CIrcle

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bankblotter

It’s always pleasant to come across a CI prefix on advertising.  The two-letter Ci (Circle) prefix – it was the two-letter, five number system – meant that you had an early phone (assigned to your residence or business).  I think Ci5 was very early because I don’t recall ever seeing a Ci4.  But I was a kid, what did I know… The two-letter, 5-number system was replaced by the 10-number system sometime in the 60’s.
This piece, a bank blotter (I think), is 7.5″ long and 3.75″ high.  My Colorblind Assistant (great program!) names the color as “Midnight Blue” (good oldie, too).

Rock on.

Holston River Bridge

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bridgeholstonrvrfull
“K.24 BRIDGE OVER HOLSTON RIVER ON U.S. 23, BETWEEN KINGSPORT AND JOHNSON CITY, TENN”

Verso: He (unreadable). Since I didn’t send that card from Knoxville I promised you, I will send you one today as we are in Johnson City having a swell time.  Marie

Mailed to Miss (?Nepall?) Rader, Route 2, Greeneville, Tenn.

PM: Johnson City August 10, 1945.

Work didn’t begin on Ft. Patrick Henry Dam until six years later.  The person who took this picture was probably in a boat or had water wings on or something.  This is looking south, more or less.

Hello, Bank!

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oldbank

Construction work brings to light the facade of a structure built in 1927 at 209 Broad Street.  The date is in the escutcheon above the remains of the front door. Originally, there were white columns on either side of the building, in front of the facade.

There was a building boom on Broad Street in 1927 and both Kingsport National Bank and this, The Farmers and Merchants Bank, opened up around June of that year.  In 1945, it became Sullivan County Bank. At some later date, it was home to Harris & Graves Insurance.  By 1959, it was the Moore & Walker Insurance building.

Garrett & Garrett Attorneys, as you can see, had the upper floor.

Diamond Cabs

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diamondcab

In the 1959 City Directory, the address of “Gillam (sic) and Diamond Cabs” (it’s Hinch Gilliam again…he was also managing Friendly Cabs up on Brooks Circle) was shown as 328 East Sullivan Street.  It was behind the old Trailways (Union) Bus Terminal on Cherokee Street, where the Greyhound Bus Station was.

Anyway, there were seven cab companies listed for Kingsport in 1959: Friendly Cabs at 1725 Ft. Henry Drive, Gilliam and Diamond Cabs at 328 East Sullivan, City Cabs in Highland Park, Lynn Garden Cabs, 1212 Lynn Garden Drive, Nick’s Cabs in Highland Park, West View Cabs at 140 Fairview and Yellow Cab Company at 124 West Market.

The “Roberts” was my stepfather.  He drove a cab off-and-on, until his ship came in.  After he was escorted off the ship later, broke again, he never went back to driving cabs.  He told me once that, back then, he never went into Long Island after dark.  It was a rough place, he thought, awash with bootleggers and blackguards.

First Baptist Church

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firstbapfront
This was how First Baptist Church looked in the mid-40s.  There’s a color shot of this around, but it’s a commercial card that has been pretty heavily retouched.  This card was produced by the church.
firstbapverso

upper left:  Picture of L.B. Cobb, the pastor at the time.
First Baptist Church

“Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” – Matt. 20:28

First Baptist Church, Kingsport, Tennessee, organized 1916, membership 1600, S.S. En. 1180, value of church property $150,000.00.  Annual budget approaches $30,000.00.  Radio ministry: Sundays, 11:00 – 12:00 A. M.; Saturdays, 8:45 – 9:00 A. M., Station WKPT.  L.B. Cobb is the pastor.

(below)

“In the Heart of Kingsport, for the Hearts of Kingsport.”

Oklahoma School

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oklahomaschool
I don’t know who or what owns the copyright on this image.  If I get yelled at, I’ll take it down.
Anyway, this is the 1913 building that housed the first school in Kingsport.  To read more about this building and its history, click here.  Neither this site nor Wolfe’s book on Kingsport gives a hint as to why it’s called Oklahoma, or Oklahoma Grove, school.
Maybe someone named Oklahoma kicked in some seed money…
This image is in the University of Tennessee Volunteer Voices collection, with only the notice that, on the back, is “where Robert E. Lee school now standing”.

The above image and quite a few others appear in this publication:

kptpamphlet

It appears to have been published (Watson Lithographing) as a 1967 50th anniversary promo piece by the Chamber of Commerce (not mentioned in the booklet).  Nothing is copyrighted and no photo credits are shown at all.  It is a standard 8.5″ x 11″ size. Great pictures, though (I can see where I live in this cover photo).

Go, Pirates!

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SULLIVANHI

I found this at an antique store.  It’s the old blue and gold, Sullivan High Pirates.  Looks like a booster item to be.  I can’t even hazard a guess as to the date.  I went there 1961-1963 and don’t recall ever seeing one.  But, then, I never paid much attention to sports.

It’s 1.25″ in diameter with a lethal-looking pin on the back.  Those were dangerous times…