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Kingston Pike
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Kingston Pike
Kingston Pike is a highway in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, that connects Downtown Knoxville with West Knoxville, Farragut, and other communities in the western part of the county. The road follows a merged stretch of U.S. Route 11 (US 11) and US 70. From its initial construction in the 1790s until the development of the Interstate Highway System in the 1960s, Kingston Pike was the main traffic artery in western Knox County, and an important section of several cross-country highways. The road is now a major commercial corridor, containing hundreds of stores, restaurants, and other retail establishments.
The old Kingston road was originally surveyed and laid out in 1792 by Charles McClung which connected Knoxville to Campbell's Station, now Farragut. About 1795, the road was extended to Fort Southwest Point at what is now Kingston. During the Civil War, Confederate and Union forces fought several skirmishes along the Kingston road as they struggled for control of Knoxville. The Kingston Turnpike Company was chartered in 1866 to improve the Kingston road and by 1893 had extended the improved road to the county line. From the 1920s into the 1950s, Kingston Pike was a major stopover for tourists traveling along the Dixie and Lee highways, which intersected at Kingston Pike.
Starting with the completion of West Town Mall in 1970, Kingston Pike developed into Knoxville's largest retail corridor. Historian Jack Neely wrote, "If suburban sprawl had a local name, it would be Kingston Pike." The road is now home to "an enclosed shopping mall, a big-box mall, over 100 strip malls, 100 chain restaurants," and "more acreage of asphalt surface parking than any other street in the Knoxville MSA."
Kingston Pike is a five-lane road that runs westward for approximately 20 miles (32 km) from the L&N tracks just east of Alcoa Highway to the divergence of US 70 and US 11 in the Dixie Lee Junction community just across the Knox-Loudon county line. East of the L&N tracks, Kingston Pike continues into the Fort Sanders and downtown areas as Cumberland Avenue. This road continues to just west of its intersection with U.S. Route 441 (US 441, locally known as Henley Street). There, the street splits into eastbound Main Street and westbound Cumberland Avenue. US 11 and US 70 follow US 441 for several blocks before veering eastward into East Knoxville. West of Dixie Lee Junction, US 70 continues westward to Kingston, while US 11 veers southwestward to Lenoir City.
The westernmost Kingston Pike street address is the now-demolished Court Cafe building (13110) at the county line, and the easternmost is the Metron Corporation (2309). The two-block section of road between the county line and the US 70/US 11 split is typically considered Kingston Pike, although its businesses (e.g., Dixie Lee Nursery and Dixie Lee Fireworks) have "Highway 11 East" street addresses. US 70 west of Dixie Lee Junction is sometimes casually referred to as Kingston Pike or Kingston Highway, although its street addresses simply use "Highway 70 East." Before major highway construction in the 1960s, Kingston Pike followed a more winding route beyond Bearden, as evidenced by the numerous sideroads named "Old Kingston Pike." On some maps, Hines Valley Road, which intersects US 70 at Eaton Crossroads (just north of Lenoir City), is referred to as "Old Kingston Pike."
Along with US 70 and US 11, Kingston Pike is part of State Route 1 (SR 1). Kingston Pike runs roughly parallel with a merged stretch of Interstate 40 and Interstate 75, which passes just to the north. Along with Knoxville and Farragut, communities linked by Kingston Pike include Sequoyah Hills, West Hills, Bearden, Ebenezer Mill, and Concord.
What is now Kingston Pike was originally part of a Native American trail. This trail ran westward to Sinking Creek (about 10 miles west of Knoxville), where it turned abruptly southward and passed through the modern Concord area. The trail then crossed the Tennessee River and continued southward to the Overhill Cherokee towns in the Little Tennessee River valley.
By 1788, this trail had been incorporated into the North Carolina Road, the main route connecting settlements in East Tennessee with settlements in the Nashville area. In 1792, the newly created Knox County commissioned Charles McClung, a surveyor who had drawn up the original plat of Knoxville the previous year, to build a public road from Knoxville to Campbell's Station (modern Farragut). This road, originally about 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, was extended to Kingston by 1800. Several decades later, the road was widened to 50 feet (15.24 m) wide.
