Fernweh, An Ache for Distant Places

To give credit where it is due, I first saw what I am using as the title of this blog on the Central Flats & Taps website many years ago.

Happy Holler refers to N. Central Street from where it meets Broadway, extending north toward Sharps Ridge and the Inskip neighbourhood, and all the businesses and residences near it. This is a main road and the best part of Old North.

If I have realized one thing as a result of writing this blog, it is that my friends and I have consumed a mortifying amount of bread, cheese, and beer in this neighbourhood over the years.

Still, it’s my hood and my favourite part of Knoxville.

N. Central Street is the western boundary of Old North Knoxville, which for the sake of this blog, will be about the neighbourhoods of Oakwood and Lincoln Park.

South of Broadway, there are other historic neighbourhoods like Fourth & Gill, Emory Place, and the Old City, but we aren’t going to cover those here.

ROUGH AND TUMBLE HISTORY
In the 1880s, Happy Holler was a rough cut strip of businesses. Real rough.

Local writer and historian Jack Neely wrote that the “pronounced dip in Central [Street] became known by 1910 as Happy Hollow, or Holler.”

Those road conditions made this the site of many motorist breakdowns, and the perfect location for some brothels, saloons, and other nonsense to keep people busy and spending money while they waited for help.

Neely also said “Happy Holler may have been the only neighborhood in America where parents warned their daughters to walk only down the back alleys, never on the sidewalk of the main street. North Central, where it went through Happy Holler, was just too dangerous. Almost everybody at the table had a story, some of them firsthand, of a shooting or knifing affray there, more than a half-century ago.”

Happy Holler was a wild place with its own baseball team called the Tigers, a Quaker community, and even a group of hoodrats called the Fourth Avenue Gang that sported “ducktail” hairstyles.

One thing about Happy Holler that set it apart from some other old Knoxville neighbourhoods was the presence of a Catholic community and the Holy Ghost Catholic Church that still holds services today.

OAKWOOD
The Oakwood neighbourhood was originally called Flatwoods, and it was carved into an oak forest in 1902.

Developer C. B. Atkin already had a plan to make this an intentional community with measured plots on a grid, access to water, electricity, and gas, and close proximity to the trolley line that went downtown.

It was geared toward employees of his factory and local rail yards, but everyone’s dollar was welcome.

The first streets to be developed included Springdale, Churchwell, and Columbia Avenues, and they were packed full of Craftsman and Queen Anne homes.

Within a couple years there was a school, it was officially chartered in 1913, and annexed four years later by the City of Knoxville.

Some of the historic buildings still standing in Oakwood include the Oakwood United Methodist Church, Community Clubhouse, and the Ironworks Church, the Atlantic Avenue Baptist Church, and the Christenberry Community Center.

I have long loved this building at 726-730 Chickamauga, though it has sat empty for many years.

A friend of mine just announced yesterday that she will soon be reopening her salon here, and I can not wait to see the new life that Sleek and Destroy will bring into this place.

LINCOLN PARK
Where Old North is bordered by Broadway from Central Avenue and north to Grainger Avenue, Oakwood’s Broadway border extends from Grainger Avenue up to Atlantic. Lincoln Park’s Broadway border spans from Atlantic and continues north until you just about reach Fountain City.

Each neighbourhood connects back to Central Street on the western end.

Lincoln Park United Methodist Church is on the National Register of Historic Places, and some of Lincoln Park’s other historic buildings include the Lincoln Park School and Lincoln Park Baptist Church.

Today the two neighbourhoods are often grouped together, hyphenated as Oakwood-Lincoln Park, or even referred to as OLP.

A HAVEN FOR THE ARTS
One thing I love most about Happy Holler is all the different classes, workshops, creative co-ops, etc.

Most of the businesses here are locally-owned, one-off locations, mom & pops that you will not find anywhere else like Mighty Mud,  Glowing Body, Central Collective, Striped Light, Ironwood Studios, and others.

Glowing Body offers yoga, massage, and Thai yoga massage classes, specialized body works, sound baths, mediations, retreats, and other unique events.

Mighty Mud is the place to hone your skills in pottery, ceramics, and firing.

My friends were happy to share their works of art.

Check out the website to view classes and workshops, or to learn about renting a studio there.

Ironwood Studios is a sentimental place for me. Many, many years ago, we used to have some pretty wild parties there.

One of my bands and some of the best bands of Knoxville’s past played several shows there over the course of a few years, including a killer NYE party.

