Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville
City
Skyline of Downtown Knoxville The Tennessee Amphitheater Market Square Commercial Historic District The Sunsphere at the World's Fair Park Clock tower on Gay Street A statue in the Old Gray Cemetery Ayres Hall at UT Knoxville Neyland Stadium
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Nickname(s):  Marble City,[1] Heart of the Valley,[2] Queen City of the Mountains,[3] K-Town,[4] Scruffy City,[5] Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains,[6] Knox Vegas.[7]
Location of Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee.
Knoxville Location in Tennessee Show map of Tennessee Knoxville Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 35°57′42″N 83°55′24″W / 35.9617°N 83.9232°W / 35.9617; -83.9232
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
County	Knox
Settled	1786
Founded	1791
Incorporated	1815
Founded by	James White
Named for	Henry Knox
Government [9][10]
• Type	Mayor–council
• Mayor	Indya Kincannon (D)[a]
• City Council	Council Members Tommy Smith (1st Dist.; also Vice Mayor) Andrew Roberto (2nd Dist.) Seema Singh (3rd Dist.) Lauren Rider (4th Dist.) Charles Thomas (5th Dist.) Gwen McKenzie (6th Dist.) Lynn Fugate (at-large seat A) Debbie Helsley (at-large seat B) Amelia Parker (at-large seat C)
Area [11]
• City	104.25 sq mi (270.01 km2)
• Land	98.73 sq mi (255.72 km2)
• Water	5.52 sq mi (14.30 km2)  5.4%
Elevation [12]	886 ft (270 m)
Population  (2020)
• City	190,740
• Rank	US: 135th
• Density	1,931.90/sq mi (745.91/km2)
• Urban	597,257 (US: 72nd)
• Urban density	1,382.8/sq mi (533.9/km2)
• Metro	868,546 (US: 64th)
• CSA	1,096,961 (US: 50th)
Demonym	Knoxvillian
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Zip code	37901-37902, 37909, 37912, 37914-37920-37924, 37927-37934, 37938-37940, 37950, 37995-37998
Area code	865
FIPS code[13]	47-40000
GNIS feature ID	1648562[12]
Website	www.knoxvilletn.gov

Knoxville is the third-largest city in the state of Tennessee, in the United States of America. The largest city in the state is Nashville, followed by Memphis. Knoxville is the county seat of Knox County. In 2020, it had a population of 190,740.^[14]

The city has been often called "The Streaking Capital of the World" and "The Underwear Capital of the World".^[15]

Knoxville was founded in 1786 and is the second oldest of Tennessee's four major cities, after Nashville which was founded in 1779. After Tennessee's admission into the Union in 1796, Knoxville was the state's first capital. In 1819, the capital was moved to Murfreesboro, prior to Nashville becoming the current capital. The city was named in honor of the first Secretary of War, Henry Knox.

Knoxville's economy is largely fueled by the regional location of the main campus of the University of Tennessee, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other Department of Energy facilities in nearby Oak Ridge, the National Transportation Research Center, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

1. ↑ Ask Doc Knox, "What's With All This Marble City Business?" Metro Pulse, May 10, 2010. Accessed at the Internet Archive, October 1, 2015.
2. ↑ Lucile Deaderick, Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1976).
3. ↑ Mark Banker, Appalachians All: East Tennessee and the Elusive History of an American Region (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2010), p. 83.
4. ↑ Jack Neely, From the Shadow Side: And Other Stories of Knoxville, Tennessee (Tellico Books, 2003).
5. ↑ "Knoxvillians capitalize on the city's 'scruffy' reputation | The Daily Beacon". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
6. ↑ Jack Neely, "A Knoxville Vacation Archived October 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine", Knoxville Mercury, July 9, 2015.
7. ↑ Campbell, Chuck (March 27, 2018). "5 nerdy things you don't know about Knoxville". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
8. ↑ "Tennessee Code 2-13-208 – Municipal elections to be nonpartisan". LawServer.com. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
9. ↑ "Knoxville". Municipal Technical Advisory Service. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
10. ↑ "Government". City of Knoxville. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
11. ↑ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Knoxville, Tennessee
13. ↑ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
14. ↑ "QuickFacts: Knoxville city, Tennessee". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
15. ↑ "46 Things You Probably Didn′t Know About Knoxville".