2″ tall. It doesn’t carry a sterling mark. There are letters on the reverse but they’re badly worn. I can make out “DEPT”. It has a fairly heavy duty pin on the reverse. It weighs 20 grams.
In 1963 this location at 1017 West Stone Drive was a spanking new Howard Johnson’s. By 1970 it was a Best Western/Tennesse Motor Lodge, then in 2002 it was Westside Inn. Now it’s off to the dustbin…
Neat little 5.75″ x 2″ presentation piece made by Varney Scale Models, Miami Florida. This dates to pre-1970. Lettering is the same on both sides.
In the mid 1920s, this building at 651 West Sullivan Street was the home of King Motor Company, a Studebaker dealership. The owner, E. Ward King, went on to found Mason Dixon Trucking.
In 1929, you could purchase a Studebaker Commander Straight Eight for $1,495. Cars were stored on the second floor, accessed by the ramp out back.
When I was young, this building was a Coca-Cola bottling company. By looking through the front window, you could watch the bottling operation.
About all I can confidently write about this 1.5″ pinback that I picked up at an estate sale in Mt. Carmel (which I actually thought in my very younger days was “Mt. Caramel”, summoning visions of Big Rock Candy Mountain) is that the Kingsport Merchants, formed in 1939, predated the Downtown Kingsport Association.
If you go upstairs at River Mountain Antiques on Broad Street and amble as far back as you can go, you’ll see this sign. Why did this business end so quickly in 1919?
That’s because Mr. L. J. Oswald was murdered at this location, then the Nelms Building, in 1919. The alleged culprit was M. D. Stallard. Oswald lived long enough to tell that he had been shot in the back (a later account states that he appeared to have been shot in the side). Stallard’s .32 pistol was found beside Oswald. A property dispute was the apparent cause.
At a trial in Bristol, Stallard claimed self-defense and was declared not guilty on Wednesday, December 10, 1919.
Built around 1926 by Joseph Strauss of Bristol VA, this was home to the Cut Rate Dry Goods store in 1927, Watson’s All Bargain Store in 1929, The Miracle Store in 1929, The Vogue Ladies Apparel in 1931, Strauss’s Women’s Clothing (“Quality and Style at Low Prices”) in 1932, Montgomery Ward in 1935, B. F. Goodrich in 1943 (“A and B Radio Batteries!”), The Debbie Shop in 1947, Moskin’s Credit Clothing in 1952, Home Credit in 1972. There were others. It’s Anchor Antiques now.
If you happen to know of other businesses here, let me know.
As work progresses on the widening of Memorial Boulevard, the original home of Honest John’s gift shop and restaurant is going down. In 1954, “Honest John” Barker created “Kaw-Liga”, a 25-foot concrete depiction of a rather surprised looking “indian” in front of this structure. There was a speaker in the statue with which Barker would lure tourists in to shop his offerings. By 1960, the indian had been hauled up to the newly-created Stone Drive/11W/Robert E. Lee Highway where Barker continued the business until 1970 or so.
Other businesses occupied this building off and on. The only one I recall was Abe’s Pies, which supplied quite decent pies to restaurants in the city.
Bob Lawrence's Kingsport 