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.
This is a 2.25″ pinback promoting Mason Dixon Tank Lines, a division of Mason Dixon Trucking Company, which was in existence until 1984 when the whole company went south after a devastating strike by drivers.
Even the company building on East Stone Drive is gone.
Both of these soft-cover books (8 1/2″ x 11″ each) are quite interesting. “Wings Over Kingsport: Tennessee’s Planned City And Its Industries As Viewed From The Sky” by Richard H. Alvey was published in 1938 and “Wings Over Kingsport No 2: Tennessee’s Planned City & Its Industries As Viewed From The Sky In 1938 and 1963” came out in 1963. The 1938 edition has 63 pages; the 1963 one, 98.
I have a better copy of the 1963 edition, but this is the one that Mr. Alvey gave me after I interviewed him in 1976. (Yes, I can see where I live from here)
These are great fun to look through.
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.
“50” Minute Cleaners or Fifty Minute Cleaners, 900 Lynn Garden Drive (it’s now the low, red-roofed building next to the log house). As far as I can tell from available sources, it was in business from the late 60s to the very early 70s. It faced heavy competition from One Hour Martinizing with seven locations around town.
These are fake poufs for the left outpocket on a sport coat. You could also, I suppose, stash one in the back pocket of your jeans…
Minute Market had nine locations. Jiffy Markets had seven and a bunch of other grocers were scattered about.
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.
Cherokee Ice House was a long-time supplier of ice to homes and businesses in Kingsport. This is, I think (it is in a frame and I’m reluctant to take it apart), a wrapper for a bag of ice. A gallon of water weighs a little over 8 pounds, so this represents a gallon of ice, maybe. I don’t know from weighing ice…
This is what Cherokee Ice House looked like in 1977:
This drawing got me started on representing some of the buildings in and around downtown Kingsport. I did them in pencil, which gained me the comment, from a local art gallery, “Don’t you do anything in color?”.
Yes, I do, but I like doing buildings in black-and-white. Monochrome me.
I did a bit of research on this company. It appears to have been in business as early as 1922 (Kingsport Coal & Ice – they also made ice cream – began in 1917 on Main Street).
It was also known as “Cherokee Ice Plant, Old Kingsport”. Ice in the 1940’s was 60 cents per 100 pounds, 50 cents for commercial interests. There was a huge ice shortage in July of 1946. Ice had to be shipped in from as far away as Kentucky. Scott Roller owned Cherokee Ice in that year.
This is on Long Island.
Top left: Wolf Clan Central: Cherokee Seal Top right: Blue Clan
Left: Deer Clan
The central plaque:
(an arrow indicating north then a silhouette of Long Island)
Long Island of the Holston
Sacred Cherokee Ground
Relinquished by Treaty on Jan. 7, 1806.
3.6 acres returned to the Eastern
Band of Cherokee Indians by the
City of Kingsport on July 16, 1976
Richard Bevington. John A. Crowe
Mayor Principal Chief
Central Right: Bird Clan
Lower right: Paint Clan Central: Wild Potato Clan Right: Long Hair Clan
Bob Lawrence's Kingsport 