Follow The Yellow Brick Road: May

So, this month we get to get a little bit outside of the heart of Downtown and go to Old City. We are, also, going to kick it a little old school with the movie as we talk about Director Clarence Brown.

This movie is all about the summer love and finding yourself. Ah, Wilderness follows a family trying to navigate love at all sorts of stages. From one man who, is very young, and thinks he know everything, a man who has loved his wife for years, a college man finding that he never needed to look far to find love, and a slightly older couple just trying to start things out. 

The first few minutes of the movie I thought was going to ruin the movie. The reason for that is because the young man who is graduating has all of these "ideas", a young men do, that makes them think that they know everything. It's one of the insufferable people that you are just begging to grow up. Thankfully, the movie ends up being very sweet and funny and really ends up with everyone being happy. It's really a movie that does stay with you. I think that t's because of how wonderful Mr. Clarence Brown directed it. 

Clarence Brown was born in 1890 in California but moved to Knoxville, Tennessee at the age of 11. He went to Knoxville High School and then to UT where he got two degrees in engineering. He actually had a lot of different job before he found where he was meant to be in movies. He worked on cars, and then had his own dealership. He was a fighter pilot and instructor during World War I. In 1913 is when he found his love of movies and got interested in directing. In 1924 he got his official start at Universal Studios and then when to MGM and he stayed with them until he retired in the mid 1950s. He got to work with some of the best Actresses in the business, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. 

I wish that on the list today was Knoxville High School, because it was close by but it's not in this section of town. However, I am sure that some of the place we are going to talk about are the same the Clarence Brown would have seen during his time in Knoxville.

  This wonderful building was came alive in the Old City in 1888. It's called the Patrick Sullivan's Saloon. The Saloon was a shocking thing it's day because everyone was allowed to come in! All genders and colors were welcomed. That is until 1907 when Knoxville banned Saloons. However, that did not stop the building from being used. It quickly changed into and Ice Cream parlor that was run by the Armetta family. The name can still be seen on the building, if you are look hard enough (not in this picture). However, it's currently the home of the Lonesome Dove. A place that I will hope to one day eat but it might be a while. 

Boyd's Jig and Reel is a great place to eat! The building that it resides in is from the 1890s and was originally a pharmacy. In the 1920s it was actually turned into a chili parlor, called The Manhattan Café, that was Greek owned, and set a precedent for having the same size rooms for black and white in the establishment. However, something to note that Stick McGhee, who wrote the rock'n'roll hit "Drikin' Wine, Spo-dee-o-dee" worked here as a waiter in 1987. Jig and Reel set up shop here in 2011 and has been a wonderful addition to our town since.  

The JFG Flats is a set of apartments that are built into the old location of the JFG Coffee. The location is the thirst location, and the longest, of the coffee brand. The brick buildings also shown at the far end of the picture are the Richardsonian Romanesque Building. These buildings have a very unique, and expensive, style. There would have been more of these styled buildings however, the depression of 1893 put a stop to that. 

The White Lilly Flats is another set of apartments that are in a building that was one the factory of Lily White Flour. The building has been here since 1885 and it saw a lot of what was happening on Depot Street with the South Railway Station.

The Southern Railway Station has seen many historical events since it's opening in 1903. It's seen riots, and tragedy, and it's welcomes some very famous people too. Buffalo Bill, President Wilson, President Taft and Al Jolson to name a few. The last passenger trial that ran through was in 1970. There is a Museum inside the walls that talk all about the history. The trail, Three Rivers Rambler, hold special events in the fall and during Christmas time to show off what locomotive used to be able to do. 

I am so happy! For the first time in a long time I am caught up! I really do hope that I can stay like this moving forward. However, we all know that that is not likely to happen. I will see you next time friends!