I must really be pretty out of touch with Knoxville's history (thank you LKS for helping me learn an it) because wow I never heard that Knoxville was known as "The Marble City", but I also didn't know Peyton Manning went to UT until about October of my freshman year.. so yeah.. moving on.
Any who, I decided to research after I visited, just so I could be completely clueless and make my own assumptions about what this building was that I was visiting. Come to find out, Candoro Marble Works used to be one of the 20 marble processors in Knoxville. It used to be one of the biggest producers for pink marble (why wouldn't you want pink marble) in the US. The company started only using its local made stone, but then ventured into imports to get some of the other stones people requested. It shut down operations after World War II, but was still used by different businesses for awhile. Today, the building is ran only by volunteers, and is available to rent out for events. It is part of the National Registry of Historic Places, and I can see why.
With a building that used to produce so much for the community, it is hard to let it go. The drive to the building with the trees on both sides is amazing, and getting to see the old production building was something I had never seen before. I did make a point to look into each room, and it was a beautifully made building. I wish I could have learned a bit more about the building, or even been able to go inside, but I am definitely happy LKS led me to this awesome gem of Knoxville!
On my way to Candoro Marble Works from the Bearden area I actually drove through an area that had a sign that said "Welcome to Marble City". I had no idea Knoxville was known as that until this assignment either!
ReplyDelete