Here Comes the Bride!!!

I have always heard Knoxville be referred to as “The Marble City,” but I have never taken the time to research as to why this was. It was interesting to read about the history of the Candoro Marble Works. Candoro was a marble cutting and polishing company that started in 1914. It was the subsidiary of the John J. Craig Company and the marble found here was used across the country in famous monuments. A big boom/ need for this company came about after the Civil War when “East Tennessee Marble” became popular around the country. (Hence the nickname) However, despite the popularity and demand for this marble, there was a sharp decline after World War Ⅱ.

      When I went to go visit this site, I got very lucky. A woman by the name of Marvyl was there. When I pulled up, she was waving at me and was very excited to see me! I felt bad because I was thinking she was just sitting there waiting on us scholars to come check the place out. Turns out she thought I was the bride that was coming to meet her to plan her big day there. Marvyl was the events planner for Candoro, so I got a tour of the entire building along with a history lesson. She is very passionate about getting South Knoxville back into business and bringing attention to Candoro. I got to see each specific room in the building and got to go see the warehouse where the trains used to come pick everything up. The warehouse unfortunately is now owned by someone else so we could not go inside. It’s amazing to see the impact Knoxville once had on the entire country and to see a place with so much history behind it.