Tag Archives: divided back postcard

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.

oldtavern

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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.
cc&otrainstation
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