page_title: Gay Street (Knoxville)
section_title: Route and landmarks
hierarchical_section_title: Gay Street (Knoxville) / Route and landmarks
caption_attribution_description: English: View of the Gay Street Bridge and Gay Street high-rises in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
context_page_description: Gay Street is a street in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, that traverses the heart of the city's downtown area. Since its development in the 1790s, Gay Street has served as the city's principal financial and commercial thoroughfare, and has played a primary role in the city's historical and cultural development. The street contains Knoxville's largest office buildings and oldest commercial structures. Several buildings on Gay Street have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  Part of Charles McClung's original 1791 plat of Knoxville, Gay Street was a focal point for the early political activity of both the city as well as the State of Tennessee. By 1850, Gay Street was home to three-fourths of Knoxville's commercial activity, and in 1854, the street became Knoxville's first paved road. On the eve of the Civil War, Gay Street was the site of simultaneous Union and Confederate recruiting rallies. After the war, Gay Street saw extensive commercial development as railroad construction brought an industrial boom to Knoxville.
context_section_description: Gay Street runs for about a mile-and-a-half from its northern terminus at Emory Place to its southern terminus at its intersection with Sevier Avenue and Blount Avenue on the south side of the Tennessee River.  The road is divided into North Gay and South Gay by the tracks of the Southern Railway, with South Gay being the older and more densely developed half.
  From north to south:
  500 block, North Gay, from Emory Place to West Fifth Avenue— this section of Gay Street traverses the Emory Place Historic District, and intersects Emory Place a block east of Broadway, opposite Old Gray Cemetery.  First Christian Church and St. John's Lutheran Church lie adjacent to this section of Gay, although they have Fifth Avenue and Broadway addresses, respectively.
  400 block, North Gay, from West Fifth to West Magnolia.
  From West Magnolia to East Magnolia, North Gay passes under Interstate 40.  The area under the interstate is used for parking space.
  300 block, North Gay, from East Magnolia to West Depot Avenue.  This section of Gay Street is part of a merged stretch of U.S. Route 70, U.S. Route 11, and State Route 1, which joins Gay Street from the east via Magnolia and diverges from Gay to the west via Depot.  Regas Restaurant dominates the eastern half of this block.
  The Gay Street Viaduct, which crosses the Southern Railway tracks. The tracks comprise a large railyard that occupies a natural declivity about 15 feet (4.6 m) below street level.  From the viaduct, there is a sweeping view of the Old City to the east and the Jackson Avenue warehouses to the south.  The Southern Railroad Terminal lies along the tracks, immediately east of the viaduct.
  100 block, South Gay, from Jackson Avenue to Vine Avenue.  This section of Gay Street is part of the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District.  Notable buildings include the 10-story Sterchi Lofts building, the Emporium, and the Commerce Building.
  200 block, South Gay, from Vine Avenue to Summit Hill Drive.
  300 block, South Gay, from Summit Hill Drive to Wall Avenue; this is the northernmost block of the Gay Street Commercial Historic District, which stretches along South Gay from Summit Hill to Church Avenue.  Notable buildings on this block include the five-story Century Building and the Knoxville Visitors Center.
  400 block, South Gay, from Wall Avenue to Union Avenue.  A narrow alley divides the buildings on the western half of this block from the buildings facing Market Square to the west.  Notable buildings include the Kress Building, the McNulty Building (Mast General Store), the Sanford, the seven-story Miller's department store building, the Chamberlain and Albers Company Building (Tailor Lofts), and the Woodruff Building. Many of the buildings on this block were built in the wake of the so-called "Million Dollar Fire," which destroyed almost the entire east side of the 400 block on April 8, 1897.
  500 block, South Gay, from Union Avenue to Clinch Avenue. The western half of this block adjoins Krutch Park.  Notable buildings include the Fidelity Building, the Riviera Theatre, the S & W Cafeteria, the Farragut Hotel building, and The Holston.
  600 block, South Gay, from Clinch Avenue to Church Avenue.  This is the southernmost block in the Gay Street Commercial Historic District.  Notable buildings include the Tennessee Theatre, the Mechanics' Bank building, and the Journal Arcade.  "The Oarsman," a sculpture created in 1988 by David Phelps, stands at the corner of Church and Gay.
  700 block, South Gay, from Church Avenue to Cumberland Avenue.  The western half of this block is a parking lot.
  800 block, South Gay, from Cumberland Avenue to Main Street.  The First Tennessee Plaza, Knoxville's tallest building, occupies the entire eastern half of this block.  The Bijou Theatre, Knoxville's oldest commercial structure, occupies the western half.
  900 block, South Gay, from Main to Hill Avenue.  The Riverview Tower and Andrew Johnson Building occupy the eastern half of this block, and the Knox County Courthouse (which faces Main) occupies the western half.  The City-County Building 
caption: View of the Gay Street Bridge and buildings on the 800 and 900 blocks of South Gay
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