Torchbearer: Spring 1997

Memory Lane

Krystal remains in its original location at 1718 Cumberland Avenue. This photograph portrays the vast amount of commercialization that occurred on Cumberland Avenue throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Generations of students have shopped, strolled, and supped on Cumberland Avenue, the UTK campus's commercial thoroughfare. Try to recall the way it was when you were a student as you read this account of "The Strip." (Prepared by the Office of the University Historian)

Cumberland Avenue was one of the original Knoxville streets surveyed and platted by Charles McClung in 1791. Some sources say the street was initially called Fourth Street because it was the fourth street from the river, but it became known probably around 1800 as Cumberland because it ultimately led to the Middle Tennessee settlements along the Cumberland River.

For most of the nineteenth century, the hilly area west of Knoxville between Second and Third Creeks (encompassing the University of Tennessee) remained outside the city. The area's main thoroughfare was known as Kingston Pike, since the road continued westward to the town of Kingston.

This part of Knox County was incorporated as the City of West Knoxville in 1888, and a year later Kingston Pike, within the little city, took the name of the Knoxville segment of the street, Cumberland Avenue. West Knoxville was annexed by Knoxville in 1897 and ceased to have its own mayor, town council, and city hall.

Until the 1870s the area north of Cumberland Avenue known as Fort Sanders was owned by Hugh A.M. White, who lived in a two-story, white-columned home, Sunnyside, which was located where the Jessie Harris Human Ecology Building now stands. The W.W. Woodruff home occupied the block of Cumberland where Hoskins Library is now located and served as a woman's dormitory after its purchase by UT.

To the south of Cumberland Avenue was the vast O.P. Temple estate, Melrose, which was eventually sold and subdivided. Hess and Melrose Halls were later erected on a portion of the property.

Although Cumberland Avenue and the surrounding area was first home to wealthy business and professional men, there was a gradual change as the lots and homes became smaller and craftsmen, owners of small businesses, factory workers, and University faculty and staff moved into the area.
In the late 1920s, the street experienced further change as it became increasingly commercialized. Some owners began to rent all or parts of their homes to students, and other homes became fraternity houses. Businesses moved in as homeowners moved out, although the area was still very much residential. Among the shops were filling stations, grocery stores, a bakery, clothiers, and other traditional neighborhood enterprises.

With the expansion of the University and the development of the west campus during the 1960s, more than 400 families were removed, and the businesses along Cumberland Avenue became less family oriented, catering rather to students. Bars and discos became more prevalent. Cumberland Avenue first earned its nickname "The Strip" after a drug raid during the 1960s, and the negative connotation remained throughout the decade because of the prevalence of drugs, stores selling drug paraphernalia, and the general disrepair of some of the storefronts.

Although the nickname remains, many positive changes have occurred in more recent years. Restaurants are now patronized not only by students but by business men and women from downtown Knoxville and out-of-town Volunteer fans who crowd the street on football Saturdays to purchase Big Orange souvenirs. Families often eat at the many fast-food restaurants that dot the street. Owners have repaired their buildings and made the facades more attractive. Despite the changes, generations of students continue to associate their college years with their treks down the 3,200-foot stretch of street known as "The Strip."

If you have old pictures or information about the history of The Strip, contact the historian's office: by telephone, 423-974-2806; by mail, Room 3, Hoskins Library, UT, Knoxville, TN 37996-4005.

Photo Gallery

Booth Theatre, located on the eighteenth block of Cumberland Avenue, occupied a portion of the building that now houses Flamingo's Grill, near the First Tennessee Bank. Movie admissions were 9 cents for children and 20 cents for adults in the 1950s. The Booth gave away encyclopedias on special weekday nights and cash at the Saturday night jackpots. Photo by Thompson Photo Products

Brockway Crouch Florist Shop stood at the west end of Cumberland Avenue, present site of the Tennessee Teachers Credit Union. It was one of the few florists in town throughout the 1940s and 1950s, frequently visited before high school proms and University dances. Today, it is across the street from its earlier site.

The view across Cumberland Avenue to Fort Sanders Hospital was unobstructed in 1920 just before the hospital's completion. The hospital still is at the same location, Nineteenth Street and Clinch Avenue. Photo by Thompson Photo Products

Cole Drug Store, on the corner of Cumberland and Seventeenth Street where the Campus Bookstore is now located, had a marble soda fountain and specialized in hot fudge sundaes, which made it a popular place for collegians and neighborhood teenagers in the 1940s and 1950s.

Ellis & Ernest, located in front of the present University Center, advertised itself as the "Orange and White Drug Store on the Corner." It was a combination of gathering place, restaurant, "bank," and drugstore for UT students from 1926 to 1967, when it was razed. In 1932, a hamburger at the store could be had for 10 cents and a milkshake for 15 cents. Photo by Thompson Photo Products

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