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RoadRUNNER: Gateway to the Smokies-Knoxville,TN
Written by: Chris Myers   
Knoxville, TN
 
The twists, turns, sweeps, and swoops of lonely two-lanes snaking their way through the mountain ranges across the land usually comprise the cream of the collective crop. (Photo: Chris Myers and Christian Neuhauser) ยป More Photos

Photography: Chris Myers and Christian Neuhauser


All motorcyclists covet great roads, and everyone has their favorites. But when it all boils down, certain common denominators remain. The twists, turns, sweeps, and swoops of lonely two-lanes snaking their way through the mountain ranges across the land usually comprise the cream of the collective crop. And every motorcyclist who can't resist the thrills of the hills should know that man and nature have come together to create the nation's greatest amusement park in the mountains around Knoxville, Tennessee.

On the eastern edge of the Volunteer State, Knoxville sits in the heart of the Tennessee Valley at the headwaters of the Tennessee River. Settled in 1786 by James White, Knoxville was originally known as White's Fort. In a relatively peaceful era of coexistence with the
area's original inhabitants, the Cherokee Indians, other white settlers soon began to arrive, establishing White's Fort as a supply center for westbound wagon trains. William Blount, Governor of the Territory South of the Ohio River, incorporated the burgeoning town in 1791 and renamed it Knoxville in honor of the Secretary of War, Major General Henry Knox.

Following the Civil War, Knoxville, a major railroad and manufacturing hub, experienced substantial growth. The stream of returning war veterans, many of whom possessed much needed skills, was joined by large numbers of freed slaves looking for a new start. This established a strong workforce that attracted an influx of new development. Iron works, cloth mills, furniture factories, and marble quarries were but a few of the businesses spurring Knoxville's growth as the new century dawned.

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