Maryville History 1955-1995

“It’s Tennessee History Week Even Though I Didn’t Plan It That Way” continues today. There actually is a reason I’m finding all this stuff. Last weekend when we were at my mom’s she found pictures I had taken of downtown Marville maybe 15 years ago. In looking over them I got curious about some things and started searching the Web. I’ll post the pictures at some point after I take contemporary pictures of downtown Maryville for comparison.

I found today’s material on this city of Maryville page. As I understand it, government publications aren’t eligible for copyright and are the property of the people, so I’ve extracted the highlights related directly to Maryville history – as opposed to US history – below. I’ve added commentary.

1955

• April 4, Southern Bell Company v. Communications Workers of America strike disrupts telephone service, outage lasting 23 days

• F. W. Woolworth self-service store opens on Broadway, offering cash register checkout of pushcart, customer-gathered merchandise
• Tutt Bradford, former publisher of Bristol Herald Courier buys the Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times from Clyde Emert, publisher since 1915
• J. Fred Muggs, Today Show chimpanzee, visits Maryville

Only one year in, and there’s already a monkey! This is gonna be good.

1956

• Municipal building built on old West Side School site; dedicated May 26

• Maryville College is first integrated college in South to employ black faculty member, James H. Hamlett; appointed to teach Spanish
• Water pumped from new Maryville water filtration plant constructed on Sevierville Road at Little River
• U.T. president Andy D. Holt is principal speaker at November 26 dedication of Maryville Junior High School
• Lamar Alexander wins coveted Eugenia Buxton Cup for piano performance in state competition

Lamar Alexander was a Maryville native, so this history will be Lamar-heavy.

The 1956 municipal building was torn down a few years ago due to mold problems and lack of space. The new municipal building formally opened last week. That’s a pattern that repeats itself for the rest of this post – many of these “new” buildings have already been replaced once or even twice.

1957

• New wing dedicated at Blount Memorial Hospital; Richard Mac Brown, first baby born at hospital (7/24/47), cuts ribbon

• Lombes Honaker retires after 36 years as head football coach at Maryville College
• On August 25, First Baptist Church holds services in new building constructed between Cates and Court Streets (present day U.S. 321)
• The History of Blount County by Inez Burns published; jointly sponsored by Mary Blount Chapter of DAR and Tennessee Historical Commission
• Capitol Airlines inaugurates first local jet service on February 1 with Vanguard prop-jet plane

That new wing would have been part of the old hospital where I was born. There’s still a Blount Memorial Hospital on the same site, but all of the old wings from this era were torn down and rebuilt.

1958

• Fluoridation introduced into city water supply

• Star players from 8 Blount County high schools play in first annual Blount County Shrine East-West All-Star football game
• Gasoline prices fall from 30 cents per gallon to 8 cents per gallon during price war
• Mercury vapor bulbs replace incandescent fixtures in street lighting
• “Dear Abby” column appears in Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times
• Carl Sandberg draws large audience at Maryville College lecture series

1959

• Broadway Methodist Church meets Easter Sunday in new building on site of 1899 structure, less than a year after razing old building

• Duncan Renaldo, the Cisco Kid, and Horse Diablo attend June 30 Amigo Day sponsored by area merchants
• Highway 129 Maryville-Alcoa bypass opened to public
• Montvale Nursing Home begins construction of addition to double patient capacity

Do people even talk about the bypass anymore? If you’re coming from Knoxville down Alcoa Highway, you pass the airport and just after that 411-S, 129-S, and 321-S all veer off to the right. That’s the bypass, and it continues to the far side of Foothills Mall to the Blount County Farmer’s Co-Op. That area was once what people thought of as nothing – the western edge of town, with farmland, the Alcoa Swamp, and high-tension power lines carrying electricity from the generators at Cheoah Dam to the Alcoa aluminum plant. The Hunter’s Crossing shopping center where Wal-Mart sits now was an idle farm until a decade ago. When Foothills Mall opened there was still a farm and farmhouse next to it where Cathy Cain and Katie Reynolds took riding lessons.