Down Broadway is the Broadway Studios & Gallery where there might also have been a crazy party or two.

The owner and artists at BSG are all interesting and talented people, many who I call friends and have known for years.

Happy Holler has its own Brewing & Distilling Center where you can take classes from casual home brewing all the way up to professional manufacturing with some of Knoxville’s most accomplished masters.

COOL OUTDOOR ATTRACTIONS IN OLP
Other cool things in the neighbourhood are Burwell Gardens, where members of the community grow and trade small plot crops and learn new skills in the process.

We have the Knoxville National Cemetery and a spooky old Victorian Cemetery where people like to hang out, go for strolls, have picnics, and get married.

Here in Old Gray Cemetery, you can pay respects to some of Knoxville’s first and most notable citizens.

Old Gray Cemetery was founded in 1850 and covers more than 13 acres.

It was named after Thomas Gray, the English poet who wrote “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.”

Across Broadway, check out the stunning St. John’s Lutheran Cathedral in all of its gothic splendor.

Okay now for the really fun part.

WHAT TO DO IN HAPPY HOLLER
Central Cinema is one of the raddest places to go in Happy Holler and Old North.

It originally opened as the Joy Theatre in 1917 and kept kickin’ for nearly forty years until Knoxvillians started preferring to buy televisions and watch tv at home.

A few other businesses set up shop in the building until a couple of cool local folks reopened the space as Central Cinema in 2018.

The crew behind Central Cinema have also ran the Knoxville Horror Film Fest since 2009.

Relix Theatre across the street hosts events from time to time, but is not open to the public otherwise or often.

COFFEE & SWEETS
Wild Love Bake House is my first pick for coffee, tea, juices, baked goods, and breakfast in Happy Holler.

They are known for their super fancy looking Kouign-Amanns and other decadent pastries.

This is where I take everyone who is visiting me in Knoxville for the first time, or the tenth time, and I am always mesmerized by the bakery case.

Seriously, just look at these beauties.

Jack’s is way on the other end of the spectrum, with much more simple offerings, no frills, and a limited menu.

Don’t mistake it for low quality though, everything I have had was delicious.

My favourite part about visiting Jack’s is browsing the plants section and looking at local art and goods while waiting for my latte.

Magpies is a downtown staple and go-to place for all types of sweets and custom cakes for any occasion.

Remedy Coffee is right next to Paysan Breads, so you can put in your drink order at Remedy, pick up a bagel at Paysan, then eat it inside Remedy.

They don’t mind, I asked.

DINING & DRINKS
Central Flats & Taps is my go-to for dinner and drinks in the neighbourhood. If you ask me where I want to go, it will probably be there.

I have a particular fondness for CF&T because I have spent so much time there over the years, often with friends who have long moved away, and because they allowed my friends to host an annual Lemmymorial celebration, and because they make their own bacon fat ranch.

I do not even like ranch but I would dip myself in theirs.

Their pizza paninis are my favourite, and this patio has held life-changing conversations throughout my 20s and 30s.

We have a German beer castle. Bet you don’t.

Shulz Bräu Brewing Company is my second favourite place to eat/drink/hang out in the holler.

The owners are actually German and have a wide selection of German and Czech style beers that are brewed right in front of you in the tap room.

Not only does the atmosphere make me feel giddily at home, but the beer is amazing and the food is most craveable.

From Maifest to Oktoberfest, to beautiful fall nights around the fire, film showings, live bands and comedians, and even the Christkindlmarkt, this is the most dreamy place for me outside of the Vaterland itself.

Corner Lounge is another place I love and patronize frequently. It is pretty small inside like any classic neighbourhood bar, most people are regulars, and the food is banging.

It first opened in 1939 as the Corner Grill and was a popular place for playing cards, pinball, and seeing live local acts. Cormac McCarthy even mentioned it in his famous novel, Suttree.

In later decades it was a nightclub with frequent appearances by famous touring artists. Con Hunley is the name I see or hear mentioned most often.

Today it is much more hip. You probably will not see anyone playing card games and the pinball machines are long gone, but the people are cool and the bands are rowdy and the comedy is as raunchy as you like.

I like hanging out on the little patio out back when it gets too crowded. Or just because.

Yee-Haw Brewing Co. is the newest addition to Happy Holler, though the company has been around for many years.

I have had some good times at another location, but this one seems to be the most fancy. I love what they have done to the rundown lots they took over.

Danger Co. has permanently closed but the vibrant murals outside are still there.

