Jack Neely

Knoxville

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

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Articles

Knoxville's Civil War History: The Last Voyage of the Sultana

1 week 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

1 month ago | 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

1 month ago | 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

2 months ago | 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.
Charles Barber’s Christmas Cards:

Nov 28, 2024 | citylifestyle.com | Paul James |Jack Neely

Want to start a publication? Learn More Featured ArticleA long-unopened box of holiday cards reveals startling designs from a past eraArticle by Paul James and Jack NeelyPhotography by Knoxville History Project, Shawn Poynter Originally published in West Knoxville LifestyleFor close to 90 years, a box containing unopened Christmas cards, many depicting rich, stylish illustrations, was found in the attic of an old house off Alcoa Highway in South Knoxville.
Through the Keyhole: Knoxville’s Extraordinary Marble World

Oct 30, 2024 | citylifestyle.com | Paul James |Jack Neely

For anyone who has spent much time in Knoxville, there is one thing that you might encounter in almost every part of the city, and that’s Tennessee marble. It graces several impressive buildings downtown and you can see where it was once extracted at Ijams Nature Center in South Knoxville.
The Gay Street Bridge

Oct 1, 2024 | citylifestyle.com | Paul James |Jack Neely

The Gay Street Bridge is currently closed following a recent Tennessee Department of Transportation safety report. While it might remain closed for an extended time, now may be a good opportunity to reflect on the long history of the Gay Street Bridge, its predecessors, and how Knoxvillians crossed the river when there were no bridges there at all. When Knoxville was established in 1791, there was no river bridge for the pioneer settlers to cross and there wouldn’t be one for 76 more years.
Butler County marks 20 years since Ivan’s fury

Sep 18, 2024 | butlereagle.com | William Pitts |Jack Neely |Keith Srakocic

It’s not often hurricanes strike Western Pennsylvania. When they do, residents remember them for a long time. Sept. 17 marks the 20-year anniversary of the day when Hurricane Ivan struck Butler County, on a fateful Friday in 2004.
Memories of covering local hurricane remnants mostly positive

Sep 17, 2024 | butlereagle.com | Paula Grubbs |Jack Neely

Although the powerful remnants of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 were expected in Butler County, I think the level of flooding produced by the torrential rains caught many residents and businesses by surprise. I remember the Connoquenessing Creek in Renfrew covering the top of the bridge and filling the little post office with water that stopped rising just a foot or so before it touched the ceiling. I also recall canoes rescuing the elderly Mrs.