Knoxville, Tennessee

"Knoxville" redirects here. For other uses, see Knoxville (disambiguation).

Knoxville
City
Skyline of Downtown Knoxville
Market Square
Neyland Stadium
The Sunsphere at the World's Fair Park
Clock tower on Gay Street
A statue in the Old Gray Cemetery
Ayres Hall at UT Knoxville
Tennessee Amphitheater
Flag of Knoxville
Flag
Official seal of Knoxville
Seal
Official logo of Knoxville
Logo
Nickname(s): 
Marble City,[1] Heart of the Valley,[2] Queen City of the Mountains,[3] K-Town,[4] Scruffy City,[5] Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains,[6] Knox Vegas.[7]
Location of Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee.
Location of Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee.
Knoxville is located in Tennessee
Knoxville
Knoxville
Location in the United States
Knoxville is located in the United States
Knoxville
Knoxville
Knoxville (the United States)
Knoxville is located in North America
Knoxville
Knoxville
Knoxville (North America)
Coordinates: 35°57′42″N 83°55′24″W / 35.9617°N 83.9232°W / 35.9617; -83.9232
CountryUnited States
StateTennessee
CountyKnox
Settled1786
Founded1791
Incorporated1815
Founded byJames White
Named forHenry Knox
Government
[9][10]
 • TypeMayor–council
 • MayorIndya Kincannon (D)[a]
 • City Council
Council Members
Area
[11]
 • City
104.25 sq mi (270.01 km2)
 • Land98.73 sq mi (255.72 km2)
 • Water5.52 sq mi (14.30 km2)  5.4%
Elevation
[12]
886 ft (270 m)
Population
 (2020)[13]
 • City
190,740
 • RankUS: 127th
TN: 3rd
 • Density1,931.90/sq mi (745.91/km2)
 • Urban
597,257 (US: 72nd)
 • Urban density1,382.8/sq mi (533.9/km2)
 • Metro
868,546 (US: 64th)
 • CSA
1,096,961 (US: 50th)
DemonymKnoxvillian
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Zip code
37901-37902, 37909, 37912, 37914-37920-37924, 37927-37934, 37938-37940, 37950, 37995-37998
Area code865
FIPS code[14]47-40000
GNIS feature ID1648562[12]
Websitewww.knoxvilletn.gov

Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, United States, on the Tennessee River.[15] As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740,[16] making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's third-most-populous city after Nashville and Memphis.[17] It is the principal city of the Knoxville metropolitan area, which had a population of 879,773 in 2020.[18]

First settled in 1786, Knoxville was the first capital of Tennessee. The city struggled with geographic isolation throughout the early 19th century; the arrival of the railroad in 1855 led to an economic boom.[19] The city was bitterly divided over the issue of secession during the American Civil War and was occupied alternately by Confederate and Union armies, culminating in the Battle of Fort Sanders in 1863.[19] Following the war, Knoxville grew rapidly as a major wholesaling and manufacturing center. The city's economy stagnated after the 1920s as the manufacturing sector collapsed, the downtown area declined and city leaders became entrenched in highly partisan political fights.[19] Hosting the 1982 World's Fair helped reinvigorate the city,[19] and revitalization initiatives by city leaders and private developers have had major successes in spurring growth in the city, especially the downtown area.[20]

Knoxville is the home of the flagship campus of the University of Tennessee, whose sports teams, the Tennessee Volunteers, are popular in the surrounding area. Knoxville is also home to the headquarters of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for East Tennessee, and the corporate headquarters of several national and regional companies. As one of the largest cities in the Appalachian region, Knoxville has positioned itself in recent years as a repository of Appalachian culture and is one of the gateways to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.[21][22]

  1. ^ Ask Doc Knox, "What's With All This Marble City Business?" Metro Pulse, May 10, 2010. Accessed at the Internet Archive, October 1, 2015.
  2. ^ Lucile Deaderick, Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1976).
  3. ^ Mark Banker, Appalachians All: East Tennessee and the Elusive History of an American Region (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2010), p. 83.
  4. ^ Jack Neely, From the Shadow Side: And Other Stories of Knoxville, Tennessee (Tellico Books, 2003).
  5. ^ "Knoxvillians capitalize on the city's 'scruffy' reputation | The Daily Beacon". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. ^ Jack Neely, "A Knoxville Vacation Archived October 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine", Knoxville Mercury, July 9, 2015.
  7. ^ Campbell, Chuck (March 27, 2018). "5 nerdy things you don't know about Knoxville". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  8. ^ "Tennessee Code 2-13-208 – Municipal elections to be nonpartisan". LawServer.com. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  9. ^ "Knoxville". Municipal Technical Advisory Service. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  10. ^ "Government". City of Knoxville. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  11. ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  12. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Knoxville, Tennessee
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference USCensusDecennial2020CenPopScriptOnly was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  15. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  16. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Knoxville city, Tennessee". census.gov.
  17. ^ U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Interactive Population Search Archived January 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved: December 20, 2011.
  18. ^ "2020 Population and Housing State Data". United States Census Bureau, Population Division. August 12, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference wheeler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "Ask Doc Knox", "Downtown's Homegrown Revival", Metro Pulse, November 16, 2011. Accessed at the Internet Archive, October 1, 2015.
  21. ^ King, Niki (December 12, 2011). "Urban Appalachia: Who, Where and What is it?!". The Hillville. Retrieved July 28, 2020. Knoxville, Roanoke and Pittsburgh all had spots in Planetizen's list of top 100 public spaces, an indication of the urban-loving lifestyles that flourish there.
  22. ^ Harlan, Will (November 29, 2012). "Knoxville plans greenway to the Smokies". Blue Ridge Outdoors. Retrieved July 28, 2020. Knoxville, the self-proclaimed 'Gateway to the Smokies', has big plans to build a greenway system that connects it to the country's most popular national park.


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