Historical town close to Knoxville - retiring (Franklin, Bristol: homes, theater)

[thumper610]

We are thinking about retiring to TN and are looking for a historical town which is safe and preferable quaint. We would like to be within an hour to 1 1/2 hours from Knoxville. Any ideas??? Thanks so much.

[creeksitter]

I just love the quaint and will be happy to throw out some locations. But more research and info is needed.

You won't find anything like Franklin TN which is both quaint and developed with lots of great shops/ restaurants. The only thing that rivals that is downtown Knoxville. Next best is Maryville but development seems spotty. By development I mean entertaining shopping or restaurants, not just storefront businesses. It's there in DT Maryville but spread out. Otherwise Maryville is very well provided with the usual suburban sprawl.

Towns with potential - could you possibly be interested in opening a business and contributing to a revival?, these are towns with great architectural "bones".

Greeneville has wonderful architecture with an entertainment center worthy of a much larger town and a community college expanding right downtown. Tiny Dandridge has the quaint and a great location. Lenoir city has great bones and there are homes above town with views of the lake. Kingston and Harriman should be visited. Clinton has a downtown street with a thriving antiques scene. Sweetwater and Loudon have some intriguing businesses. Rogersville is a bit far but has a lot of history, as does Jonesboro. Tellico Plains is at the edge of the mountains. Sevierville, too, much bigger and way more developed - most would say overdeveloped.

The best advice I can give is to visit these towns. I'm sure others will be mentioned I have forgotten. You might have one or perhaps 2 or 3 that appeal to you. Otherwise, NC is the place to look for quaint small towns.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

I just love the quaint and will be happy to throw out some locations. But more research and info is needed.

You won't find anything like Franklin TN which is both quaint and developed with lots of great shops/ restaurants. The only thing that rivals that is downtown Knoxville. Next best is Maryville but development seems spotty. By development I mean entertaining shopping or restaurants, not just storefront businesses. It's there in DT Maryville but spread out. Otherwise Maryville is very well provided with the usual suburban sprawl.

Towns with potential - could you possibly be interested in opening a business and contributing to a revival?, these are towns with great architectural "bones".

Greeneville has wonderful architecture with an entertainment center worthy of a much larger town and a community college expanding right downtown. Tiny Dandridge has the quaint and a great location. Lenoir city has great bones and there are homes above town with views of the lake. Kingston and Harriman should be visited. Clinton has a downtown street with a thriving antiques scene. Sweetwater and Loudon have some intriguing businesses. Rogersville is a bit far but has a lot of history, as does Jonesboro. Tellico Plains is at the edge of the mountains. Sevierville, too, much bigger and way more developed - most would say overdeveloped.

The best advice I can give is to visit these towns. I'm sure others will be mentioned I have forgotten. You might have one or perhaps 2 or 3 that appeal to you. Otherwise, NC is the place to look for quaint small towns.

Franklin is way more than an hour and a half from Knoxville. Google Maps says it's almost 3 hours - 2hrs 51 min.

[creeksitter]

I understand that. I was using Franklin as a point of reference as the ultimate quaint town with lots of shopping/dining. We don't have anything comparable in E TN.

[danielj72]

Some will disagree with this one but I am going to say Clinton is worth a look. It has a nice downtown and its full of antique shops. In fact it is rated as one of the better antiquing places in the state. Clinton is relatively quiet and it is more affordable than some of the other places mentioned. If the OP is looking for something like Franklin as creeksitter has said there is nothing in Knoxville area any thing like that.

[jabogitlu]

My scratch the surface suggestions - Rogersville, Jonesborough, Abingdon VA.

[DubbleT]

I'll second Abingdon which is about 15-20 minutes from Bristol, and my son can get here from Knoxville in about and hour and a half +/-, so it falls pretty close to the two hour window to Knoxville.
Visit Abingdon Virginia

[jabogitlu]

It's also roughly two hours to Roanoke.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by danielj72

Some will disagree with this one but I am going to say Clinton is worth a look. It has a nice downtown and its full of antique shops. In fact it is rated as one of the better antiquing places in the state. Clinton is relatively quiet and it is more affordable than some of the other places mentioned. If the OP is looking for something like Franklin as creeksitter has said there is nothing in Knoxville area any thing like that.

I agree and I love the antique stores there.

[creeksitter]

It's interesting, though - to drive through Clinton on the main street 25W, except for the old theater and drugstore it's not particularly noteworthy. Doesn't even have the historical courthouse you find in so many small towns. But the side street with the antique stores is very cute.