1960

• Asbury Acres, Holston Methodist Conference home for retired, formally opens on February 2

• Portions of movie, The Little Shepherds of Kingdom Come shot at Thaw Hall and Willard House at Maryville College
• Maryville population: 10,348
• R. Leslie Webb, Jr. named oustanding Scottish Rights Mason of East Tennessee

1961

• Sam Roberson elected mayor

• Direct distance dialing for long distance telephone service begins on February 19
• Dr. Ralph Waldo Lloyd retires after 31 years as president of Maryville College; Dr. Joseph J. Copeland elected 7th president
• Additional wings added to Maryville College Fine Arts Center as additional space for art and band instruction
• Lennon Sisters are featured performers at Hillbilly Homecoming
• New $1,200,000 runway completed at McGhee Tyson Airport

The Hillbillly Homecoming has a longer heritage than I realized. The city still has it every year.

1962

• Senator Estes Kefauver speaks at April 28 dedication of new post office at 1905 East Broadway

• Proffitt’s Department Store moves from its 1919 downtown location to Midland Center
• Lambert Brothers, later to merge with Vulcan Materials, gives Maryville College $33,000 in Vulcan Materials stock to fund new chapel organ
• Science wing and gymnasium added to Maryville High School
• Former Tennessee Textile Plant, built with city assistance, sold to Levi Strauss Co.

My parent’s carpet store was directly across the street from the “new” post office, as they called it for ages. My mother retired a few years ago and sold it to the current owners. The previous post office was the one downtown that’s now dentist’s offices. The post office has moved twice since then – to the corner of Lamar Alexander Parkway and Home Avenue, and then to the current location on Foothills Drive. The carpet store is Dorolee’s (after Dorothy and Leon Jones) and is still in business.

So Proffitt’s moved to Midland in 1962. That’s earlier than I would have guessed. Proffitt’s department stores started in Maryville. That downtown Proffitt’s was the first Proffitt’s anywhere. It was at the corner of Broadway and Cusick, in the building currently occupied by an educational supply store. Proffitt’s and the USPS fled downtown in the same year.

1963

• Black students enroll at Maryville High for the first time

• White Star Lines ends residential bus service but continues service to Knoxville
• City Industrial Development Board formed to recruit industries to area
• Maryville High senior Anne Baker receives woman’s athletic scholarship to UT, a Neyland Academic Scholarship; becomes first woman to play on men’s varsity team as member of golf team
• Inger Louise Anderson arrives from Denmark as first high school foreign exchange student; hosted by Sid Rogers family
• Tut Bradford, the Daily Times publisher, elected president of Tennessee Association of Associated Press

My mom talks about taking the bus from downtown Maryville when she worked as a secretary at a downtown Knoxville law firm. The bus stop was at the corner of Church and College streets, where McDaniels Furniture was for a long time, and where the 216 restaurant is now.

1964

• Dr. Lea Callaway, former mayor for 4 consecutive terms, dies December 30

• Discussions regarding possible sale of Everett High School campus to city for site of new elementary school
• Sam Houston postage stamp issued January 10; Sam Houston Memorial Association sells first day covers and first day issue postcards of Sam Houston Schoolhouse flown from Houston the day cancelled
• New 1,000 gallon per minute fire pumper truck purchased, replacing 1926 American Lafrance fire engine in service for 37 years

I wonder if Miller Callaway is related to Lea Callaway?

1965

• T. Ned Lee elected mayor on platform calling for change to council-manager type government

• On November 16, Rodney Lawler appointed City Administrator
  Monument to Blount County’s war dead dedicated May 29 on front lawn of courthouse; topped by statue of soldier, monument contains names of all Blount Countians killed from War of 1812 to Vietnam War

• Secretary of State Dean Rusk speaks at September 21 Maryville College Convocation
• Groundbreaking held November 10 for new Blount County Children’s Home on Louisville Road

Melissa and I can’t figure out where that Children’s Home was in Louisville. The current orphanage is on McCammon next to K-Mart.

UPDATE: Someone explains the mystery in comments: “Childrens Home on Louisville Road is one and same as one on McCammon. In 1965, Louisville Road ran from Louisville all the way to Maryville. That is- past current Walmart, past current Lees Chicken, to right at the current gas station, past current Kmart, past McCammon, past Home Avenue, past 1981 Library right up to current tire service store across for new Municipal building. Hope that helps.”

