Copyright 2008 * All rights reserved
J.C. (Jim) Tumblin, OD, DOS
3604 Kesterwood Drive, East
Knoxville, Tennessee 37918-2557
(865) 687-1948
The Webmaster's Grandfather, P.B. Conner, lived at Fourth Avenue and C Street in Old Fountain City. The home faced Franklin Park which was known as "The Holler" to all the Conner grandchildren. Many grade school students used a path through the park to walk from their homes on Cedar Lane or nearby streets to Fountain City Elementary School.
There were large exposed boulders that made it seem to a 10-year old that he was walking in the Grand Canyon.While playing in the Holler, a Lad could strap on his Lash LaRue or Hopalong Cassidy cap pistols and pretend he was riding through Copper Canyon, Arizona. Or, he could swing on the grape vines and play Tarzan, the Ape Man.
Franklin Park was one of those places that no old time Fountain Citian can forget.
When the muck was cleared from Fountain City Lake in 1985, it was hauled to Franklin Park and has obscured the boulders. Kudzu has erased almost all the former contours.
The house pictured above is thought to have been at the corner of 5th Avenue and C Street before the 1930s. One can stand at the Southwest corner of Franklin Park and look northward and picture the terraces surrounding the present house of quite different construction.
(Author's Note: On page 95 of Images of America: Fountain City [2004] the present state of Franklin Park can be seen. The author has been seeking photographs of the Park from the 1930s and 1940s for many years. Anyone with such photos or knowledge of such photos is encouraged to Email the author. The Email address is on the Homepage.) D: FranklinPark (1/21/08)