Knoxify

Guide to Mechanicsville

Where is Mechanicsville?

Just west of Down­town, Mechan­icsville is eas­ily acces­si­ble via Uni­ver­sity Ave to the west, West­ern Ave to the south, 5th Ave to the north or I-40 to the east.

Mechan­icsville Information

Old Mechan­icsville is a small com­mu­nity with lots of his­tory. It gets its name from the fac­to­ries that sur­rounded it from the late 18th to the early 20th cen­turies and the fac­tory work­ers who set­tled in the com­mu­nity start­ing in around 1880. Indus­tries located in the area included the Knoxville Iron Com­pany, the Knoxville Brew­ing Com­pany, Knox Stan­dard Han­dle and W.H. Evans & Sons, sup­pli­ers of fine Ital­ian marble.

Today his­toric Mechan­icsville con­tains per­haps the largest col­lec­tion of 19th cen­tury archi­tec­ture in Knoxville, includ­ing sev­eral Queen Anne and Ital­ianate houses, as well as many smaller cot­tage style homes. The area is still very much in tran­si­tion, and while some of the homes have been restored to their for­mer glory, oth­ers are still wait­ing for urban renewal to come their way. Homes are priced accord­ing to the level of restora­tion they’ve under­gone, so expect prices to be some­what disparate.

Since it’s located so close to down­town, hun­gry Mechan­icsville res­i­dents can take a very short drive and enjoy some sushi at Nama on Gay Street or head over to Mar­ket Square for pizza at The Tomato Head or some­thing a lit­tle fancier at La Costa. Another short drive gets res­i­dents to the UT strip, where long-time Knoxville favorite The Sunspot is always sure to please.

Old Mechan­icsville is zoned for May­nard Ele­men­tary, Bear­den Mid­dle School, and Ful­ton High School.

You will totally dig Mechan­icsville if you’re look­ing for:

• a very afford­able fixer-upper in an his­toric community
• a neigh­bor­hood in the begin­ning stages of urban renewal
• a home with lots of character
• easy access to Down­town or UT

You’ll want to skip Mechan­icsville if you’re look­ing for:

• some­thing in the suburbs
• new or newer construction
• some­thing with a large yard
• close prox­im­ity to mall shopping

Images of Mechanicsville

© 2008 Robert Stock­dale Pho­tog­ra­phy, All Rights Reserved.