Kingston Pike, Knoxville

Kingston Pike, which is part of United States Route 70, has be designated as Tennessee State Route 1 is one of the main highways that runs through Knox County, Tennessee. In fact, it is the primary route used to travel from downtown Knoxville to the west end of Knox County before the construction of Interstate 40 was complete in the late 1960s.

Kingston Pike was the primary highway for any resident traveling from the east end of Knoxville to the west end of Knoxville as the highway linked everything within the Knoxville and Knox County area together in someway or another. Early Kingston Pike began as a simple Indian trail prior to it becoming a bridle path moving from downtown to Sinking Creek. The area from Knoxville to Campbell Station was surveyed in 1792 and soon Kingston Pike was widened to thirty feet.

Early settlers developed small frontier communities up and down along Kingston Pike, but it did not take long before it was known for its affluence. From the founding of such beautiful plantations such as Crescent Bend and Knollwood in the 19th century to the development of the wealthy neighborhoods of Sequoyah Hills and Lyons Bend in the early 20th century, Kingston Pike became associated with the upper class of Knoxville.

In 1866, Kingston Pike was further improved, and by 1892 Knox County had bought out other shareholders and had exclusive ownership. The improvements were extended to Campbell’s Station in 1894. A streetcar traveled west on Kingston Pike as far as Lyons View Pike by 1913, allowing for residential expansion. The opening of West Town Mall in the 1970s resulted in the collapse of retail shopping in downtown, but the Kingston Pike area became the commercial center of Knoxville.