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Kingston Pike
Kingston Pike is a highway in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, that connects Downtown Knoxville with West Knoxville, Farragut, and other communities in the western part of the county. The road follows a merged stretch of U.S. Route 11 (US 11) and US 70. From its initial construction in the 1790s until the development of the Interstate Highway System in the 1960s, Kingston Pike was the main traffic artery in western Knox County, and an important section of several cross-country highways. The road is now a major commercial corridor, containing hundreds of stores, restaurants, and other retail establishments.
The old Kingston road was originally surveyed and laid out in 1792 by Charles McClung which connected Knoxville to Campbell's Station, now Farragut. About 1795, the road was extended to Fort Southwest Point at what is now Kingston. During the Civil War, Confederate and Union forces fought several skirmishes along the Kingston road as they struggled for control of Knoxville. The Kingston Turnpike Company was chartered in 1866 to improve the Kingston road and by 1893 had extended the improved road to the county line. From the 1920s into the 1950s, Kingston Pike was a major stopover for tourists traveling along the Dixie and Lee highways, which intersected at Kingston Pike.
Starting with the completion of West Town Mall in 1970, Kingston Pike developed into Knoxville's largest retail corridor. Historian Jack Neely wrote, "If suburban sprawl had a local name, it would be Kingston Pike." The road is now home to "an enclosed shopping mall, a big-box mall, over 100 strip malls, 100 chain restaurants," and "more acreage of asphalt surface parking than any other street in the Knoxville MSA."
Kingston Pike is a five-lane road that runs westward for approximately 20 miles (32 km) from the L&N tracks just east of Alcoa Highway to the divergence of US 70 and US 11 in the Dixie Lee Junction community just across the Knox-Loudon county line. East of the L&N tracks, Kingston Pike continues into the Fort Sanders and downtown areas as Cumberland Avenue. This road continues to just west of its intersection with U.S. Route 441 (US 441, locally known as Henley Street). There, the street splits into eastbound Main Street and westbound Cumberland Avenue. US 11 and US 70 follow US 441 for several blocks before veering eastward into East Knoxville. West of Dixie Lee Junction, US 70 continues westward to Kingston, while US 11 veers southwestward to Lenoir City.
The westernmost Kingston Pike street address is the now-demolished Court Cafe building (13110) at the county line, and the easternmost is the Metron Corporation (2309). The two-block section of road between the county line and the US 70/US 11 split is typically considered Kingston Pike, although its businesses (e.g., Dixie Lee Nursery and Dixie Lee Fireworks) have "Highway 11 East" street addresses. US 70 west of Dixie Lee Junction is sometimes casually referred to as Kingston Pike or Kingston Highway, although its street addresses simply use "Highway 70 East." Before major highway construction in the 1960s, Kingston Pike followed a more winding route beyond Bearden, as evidenced by the numerous sideroads named "Old Kingston Pike." On some maps, Hines Valley Road, which intersects US 70 at Eaton Crossroads (just north of Lenoir City), is referred to as "Old Kingston Pike."
Along with US 70 and US 11, Kingston Pike is part of State Route 1 (SR 1). Kingston Pike runs roughly parallel with a merged stretch of Interstate 40 and Interstate 75, which passes just to the north. Along with Knoxville and Farragut, communities linked by Kingston Pike include Sequoyah Hills, West Hills, Bearden, Ebenezer Mill, and Concord.
What is now Kingston Pike was originally part of a Native American trail. This trail ran westward to Sinking Creek (about 10 miles west of Knoxville), where it turned abruptly southward and passed through the modern Concord area. The trail then crossed the Tennessee River and continued southward to the Overhill Cherokee towns in the Little Tennessee River valley.
By 1788, this trail had been incorporated into the North Carolina Road, the main route connecting settlements in East Tennessee with settlements in the Nashville area. In 1792, the newly created Knox County commissioned Charles McClung, a surveyor who had drawn up the original plat of Knoxville the previous year, to build a public road from Knoxville to Campbell's Station (modern Farragut). This road, originally about 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, was extended to Kingston by 1800. Several decades later, the road was widened to 50 feet (15.24 m) wide.
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