Many people think this is Bill Murray. I have heard someone say they took a selfie with the Bill Murray mural. This is not Bill Murray.

Harry McClintock is this man’s name, and you can learn all about him by reading this.

Oak Room is an offshoot cocktail bar by a local brewery in West Knoxville called Abridged, which is wonderful in its own right.

The drinks at Oak Room are classy and ever-evolving, and the food is so good that I get furious when they post their new specials and I already have plans that night.

Pizzeria Nora has some of the most unique pizza in Knoxville, and I feel like we are super lucky to have them in our own neighbourhood.

I have tried several variations and everything has always been super fresh.

Hard Knox Pizza is another great Knoxville staple for pizza. Le Boxeur is my personal fave.

Hard Knox Pizza shares a building with Ebony & Ivory Brewing, so you can get beer from one place and pizza from the other, and sit outside on the patio if you like.

Elst Brewing Company and Fanatic Brewing Company are two local breweries on the far end of Happy Holler.

Both are super casual and welcoming, great for a low-key hangout or date.

Next Level Brewing Company is at the complete opposite end of N. Central Street, on the other side of Broadway, which would technically exclude it from this blog about Old North by my own definitions, but I want to mention it anyways because I like the place.

A few other places I want to mention, that are within the OLP/Happy Holler territory, are the Original Freezo which has been around for DECADES, and Twisters Diner.

Both are old fashioned places with limited hours, but the buildings and/or businesses inside them have been in operation for what seems like forever.

Fun fact about Twisters is that they have a special called the Full House, which is a fresh tamale covered in chili.

This is a nod to the rowdier days of Happy Holler when all the good beer joints and saloons on this strip had their own version of the popular Full House.

Club XYZ is a nightclub that has been thriving in the holler since 2004. I have not been in a long time, as I rarely go to clubs anymore, but I am making a mental note to revisit some time.

My friends and I always had a blast in there and everyone was so kind. They serve up great cocktails, live drag shows, and other fun events.

Last but not least, we have our very own community cooperative called Three Rivers Market. You can buy dry goods, fresh and frozen foods, herbal supplements, body care products, and peruse the hot bar.

The quality and practices have fallen way below historical standards lately, which has kept it as a controversial topic around the hood, but I hope to see it recover quickly.

Chicken City is a place I am just working up the nerve to visit. I had a nightmare once, and I mean like 15 years ago, that I went inside and was abducted.

Newspapers all over the world reported that I was “last seen entering Chicken City” to my utter humiliation, and it disturbs me almost daily as I drive by.

I’m sorry Chicken City, it’s not your fault. You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.

I have heard that Steamboat Sandwiches has phenomenal food, but their limited hours have made it impossible to visit. Bistro by the Tracks and Zero Zero Wine Bar are both currently being constructed and will be opening soon.

Hops & Hollers, Central Collective, and a food truck park called Central Filling Station all recently closed, displacing dozens of local vendors that had grown accustomed to working in the holler, but many still set up in random parking lots.

If the trucks are running, chances are you can freely walk up and order something. Nothing weird about it. Don’t make it weird.

We have a couple crusty dives like Marie’s and Y-Not, and a new “Pirate-Themed Vape Bar” which sounds like a real shitshow.

These places are there but I could not, in good conscience, recommend that you should be too.

To be fair, I am sure the people are lovely, but I loathe karaoke and the stench of old cigarettes.

Y-Not used to be called Toots Honky Tonk and it was known for awful karaoke, cash only domestic beers, and a nicotine smoke cloud so thick you had to duck under it to see anything. I was there last year, and it still smells the same.

SHOPPING
We have some really cool stores like Mid Mod Collective, Retrospect, and New Moon Rising.

We have not one, but TWO, record stores called Magnolia Records and Raven Records & Rarities.

There are several thrift stores like Community Links, Ladies of Charity, Finders Keepers, and Habitat.

I especially love the old Art Deco entrance of the Habitat building, formerly home of Charlie’s Pies in earlier days.

ON BROADWAY & ELSEWHERE IN OLD NORTH KNOX
After 30 years, I still do not have the knowledge or attention span to detail every single place in Old North, but here are the places I enjoy most along Broadway as you drive north.

K-Brew is a cozy coffee and pastry shop that has opened up multiple additional locations around Knoxville in recent years.

You can also find an enormous Knoxville postcard mural outside.

Ale Rae’s GastroPub has become one of my favourite restaurants in town, and I become more fond of it each time I go.

