Les Jones

East Tennessee > Friendsville, TN Christmas Parade 2006 (AKA Katie Day 802 - First Parade)

Katie and I set up at the beginning of the parade route. Her charisma and Christmas outfit got her all kinds of candy.

Friendsville now has a Wikipedia entry, though it doesn't explain the town's name. It was named for the Quakers who once lived there, the Religious Society of Friends being the proper name for Quakers.

The Friends established the Friendsville Academy, which building still stands in downtown Friendsville. Less well-known was their 1854 Newberry Female School and the Freedman's Institute for educating free blacks. That school was open from 1872 to 1901, and was on the land now occupied by Maryville High School. A little more trivia: the current site of the McAmmon-Ammons-Click funeral home in downtown Maryville was originally the East Tennessee Masonic Institute for Women. The current municipal building was once the site of Pride Mansion, which was converted to a teacher's academy with funding from Philadelphia and Baltimore Friends.

Blount County bonus! - Joe McCord now has his own Wikipedia entry.

See also:
- G.M. Miser Grocery Store on Miser Station Road