Gay Street is a street in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, that traverses the heart of the city's downtown area. Since its development in the 1790s, Gay Street has served as the city's principal financial and commercial thoroughfare, and has played a primary role in the city's historical and cultural development. The street contains Knoxville's largest office buildings and oldest commercial structures. Several buildings on Gay Street have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Part of Charles McClung's original 1791 plat of Knoxville, Gay Street was a focal point for the early political activity of both the city as well as the State of Tennessee. By 1850, Gay Street was home to three-fourths of Knoxville's commercial activity, and in 1854, the street became Knoxville's first paved road.East Tennessee Historical Society, Lucile Deaderick (ed.), Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1976), pp. 20, 31, 42, 75, 88, 130-132, 216-218, 230, 299, 307, 463-465, 636. On the eve of the Civil War, Gay Street was the site of simultaneous Union and Confederate recruiting rallies.Robert McKenzie, Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 45-46, 65-78. After the war, Gay Street saw extensive commercial development as railroad construction brought an industrial boom to Knoxville.
Gay Street and events that took place on Gay Street have been mentioned in the works of James Agee, Cormac McCarthy, Mark Twain, and George Washington Harris. Cultural institutions established along Gay Street include the Lawson McGhee Library (1886), the Bijou Theatre (1909), the Riviera Theatre (1920), the Tennessee Theatre (1928), and the East Tennessee History Center (2004). The Knoxville Journal, Knoxville Whig, and Knoxville Register were all once headquartered on Gay Street, and radio stations WNOX and WROL both broadcast from Gay Street at various times during the 20th century.
Route and landmarks
Gay Street runs for about a mile-and-a-half from its northern terminus at Emory Place to its southern terminus at its intersection with Sevier Avenue and Blount Avenue on the south side of the Tennessee River. The road is divided into North Gay and South Gay by the tracks of the Southern Railway, with South Gay being the older and more densely developed half.
From north to south:
500 block, North Gay, from Emory Place to West Fifth Avenue— this section of Gay Street traverses the Emory Place Historic District, and intersects Emory Place a block east of Broadway, opposite Old Gray Cemetery. First Christian Church and St. John's Lutheran Church lie adjacent to this section of Gay, although they have Fifth Avenue and Broadway addresses, respectively. 400 block, North Gay, from West Fifth to West Magnolia. From West Magnolia to East Magnolia, North Gay passes under Interstate 40. The area under the interstate is used for parking space. 300 block, North Gay, from East Magnolia to West Depot Avenue. This section of Gay Street is part of a merged stretch of U.S. Route 70, U.S. Route 11, and State Route 1, which joins Gay Street from the east via Magnolia and diverges from Gay to the west via Depot. Regas Restaurant dominates the eastern half of this block.
The Gay Street Viaduct, which crosses the Southern Railway tracks. The tracks comprise a large railyard that occupies a natural declivity about below street level. From the viaduct, there is a sweeping view of the Old City to the east and the Jackson Avenue warehouses to the south. The Southern Railroad Terminal lies along the tracks, immediately east of the viaduct. 100 block, South Gay, from Jackson Avenue to Vine Avenue. This section of Gay Street is part of the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District.Gail Guymon, Ann Bennett, and Teresa Irwin, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District, July 1985. Notable buildings include the 10-story Sterchi Lofts building, the Emporium, and the Commerce Building. 125 block, South Gay, Hollywood Studios Photos. 200 block, South Gay, from Vine Avenue to Summit Hill Drive. 300 block, South Gay, from Summit Hill Drive to Wall Avenue; this is the northernmost block of the Gay Street Commercial Historic District, which stretches along South Gay from Summit Hill to Church Avenue. Notable buildings on this block include the five-story Century Building and the Knoxville Visitors Center. 400 block, South Gay, from Wall Avenue to Union Avenue. A narrow alley divides the buildings on the western half of this block from the buildings facing Market Square to the west. Notable buildings include the Kress Building, the McNulty Building (Mast General Store), the Sanford, the seven-story Miller's department store building, the Chamberlain and Albers Company Building (Tailor Lofts), and the Woodruff Building. Many of the buildings on this block were built in the wake of the so-called "Million Dollar Fire," which destroyed almost the entire east side of the 400 block on April 8, 1897. 500 block, South Gay, from Union Avenue to Clinch Avenue. The western half of this block adjoins Krutch Park. Notable buildings include the Fidelity Building, the Riviera Theatre, the S & W Cafeteria, the Farragut Hotel building, and The Holston. 600 block, South Gay, from Clinch Avenue to Church Avenue. This is the southernmost block in the Gay Street Commercial Historic District. Notable buildings include the Tennessee Theatre, the Mechanics' Bank building, and the Journal Arcade. "The Oarsman," a sculpture created in 1988 by David Phelps, stands at the corner of Church and Gay.Phelps Sculpture Studio – The Oarsman . Retrieved: 28 September 2010. 700 block, South Gay, from Church Avenue to Cumberland Avenue. The western half of this block is a parking lot.
