Kingsport Brick Company

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This is a Kingsport Drug Store issue, printed by Curt Teich Company in Chicago (as best as I can tell, from the dating system for CT, this is an AD (for Doubletone) card from around 1917).  Kingsport Brick became General Shale.  This plant is no longer operational and has been seriously vandalized.  Those round kilns have been gone for years.
In the late 50s, from our apartment in downtown Kingsport, I noticed a fire at this plant.  I grabbed by Argus camera and hurried over there.  As I was taking a picture of the building on fire, a man walked up to me and introduced himself as Ellis Binkley, editor of the Kingsport Times-News.  “Come see me, boy,” he said, “when you graduate and I’ll have you a job as a photographer.”  I said I would.
Turns out, after I got out of service, I hired on at the Times-News, then on Market Street, as a night shift photographer.  Mr. Binkley, by that time, was mostly retired and I don’t think I ever reminded him of the encounter at the brick plant.
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Old Sluice Bridge

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I didn’t even know this stupid old bridge was still in place.  It’s been out of use for decades. This bridge connected the Springdale Community, South Eastman Road, to Long Island.  Eastman Road then went across the Island to another, long gone, bridge that went right into Eastman.  I once lived in Springdale, but we didn’t have a car then, so I wasn’t at all familiar with these bridges.  If we caught a bus to town, we went via Wilcox Drive. My buddy, though, who lived in Edgewood, vividly remembers his school bus easing by oncoming traffic on this bridge. It’s only about 17′ wide (and about 220′ long).  This is looking toward Springdale.  It’s still pretty sturdy, but the piers are starting to crumble.  There was no date plate on either section.
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Here’s an aerial shot of Eastman from the late 40s or so.  It shows the bridge I mentioned above and you can also see a little bit of Edgewood Village in the upper left quadrant.
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Joseph Everett Stone Tavern, Kingsport TN

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Another divided back card.  These were in common use starting in 1907, and stayed in use long after that.  There is an inscription on the lower front, in an odd, italic type face: “Ruins of Tavern on Old Stage Road, Kingsport, Tenn.”
According to a map of the Boatyard District in “Kingsport Heritage: The Early Years 1700 to 1900” by Muriel Spoden, this was the 1813 Joseph Everett Stone Tavern located on Lot 2, next to the Netherland Inn, where that gas company is now located.
I assume this picture dates from sometime in the 1930s.  The Spoden book indicates that this tavern was derelict in the late ’20s.
The card has a blue cast, which I’ve seen before in later cards.

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Train Station, Kingsport TN

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Dating this card is difficult.  It’s an early divided back card popular between 1907 and 1915, but the designs varied widely depending upon what company was printing them.  This train station was not completed until 1916 and the title of the card is “C C. & 0 PASSENGER STATION, KINGSPORT, TENN.  Photo by Bachelder’s Studio”.
On the back, as shown, is written “Form Minnie Fletcher Kingsport”, then “Miss Mae Cooper Keokee VA,”  There is some very, very faint writing in the lower left quadrant of the card, but, despite running it through a bunch of filters, I found it to be unreadable.
In 1916, Bachelder’s Studio (actually Bachelder & McLean Studios) was located on the second floor of what is now “Pappy’s” on the corner of Main and Cherokee in downtown Kingsport.
Note that you can see the beginnings of the neighborhood that existed on Cement Hill.
There are also at least two bicycles in the picture and a gang of people standing to the left of the building.  Behind them is one of the two-story homes that ran along the base of Cement Hill.
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Three old Kingsport restaurants

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This is the Far East Restaurant. There’s a vacuum cleaner place there currently.  On the back: “FAR-EAST RESTAURANT, The only smartest Chinese-American Restaurant in the Tri-City area is located at 1120 Bristol Highway in Kingsport, Tennessee. Featuring finest Chinese and American food.  Specializing in Chinese family dinners. Live Maine Lobster.  Choice steaks and Take-Home orders. Catering to parties.  Pub. by Fred W. Stanley, Johnson City, Tenn.” The card was published by Dexter Press, Inc. West Nyack, New York.

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The Martinique Restaurant.  On the back: “THE MARTINIQUE RESTAURANT Located at Junction of U.S. 11W and U.S. 23 Highways at circle, Kingsport, Tenn.  Near Nice Motels. ‘Serving fine food.’ Telephone Circle 5-9612.”
Elvis is said to have eaten here.

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And here’s the United Nations Restaurant.  On back: (graphic of various country flags) THE UNITED NATIONS RESTAURANT 209 E. New Street – Telephone 933 KINGSPORT, TENNESSEE”
The card was published by Howard-Duckett Co., Printers Kingsport, Tenn.
This restaurant was not in business by 1959.

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Nick’s Western Shop

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I checked my 1959 Kingsport City Directory and saw that this location, on the corner of East Market and Cherokee Streets (245 East Market Street) , was then W.B. Greene’s Bargain Annex (used furniture). Nick’s Western Shop, which also specialized in square dancing regalia, was owned by Nick Drakos.  I can anecdotally  track the business back to around 1960 or so, but I don’t have a firm opening date.  I think I took this in the mid-90s, when I learned that Nick’s was going out of business.  Corrections and additions appreciated!

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Dayton’s Grill

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I’m told that this was a popular gathering place for maybe 30 years in Lovedale.  It was located right about where Bloomingdale Pike wyes off West Sullivan.  Note the concrete post in front.  I’m pretty sure that held a U.S. Postal Service mailbox.  Lovedale was once called Peltier, a transitional commerce area before new Kingsport came into being.
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Kingsport Foundry

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This was in 2004.  The business had already closed by this time.  There’s a good aerial shot of this complex in its heyday in the “Wings Over Kingsport” second edition by Dick Alvey. I interviewed him once when I had a talk show on a little station in Kingsport.  He was a pleasant guy.  He gladly gave me permission to use a shot of Broad Street he’d taken from the upper window of the train station tower back in 1939.  I worked up a (not very good) ink drawing from it.  Made prints.  Sold some.+
Kingsport Foundry