1966

• Army staff Sgt. Donald L. Dotson, Special Forces Advisor, first Blount Countian to die in Vietnam (eventually 34 Blount Countians would die in Vietnam)
  Hugh E. Delozier, City Attorney for 17-1/2 years and recently appointed Assistant Attorney General, dies November 3

• William J. Hale School, constructed as school for black community in 1931, is closed
• Two women’s dorms and one men’s dorm constructed on Maryville College Campus
• Performance by Flatt and Scruggs draws 4,000 residents to Hillbilly Homecoming Grand Finale
• Portion of Foothills Parkway dedicated in June providing alternate route to Chilhowee Lake

1967

• Rodney Lawler named first City Manager with change to new form of government

• Stanley B. Shields named Mayor
• Sandy Springs Park and Everett Park constructed under Open Space Grant Program; cost: $500,000
• East Maryville Fire Station completed in September
  Official City of Maryville seal adopted

• First United Methodist moves into new building on Montvale Station Road

Stanley “Skeeter” Shields was mayor of Maryville for my entire life up until I was 31. His wife was my third grade teacher.

1968

• 2 million Plainfield neighborhood improvement project initiated as part of urban renewal campaign

• John Sevier Elementary School opens in August to 600 students in east side of Maryville
• Lamar Alexander and Albert Gore, Jr. debate Republican and Democratic views of the Nixon-Humphrey presidential campaign at Maryville College
• New Sutton Science Center building dedicated October 26 as element of Maryville College Sesquicentennial campaign
• Emergency 911 service, first in Tennessee, inaugurated in local area
• Future blogger Les Jones born

OK, I added that last one.

Al Gore, Jr., debating Lamar Alexander in 1968 is sort of amazing, isn’t it. It’s as prescient as the debate between a young anti-war John Kerry and later Swift Boat Vet founder John O’Neill in 1971.

1969

• Surgeons at Blount Memorial Hospital successfully perform first local heart pacemaker implantation

• City receives nation’s first Neighborhood Development Program grant to renovate downtown business district

1970

• John Sevier swimming pool opens May 30, offering recreational opportunities to East Side residents

• New Cusick Street bridge over Pistol Creek constructed under urban renewal program
• Parham Hill, once fashionable residential area of the wealthy, graded and leveled for retail development
• Municipal Building enlarged to house Maryville Utilities Board and new City Council room
• City population: 13,808, a 10-year increase of 3,500

1971

• Governor Winfield Dunn kicks off September 28 New Town Celebration recognizing renovation of downtown

• City drugstore on Broadway destroyed by fire just prior to New Town Celebration
• Blount Memorial Hospital adds patient unit
• Dam construction on Pistol Creek initiated to create Greenbelt Lake

The downtown renovation had good intentions and disastrous consequences. Church and Harper streets were converted from two-way streets to one-way streets (a mistake the city rectified three decades later). Broadway, which had been straight with parking available on the street, was made curvy and most of the parking was eliminated. The worst abomination from this period was the construction of a plastic and metal awning in front of all of the buildings, destroying the city’s charm and encouraging eyesores like this. The awnings were removed a few years back, and downtown buildings are starting to recover.

1972

• February 13 Maryville College fire severely damages Pearson Hall, closing dining facilities and leaving 90 female students without dormitory space

• Pistol Creek Dam closed on March 13, allowing lake to fill
• Senator Howard Baker officially dedicates new Huddleston Wing at Blount Memorial Hospital
• All time high attendance of 25,000 recorded at November 29 annual Christmas Parade of 1,500 participants, also a record

1973

• Schlegal Company promises many new jobs with announcement of intentions to build a plant in Maryville

• Two earthquakes shake city within a month
• Construction begins on interceptor sewer line and third phase of Greenbelt Park near courthouse

1974

• Lamar Alexander is Republican nominee for governor of Tennessee

• Groundbreaking for Blount County Courthouse annex to house offices and a new jail
• McClung’s downtown store heavily damaged by fire
• Plans announced for construction of Maryville Towers, assisted living complex at site of Hannum Springs
• Supreme Court rules in favor of City on proposed annexation of Eagleton area

The sheriff’s offices and jail eventually outgrew the courthouse annex. A new detention center was later built on the site of the old Coca-Cola plant across from the hospital.