800 block, South Gay, from Cumberland Avenue to Main Street. The First Tennessee Plaza, Knoxville's tallest building,Josh Flory, "City's Tallest Building Sold for Tall Price to N. Y. Group," Knoxville News-Sentinel, 12 July 2007. occupies the entire eastern half of this block. The Bijou Theatre, Knoxville's oldest commercial structure,Dean Novelli, "On a Corner of Gay Street: A History of the Lamar House—Bijou Theater, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1817–1985." East Tennessee Historical Society Publications, Vol. 56 (1984), pp. 3-45. occupies the western half. 900 block, South Gay, from Main to Hill Avenue. The Riverview Tower and Andrew Johnson Building occupy the eastern half of this block, and the Knox County Courthouse (which faces Main) occupies the western half. The City-County Building dominates the southwest corner of the Gay/Hill intersection. The visitor center for Blount Mansion stands at the southeast corner. The Gay Street Bridge, a steel truss bridge that crosses the Tennessee River. The bridge passes over Neyland Drive (part of Highway 158) and the riverfront before proceeding across the river to South Knoxville. Intersection with Sevier and Blount avenues just across the bridge. Blount Avenue continues westward, connecting Gay with Chapman Highway. Sevier Avenue continues eastward toward the Island Home Park area.
History
Early development
Gay Street was part of the original plat of Knoxville drawn up by surveyor Charles McClung in 1791. The street originally stretched from the river to what is now Church Avenue (Knoxville's original northern boundary). Within a few years, the boundary had been extended to Clinch Avenue, effectively adding what is now Gay Street's 600 block.East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.), The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.: The Society, 1972), pp. 46, 221-222, 411. The eastern half of this block was originally part of the land set aside by Knoxville founder James White for Blount College, the forerunner of the University of Tennessee. In its early years, Gay Street was known as "Market Street," "Broad Street," or "Court Street." The name "Gay Street," which was probably inspired by the Gay Street in Baltimore,Jack Neely, The Train Goes On. Metro Pulse, 25 February 2004. Accessed at the Internet Archive, 2 October 2015. had been applied by 1808.Knox Know-it-all: Before 'Don't Say Gay' Legislation, there was Gay Street, Knoxville News Sentinel, 16 May 2011. Retrieved: 16 May 2011.
The intersection of Gay and Main was the focal point of late 18th century Knoxville, with the courthouse initially located at its northwest corner and the jail located at its southeast corner. Knoxville's first store, established in 1792 by brothers Samuel and Nathaniel Cowan, was located on the northeast corner of this intersection, and the city's first major hotel the Lamar House (now part of the Bijou) was built on the southwest corner of Gay and Cumberland in 1817. On January 11, 1796, the first Tennessee state constitutional convention convened at the office of War Department agent Colonel David Henley, which was located at the corner of Gay and Church.Donald F. Paine, Capital Cities of Tennessee . Tennessee Bar Journal, March 2010. Retrieved: 28 September 2010.
This early political and commercial activity on Gay Street helped the street develop into Knoxville's main thoroughfare, and by 1850, Gay Street was home to three-fourths of Knoxville's commercial activity. In 1851, the street's sidewalks were widened to . Three years later, Gay Street was macadamized and paved with cobblestones. Upon completion of the railroad in 1855, Gay Street was extended still further northward to what are now the Southern Railway tracks.
The Civil War
In the months leading up to the Civil War, prominent pro-Union and pro-Secession supporters spoke at Gay Street venues such as the Lamar House Hotel, while the Knoxville Whig and Knoxville Register, which were arguably the mouthpieces for East Tennessee Unionism and secessionism, respectively, were both headquartered on Gay Street. In April 1861, Union and Confederate supporters held simultaneous recruiting rallies at opposite ends of Gay Street. Future president Andrew Johnson spoke at the Union rally, and a shootout nearly erupted when several Confederate recruits attempted to interrupt his speech.
Union forces under Ambrose Burnside occupied Knoxville in September 1863, and Burnside chose as his headquarters the home of John Hervey Crozier at the corner of Gay and Clinch streets (now the location of the Farragut Hotel). Union general William P. Sanders, who was wounded in a skirmish with Confederate troops on Kingston Pike in November 1863, died at the Lamar House Hotel, which had been converted into a hospital.
Commercial development
After the Civil War, several major banks were established during Knoxville's post-Civil War commercial boom, including Mechanics' National Bank (1882) and Holston National Bank (1890),John Wooldridge, George Mellen, William Rule (ed.), Standard History of Knoxville, Tennessee (General Books, 2009), pp. 156-164, 233-238. both of which would eventually build headquarters that still stand on Gay Street. After the Great Depression, Hamilton National Bank (operating out of the Holston building) grew to become the dominant bank in East Tennessee. In the 1970s, this bank was seized by United American Bank president Jake Butcher, who built the Plaza and Riverview towers before being indicted for bank fraud in the 1980s.Bruce Wheeler, Knoxville, Tennessee: A Mountain City in the New South (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2005), pp. 56, 168.