KNOXVILLE, Tenn., city, county-seat of Knox County, 110 miles northeast of Chat tanooga and 160 miles east of Nashville, is lo cated on the main lines of the Southern and the Louisville and Nashville railroads and on the Tennessee River, at the head of steam navigation. It is connected with South Knox ville, on the south side of the river, by an im posing steel bridge. Eleven railway lines radi ate in all directions from the two railway sys tems; and 72 passenger trains go in and out of Knoxville daily.
East Tennessee scenery is noted for its vari ety and beauty, and Knoxville is its central point. The variety of scenery around Knox ville embraces river, valley, mountain, forest —all within easy reach. Less than an hour's ride are the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. In the Appalachian Mountains splendidly equipped hotels and cottages are open to guests. The air, rarefied and made pure by the forests of the mountains and hills of the country around about, is both healthful and invigorating. Numerous watering places, boasting mineral and fresh waters, are within easy reach of Knoxville. In point of climate and scenery, Knoxville is unsurpassed. The city is laid out with an idea to beauty and the architecture of residences corresponds to the general street plan.
Natural and Economic Resources.— This particular section of East Tennessee has al most inexhaustible quantities of resources of coal, zinc, copper, iron, timber and marble. Knoxville is in the heart of the hardwood sec tion, large quantities of which are shipped throughout the country. The lumber dealers of Knoxville proper do an annual business of ap proximately $2,500,000. Practically all Tennes see marble is quarried in the Knoxville district. Annual shipments of marble approximate $5,000,000 in value, and even then the ground is scarcely scratched, for the hills surround ing Knoxville are literally filled with marble. It is the leading industry in Knoxville. Tennes see marble is noted for its variety, beauty, strength and durability, and therefore has all of the requisites for satisfactory building ma terial, both exterior and interior. It is pro
nounced by Dr. Albert Colby, School of Mines, New York, as the purest marble he ever ex amined. It will stand 20,000 pounds per cubic inch crushing strain. Its absorption is only .007 per cent. Knoxville is within a few miles of the great Tennessee-Kentucky coal area. Some 18,000,000 to 20,000,000 tons of coal are handled through Knoxville jobbers annually, a large .proportion of which passes through Knoxville. A zinc producing plant now ships some 1,200 tons of ore per day and additional capacity is in contemplation. Nearly 400 men are now employed at the two shafts now being operated. The copper industry in the Knox ville district ships annually copper to the value of many millions of dollars. There is more undeveloped hydro-electric power within 50 miles of Knoxville than within any other equal area of the United States. It is estimated that the amount of power thus available is upwards of 1,000,000 horse power. The topography of the country in the Knoxville district is par ticularly adapted to the harnessing of the water in basins formed by the mountains and, as there are many mountain streams well located for the establishment of power plants, the pro spective enormous development of hydro electric power in this section is a natural one. The Ocoee River Power Company supplies Knoxville with its power. The Aluminum Company of America has one of their branch plants within a few miles of Knoxville. The use of electric current as heat gives them the best results in the process of making aluminum pig. The present site of the Aluminum Com in the Knoxville district covers some acres of ground. The plant as at present constructed is only a nucleus for the larger plant which will approximate in size the plants at Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh and Mas sena. The company now ships from its plant near Knoxville aluminum pig to the value of several millions of dollars annually.