Jack Neely

Knoxville

Contributing Editor, Executive Director of Knoxville History Project at Hard Knox Wire

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Articles

Basketball in Knoxville: A Quick History

3 weeks ago | visitknoxville.com | Jack Neely

In Knoxville in 2025, as tens of thousands of orange-clad fans cheer both men’s and women’s games, it’s hard to imagine an era without basketball. But for the first half of the nation’s history, it didn’t exist in any form. Many 19th-century Americans, from General Grant to Emily Dickinson, lived full lives and never heard that there was any such thing. Then it started, more suddenly than other sports.
Honoring Local Historians for Their Significant Contributions to Knoxville History

1 month ago | citylifestyle.com | Paul James |Jack Neely

Through its popular annual luncheon, the Knoxville History Project recognizes local historians who through research, public programs and published books and articles, have increased our collective knowledge of and appreciation for the city’s past. Known as the William Rule Award for Lifetime Achievement in Knoxville History, this recognition also honors the legacy of Captain William Rule, a major figure in the city’s history.
Knoxville’s Historic Holston Hills Golf Course

1 month ago | visitknoxville.com | Jack Neely

The site of this month’s Visit Knoxville Open is one of the most beautiful golf courses in the region, on the banks of the Holston River. Now almost a century old, Holston Hills is also one of the most historic courses in Tennessee. Golf was catching on around the world in the 1890s when Knoxville’s first golf course, a nine-holer, emerged not far from Holston Hills, near what’s now Chilhowee Park.
Knoxville: A Walking Music Guide Part II

2 months ago | citylifestyle.com | Paul James |Jack Neely

Article by Paul James and Jack NeelyPhotography by Knoxville History Project, Shawn Poynter, and the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection Originally published in West Knoxville LifestyleThis is the second part of a look at the city’s deep and endlessly fascinating musical history based on the publication of a new educational booklet by the Knoxville History Project.
Guide to the Historic House Museums

2 months ago | visitknoxville.com | Jack Neely

In and around Knoxville is an array of photogenic historic homes, houses noted for their age, architecture, and stories of the people who lived there. No two are very much alike. Some have been known and respected as house museums for almost a century, while another is a relatively recent addition. As it happens, few of them are in the same neighborhood, and several are out of the way, and require cars and good directions. But they’re all worth seeing.
Knoxville's Civil War History: The Last Voyage of the Sultana

2 months ago | visitknoxville.com | Jack Neely

This April marks the 160th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. By the time Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in a meeting more than 300 miles northeast of here at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, things had been pretty quiet in Knoxville for more than a year. Longstreet’s Confederates, after their disastrously ill-advised attack on Fort Sanders, had given up on their siege of Knoxville in late 1863.
From Mardi Gras to Mardi Growl

Feb 27, 2025 | visitknoxville.com | Jack Neely

After 150 years of envying the Gulf Coast Mardi Gras, we finally created our own version of it—and brought the dogs! Mardi Growl’s history is pretty recent and easy to track. Inspired by a similar event in St. Louis, it started in 2008, and has been a colorful, popular, and often a joyfully noisy spectacle, delighting dogs of all sizes, shapes, and colors, as well as a certain number of humans.
A Universal Language: Several Black Musicians from Knoxville have Become Known Around the World

Feb 25, 2025 | visitknoxville.com | Jack Neely

Knoxville has earned some acclaim for its country musicians. Several who started their careers on Knoxville radio, from Roy Acuff to Chet Atkins to Don Gibson to the Everly Brothers to Dolly Parton, became major stars. However, African American musicians in Knoxville have had a notable influence on popular music, even nationally, often in offbeat or surprising ways.
Charles McGhee Tyson

Jan 28, 2025 | citylifestyle.com | Paul James |Jack Neely

When checking the status of a flight, whether you are heading out of town or waiting on a family member or friend to arrive, it can be handy to know the three-digit code for the Knoxville airport. Those three letters—TYS—actually tell an interesting little story. TYS stands for Tyson, or more specifically, McGhee Tyson, for whom the airport is named. The Knoxville airport is a bit of a puzzle because it’s not even located in Knox County—and most people have no idea for whom it is named.
Our Chocolate Factories: When Candy was a local industry

Jan 14, 2025 | visitknoxville.com | Jack Neely

For some reason, when we talk about Knoxville industry, we talk about textiles and nails and machinery and chemicals and stone and lumber. How come we always skip the fun stuff? A century ago, believe it or not, this city was also a center for the mass production of candy, including a wide variety of chocolates. At one time, several hundred Knoxvillians worked full time making candy in local factories and kitchens.