1975

• Memorial Hall, 1871 college dorm for men, is razed

• Londoner Ken Bright’s City of Maryville flag design is adopted September 23
• City offers land for new library
• Price of First Class stamp rises from 10 to 13 cents
• U.S. Bicentennial caravan visits Maryville in December

1976

• Bicentennial Park dedicated July 4 to honor our nation’s founding

• Maryville named a bicentennial community April 6
• Blount County Courthouse addition, including new jail, dedicated in January
• Dr. Joseph Copeland retires June 30 as president of Maryville College (since 1961); search begins for successor
• Wayne Thompson, bicycling from Boston to Astoria, Oregon, stops to participate in Bicentennial commemoration
• Maryville High School football team wins Class AA Championship game against Brentwood Academy November 25

1977

• Mr. Wayne Anderson named president of Maryville College

• Palace Theater, closed 40 years, reopened by Walker Ahrrill and Jerry Cardin
• Blount County Health Department moves to new quarters adjacent to Thompson-Brown house
• Alcoa pot lines shut down by energy crisis, causing layoffs for many

The Palace Theater closed down again and was restored and re-opened a few years ago by Steve Kauffman and Donna Dixon. They expanded it to a downstairs restaurant on Harper called the Palace Cafe, which features a sandwich – the McAmmon-Ammon Slab – named after a downtown mortuary. The cafe closed for a while, but re-opened a few months ago. The cafe has a fantastic mural depicting Maryville landmarks.

McAmmon-Ammon started as a furniture store, began selling caskets, and eventually became a mortuary, which is apparently a pretty common pattern.

1978

• Maryville native Lamar Alexander elected 53rd governor of Tennessee after a year-long campaign walk across state in red checked shirt

• Gary Hensley appointed 4th City Manager
• Work continues on Home Avenue Redevelopment Project, providing new business corridor for small business
• Maryville College receives first $1 million gift

1979

• Stanley Shields voted “Mayor of the Year” by Tennessee Municipal League

• Groundbreaking held September 7 for new Blount County Library
• Historic Thompson-Brown House restoration begins
• Blount Memorial Hospital opens new mental health unit
• Former First Baptist Church building on Ellis Avenue razed
• Farmer’s market opens in downtown Maryville

I don’t even remember the First Baptist Church building on Ellis. They have a huge church on what’s now Lamar Alexander Parkway.

UPDATE: I asked my mother, who was born in 1926. She says the old church was at what is now the Gateway Plaza building on Ellis, next to Maryville Salvage.

1980

• Population: 17,480

• Residents asked to conserve water as drought conditions prevail
• Blount football players practice on courthouse lawn during teachers’ strike
• Hannum Springs Park wins Timberform Design Award
• Nancy Broady Miser, instrumental in ratification of 19th Amendment and Blount County’s first female school superintendent, dies

1981

• Blount County Public Library dedicated January 26 by governor Alexander

• John Michael Callahan killed in February, the 3rd Maryville police officer to die in line of duty
• Blount Memorial Hospital establishes Hospice Program
• Cable TV service introduced in Maryville

The 1981 library was replaced a few years ago with a newer library at the former site of the Sky City shopping center. Elmer Mize told me that they wanted to replace the 1981 library sooner, but some of the money allocated to build it required that they operate it for a minimum of 20 years.

And cable TV in 1981. That dates a few childhood memories.

1982

• April 7 groundbreaking for Foothills Mall

• Lamar Alexander reelected for 2nd term as governor
• Harper Memorial Library building given to Blount County Red Cross Chapter as new quarters
• Bank of Maryville, established in 1885, acquired by First Tennessee Bank
• David W. Proffitt donates $100,000 to Maryville College

1983

• Foothills Mall holds Grand Opening, promising jobs and revenue for city

• The Daily Times celebrates 100th anniversary with special edition
• Construction begins on downtown highrise building for elderly

And the mall opened in 1983. That dates some more memories.

1984

• Inter-city connector (U.S. 321) connecting Morganton Road with Washington Avenue opens December 1

• Maryville-Alcoa-Blount County Recreation and Parks Commission formed to provide recreational opportunities for local citizens
• Ceremonies held on high school campus commemorating site of Freedman’s Institute and Maryville Polytechnic School
• Concluding successful financial campaign, Maryville College raises over $12 million in 5 years
• Blount County Humane Society formed
• Joint communications center, coordinating all emergency agencies, established by Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County

Lamar Alexander Parkway was somewhat controversial at the time because of all the homes that were displaced. Elmer almost lost his house at the corner of Washington and the parkway next to Bob Proffitt’s office, but he convinced the city to let him keep it. In one of the offices at the court house – the property assessor’s office, I think – there’s an aerial photograph of the area around the courthouse before Lamar Alexander Parkway went through there. There was a little league baseball field there right next to the court house.

