Monday, January 12, 2009

Raison d'Etre

The Old City section of downtown came to be because of the railroad. The Southern Railway transformed Knoxville into a hub for transporting goods throughout the South. By the turn of the 20th century, Knoxville was one of the largest wholesale cities in the South. The recently closed White Lily flour plant is there on the left.

In this century, the Old City is primarily an entertainment district, but these tracks are still used by the Southern Railway. Which means that I was standing in the way of commerce to take this photo. Good thing commerce runs on a schedule so I will live to take more photos.

6 comments:

Virginia said...

What? White Lily closed. Awwww! Nice shot down those tracks Knox. Don't let a little ole train scare you from taking a great shot.

marley said...

Great perspective with the tracks. I'm always surprised how the tracks aren't fenced off in America. You wouldn't see that here.

Wayne said...

Commerce is moving at a crawl but you still need to be careful around train tracks.

It's a lovely shot.

Pat said...

This shot sends me back to my childhood in Pennsylvania where I remember seeing railroad tracks like this.

Jane Hards Photography said...

That' it no more colour for you. Love this stark industrial images of Knoxville. Trains huh! Get the shot, broken limns will heel.

Keith said...

Great shot. I've only ridden a train once but tracks always give me the urge to travel, especially with no particular destination in mind.