Knoxville Chronicles

This short story focuses on the ghostly happenings at an old double-house, actually two small antebellum houses linked by a vestibule, at 309 East Cumberland Avenue, on the eastern fringe of downtown. The house was torn down at the onset of Urban Renewal in 1959, but part of its story remains.

Originally written by Jack Neely for the Knoxville Mercury, and narrated by Rebecca Longmire. 

Produced by the Knoxville History Project. Sound design and editing by Pete Carty.

Knoxville Chronicles is brought to you by the nonprofit Knoxville History Project.

This episode is made available that to funding by federal award number 21.027 awarded to the City of Knoxville by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance. 
 
 Learn more at KnoxvilleHistoryProject.org

This short account looks back on how Knoxville’s Christmas traditions were influenced by one of the most popular authors of all time, Charles Dickens, and his most beloved story, A Christmas Carol first published in England in 1843. Written by Jack Neeley and narrated by Todd Ethridge. 

Produced by the Knoxville History Project. Sound design and editing by Pete Carty.

Knoxville Chronicles is brought to you by the nonprofit Knoxville History Project.

This episode is made available that to funding by federal award number 21.027 awarded to the City of Knoxville by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance. 
 
Learn more at KnoxvilleHistoryProject.org

The man everyone knew as Walter Othmer, worked quietly as an electrician on Market Street near the Pryor Brown Garage. In 1944, he lived at the downtown YMCA, which offered simple, dormitory-like accommodations for guys who were new to town. He may have seemed like a regular guy –he was a thin man with wire-rimmed glasses and a very small mustache. A humble, friendly fellow who missed his wife and kid who lived back in Germany. But Walter Othmer wasn’t just another guy – he was a Nazi spy and the FBI were about to nab him.  

Written by Jack Neely and read by Todd Etheridge. Sound design and editing by Pete Carty. Theme song composed by Mike Stallings.

This episode is funded in part by federal award number 21.027 awarded to the City of Knoxville by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance. 
 
Knoxville Chronicles is brought to you by the nonprofit Knoxville History Project.

Learn more at KnoxvilleHistoryProject.org

From the day it was finished in 1903, the mortar had hardly dried between the bricks at the Southern Railway Station before people began complaining it wasn’t nearly big enough for the job.

But there was one face that everyone got used to seeing every day–a woman in uniform and a white hat. Her name was Maggie Lattimore. Although she was an African American in a segregated train station, she often seemed to be in charge, catering to passengers of all colors. If there was trouble, she would fix it. She was the station matron.

Written by Jack Neely and read by Dationa Carter Mitchell. Sound design and editing by Pete Carty. Theme song composed by Mike Stallings.

This episode is funded in part by federal award number 21.027 awarded to the City of Knoxville by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance. 

Knoxville Chronicles is brought to you by the nonprofit Knoxville History Project. 

Learn more at KnoxvilleHistoryProject.org

One of Knoxville’s oldest buildings, the old deaf school (now Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law), with its 1848 date proudly on the front, still stands on Summit Hill Drive. The school had barely begun to prosper when it was commandeered during the Civil War for use as a military hospital. After the conflict, Prof. Ijams, one of the nation’s leading deaf and mute teachers, hired to bring the school back to prominence, brought stature and grace to the school.  But although his time in Knoxville was short-lived, his children have made a lasting impact – one son was one of the first quarterbacks for the University of Tennessee Vols football team and a respected physician; his youngest son became a notable commercial artist and a renowned naturalist whose semi-private bird sanctuary later became Ijams Nature Center.

Written by Paul James and narrated by Alex Haralson. Sound design and editing by Pete Carty. Theme song composed by Mike Stallings.

This episode is funded in part by federal award number 21.027 awarded to the City of Knoxville by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance. 
 
Knoxville Chronicles is brought to you by the nonprofit Knoxville History Project.

Learn more at KnoxvilleHistoryProject.org