1985

• A record low temperature of minus 24 degrees in the city

• Blount County Genealogical and Historical Society founded
• City resident and Blount County historian Inez Burns made honorary member of City Council for efforts in preservation of local history

1986

• Local Homecoming ’86 activities kicked off by Governor Alexander

• Dr. Mark Ebersole appointed interim president of Maryville College upon resignation of Dr. Wayne Anderson
• Memorial dedicated marking site of former W.J. Hale School (1930-1966)
• Maryville High football stadium officially named Shields Stadium, honoring Mayor Stanley B. Shields
• Portion of U.S. 321 in city officially named Lamar Alexander Parkway, honoring Tennessee governor and Maryville native Lamar Alexander
• Future blogger Les Jones graduates high school.

Once again, I added that last one.

1987

• Dr. Richard I. Ferrin installed as 9th president of Maryville College

• Leslie Nier becomes first female to join Maryville Kiwanis Club
• City designates January 15 as “Lamar Alexander Day” honoring outgoing governor

1988

• Groundbreaking for Nippondenso Tennessee, Inc., major auto parts plant employing approximately 900

• City of Maryville and Blount County announce creation of Big Springs Industrial Park
• Maryville College enrollment: 787, 25% increase over previous year
  Fort Craig Monument dedicated July 4; ceremony at site of original fort

• Maryville Utilities Board abolished; all responsibilities assumed by Maryville City Council

I remember going to the dedication of the monument. Elmer Mize – a friend of the family, former Maryville College history professor, and local historian – performed part of the dedication. I wish Elmer were still alive. The more interested I get in history the more questions I have for him.

1989

• Indiana Avenue historic district placed on National Registry of Historic Places

• Operations center opened on Home Avenue to house public works, electric and water departments
• City receives state A+ Award for community commitment to excellence in education
• American-LaFrance 1954 fire truck refurbished to extend usable life 20 additional years
• Maryville Middle School capacity for grades 6-8 increased by expansions

1990

• Maryville population: 19,454, a 1,700 increase in 10 years

• City adopts “Maryville 2010″ comprehensive plan for future growth
• Police department receives national accreditation, the first agency in East Tennessee and 3rd in state to achieve this goal
• Grand opening ceremonies at Nippondenso Tennessee, Inc. for its 3rd local plant for auto instrument production, employing 330

1991

• Tennessee Illustrated magazine ranks Maryville No. 5 among Tennessee’s most livable towns

• Maryville Animal Shelter opens, serving Blount County

1992

• Vice president Dan Quayle visits Maryville for political rally

• Maryville High School achieves graduation rate of 96%
• “Technology in the classroom” program initiated providing all students with computers and advanced teaching methods
• Maryville College enrollment: 842
• Recycling program introduced for all residents with creation of drop-off centers

1993

• Paul G. Elrod, 12-year council member, succeeded on death by former council member Donald Walker

• Police department begins citizens’ police academy, program designed to allow better community understanding of role of law enforcement
• City receives national acclaim for “Project Project”, innovative approach to youth education and job preparedness in public housing
• City Manager Gary Hensley named Public Administrator of the Year by UT’s Institute for Public Service and American Society for Public Administration
• W.Paul Gray hired by City of Maryville as Data Systems Manager – resigned April 1997.

1994

• January blizzard and March flood threaten property and lives in Maryville

• Installation of the City of Maryville Computer Network (COMNet) begins. The $2.5 million computer wide-area-network (WAN) revolutionizes communication between city departments and the campuses of Maryville City Schools.
• Nippondenso Tennessee, Inc. announces 2 planned expansions, promising employment boost to 1,400
• City utility crews to Nashville to aid city recovery from damage of massive ice storm
• Blount Memorial Hospital opens James N. Proffitt Center for Surgical Medicine; constructs 40,000 square foot medical office building
• Terry McCoy hired by City of Maryville as Network Technician – not fired yet.

I rode out that blizzard at Eddie McGaha’s house in Alcoa with Jesse Martin, Jerry Rose, and Karen Boots.

1995

• Foothills Elementary School opens to serve students on the west end of Maryville

• Installation of the City of Maryville Computer Network (COMNet) continues.
• As installation of computer equipment is being completed, training begins for the approximately 500 employees of Maryville and Maryville City Schools. Impact of the revolutionary network is already being realized.

• Construction is completed on the West Maryville Fire Station on Sandy Springs Road
• The Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning opens as an experimental year-round elementary school
• An addition is created to the Maryville Greenbelt linking Sandy Springs Park with Foothills Elementary School
• Maryville native Lamar Alexander announces presidential candidacy
• Maryville celebrates its 200th Anniversary with the dedication of this monument in the Bicentennial Park (Greenbelt)