I am not sure what is in the pitcher above but my friend has ordered it for us three times now, and I feel like it has solved several of my problems.

Ale Rae’s has a very distinct house seasoning they put on nearly everything and I grow more addicted to it by the moment.

The warm pimiento dip with crisp fried pita bread will quickly get its hooks into you, watch out.

Everything from slow roasted barbecue flatbreads, Thai dishes, hot chicken, and paninis has been impeccable.

There is a gap about two miles long going down Broadway from Grainger Avenue to Fountain City. I will be blunt, I have never liked this part of town.

I never feel safe there, even after my family business had a former location and I worked at two other, different business there, and even still after driving through back and forth down this stretch on a regular basis.

A close friend and, separately, an acquaintance, were both murdered in their vehicles near the Whittle Springs intersection and remain unsolved mysteries today.

As always, there are diamonds in every rough.

Here are the places you should check out in this area, with a bit of caution after dark.

Harby’s Pizza & Deli has been around forever, and was once known for their quirky dining room packed to the gills with vintage memorabilia and oddities.

They no longer allow dine-in service but are still cranking out to go orders.

Next door is Hummingbird Apothecary, serving up herbal treats and drinks. They even have an in-house tarot reader, and it is so cute inside.

This entire shopping nook on Walker Boulevard is pretty adorable, and has some other businesses like a tattoo studio and vape store, and barber shop within.

Across the street is Lost & Found Records, a main hub for Knoxville’s annual Record Store Day celebration.

The Concourse is a Knoxville legacy venue that has survived so many odds and made its home in this location a few years ago.

My friend managed the booking for their metal shows and brought in one of my favourite bands last year, and I consider it a highlight of my life.

I hope to support them more in the future when artists I enjoy come through.

Senor Taco is another longtime fave in Knoxville.

Do yourself a solid and get one of their frozen margaritas, try every single salsa on the self-serve salsa bar, and go back there over and over.

Rami’s Cafe is a casual diner with a very old homey Knoxville vibe, and is the place my brother asks me to take him to most often.

This part of Old North Knoxville is also home to newe The Book Eddy and Tonya Rae’s Tea. Both have strange or limited hours so I have not been able to visit yet.

There is a new plant shop called Oglewood Avenue, Jackie’s Dream, and a few newer restaurants like Blossom Bowls, and Potluck around here too.

Perhaps they will all be included in a future update.

Et Cetera, So On, and So Forth
Lots of Knox County Schools offices and city municipal buildings, the county health department, mental health services, the Emerald Youth Foundation, the Cerebral Palsy Center, Angelic Ministries, Catholic Ministries, all sorts of charities and non-profit organizations can be found along N. Central Street and throughout Happy Holler.

The building above was originally a Sears showroom store.

Many of Knoxville’s long-running service businesses are still standing in the holler.

For old school auto repairs, tire shops, towing, trucking, industrial and plumbing supply houses, appliances, restaurant equipment, home services, textiles, fabricators, sign makers, lighting, windows, foam rubber, and other types of warehouses, this is the part of town you go to.

Some of them are empty, and I would love to see a new business turn the lights back on.

I am not going to try to convince you that Happy Holler and Old North is totally safe and wholesomely beautiful. It has a lot of really ugly parts, stretches of grey industrial lots, scary enclaves, dilapidating buildings, and debris.

There is a heartbreaking number of people wandering the streets, often tweaking out and having very obvious mental episodes.

Knoxville is struggling to find its bearings between a housing crisis that no one with authority seems to be interested in finding a real solution for, and an extensive history of other cities sending their houseless and transient folk here with one way bus tickets because of all the social services this city provides.

At one time, there were more resources available than in most bigger cities, but now it is not even close to being enough.

There are also a lot of people just walking their dogs or waiting for the bus, or chilling out with friends.

I would not leisurely stroll around alone at night, but I would probably not do that anywhere, anymore, to be honest.

Happy Holler has slowly been renovated, cleaned up, and filled with awesome businesses who have installed street lights and hired security and valet parking staff, and I don’t think it entirely deserves the bad rap it has held onto over the years.

Many of the houses in this neighbourhood are super cute Craftsmen bungalows.

Some have been converted into businesses like Purple Heart Tattoo & Rosie Tattoo.

New businesses are continuously opening in Happy Holler, and some do sadly close, so it is impossible to write a blog about this area that encompasses every possible option.

Come visit and see what else you can get into.

In the area for a while? Follow me further down Broadway to Fountain City or to Inskip, Marble City and the Old Sevier District.

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