page_title: History of Knoxville, Tennessee
section_title: Louis Brownlow
hierarchical_section_title: History of Knoxville, Tennessee / Transition to a modern city (1920–1960) / Louis Brownlow
caption_attribution_description: English: View of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, circa 1919. The Holston National Bank building dominates the center of the photograph, with the Burwell Building (Tennessee Theatre) just to its right. The spire of the First Baptist Church (now located on Main Street) is visible on the extreme right.
context_page_description: The History of Knoxville, Tennessee, began with the establishment of James White's Fort on the Trans-Appalachian frontier in 1786. The fort was chosen as the capital of the Southwest Territory in 1790, and the city, named for Secretary of War Henry Knox, was platted the following year. Knoxville became the first capital of the State of Tennessee in 1796, and grew steadily during the early 19th century as a way station for westward-bound migrants and as a commercial center for nearby mountain communities. The arrival of the railroad in the 1850s led to a boom in the city's population and commercial activity.
  While a Southern city, Knoxville was home to a strong pro-Union element during the secession crisis of the early 1860s, and remained bitterly divided throughout the Civil War. The city was occupied by Confederate forces until September 1863, when Union forces entered the city unopposed. Confederate forces laid siege to the city later that year, but retreated after failing to breach the city's fortifications during the Battle of Fort Sanders.
  Following the war, business leaders, many from the North, established major iron and textile industries in Knoxville.
context_section_description: In 1912, Knoxvillians replaced their mayor-alderman form of government with a commissioner form of government that consisted of five commissioners elected at-large, and a mayor chosen from among the five.  Following the 1917 annexations, the city began to struggle as it extended services to the newly annexed areas, and it became clear the new government was ineffective at dealing with the city's financial issues.  In 1923, the city voted to replace the commissioners with a city manager-council form of government, which involved the election of a city council, who would then hire a city manager to oversee the city's business affairs.
  The first city manager hired by Knoxville was Louis Brownlow, the successful city manager of Petersburg, Virginia, and a cousin of Parson Brownlow.  When Brownlow arrived in Knoxville, he was horrified by the city's condition, later writing that he found "something new and more disturbing" every day.  There were no paved roads connecting Knoxville with other major cities.  The lone operable tank of the city's waterworks was full of cracks that Knoxvillians had been lazily plugging with gunny sacks.  The city hospital was unable to buy drugs, as it was deeply in debt, and its credit had been cut off.  City Hall, then located on Market Square, was filthy, noisy and disorganized.
  Brownlow immediately got to work, negotiating a more favorable bond rate and ordering greater scrutiny of all purchases.  He also convinced the city to purchase the vacated Tennessee School for the Deaf building for use as a city hall.  While Brownlow had some initial success, his initiatives met staunch opposition from South Knoxville councilman Lee Monday, who according to Brownlow, was "representative of that top-of-the-voice screamology of East Tennessee mountain politics."  Opposition to Brownlow gradually intensified, especially after he called for a tax increase, and following the election of a less-friendly city council in 1926, Brownlow resigned.
caption: The Holston and Burwell buildings dominated Knoxville's skyline in 1919
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