I fondly recall my grandmother taking me up town every Saturday.

We caught the city bus and rode right to the heart of shopping

heaven. In those days there were no such thing as indoor shopping malls or even strip malls for that matter.

The main street through town was and is still called Gay Street today..

It runs from one end of town right across the Tennessee River Bridge.

Gay Street was lined with every store you could imagine.

Sears, Penny's, Lerners, Woolworth's, Kress's, Grant's, McCellan's  Kimbell's,  Fowler Brother's Furniture, Rexal Drug Stores, privately owned hat shops,shoe repair, novelity stores,cloth shops, florists, bakeries, the only news stand and book store in Knoxville at the time.

This was in the day that elevators required people to operate them. The operator would call out each floor and what department was on each level.

I used to think what a boring job that must be.

My grandma always had to go into the hat shops and piece good or fabric stores.

Often times we would stop in the  radio station WNOX and watch the live broadcasts.

All the actors were actually dressed in costumes, even the commercials were in character.

At that time Woolworth's had lunch counters with the best hamburgers and fries around.

After lunch we would pass through Kress's, to a back door and cross over the alley to the Market Square.

Row after row of row of local farmers would be peddling their produce, honey, molasses,  home canned foods, jelly's and jams, and baked goods. There were buckets of fresh cut flowers and herbs of all kinds. The smell of the fish counters is not one of my so pleasant memories and one I could do without, however the smell of the livestock did not phase me one bit. I marveled at the cows, pigs and some times horses for sale.

I recall in the late 50's, someone making the statement that the new fangled strip shopping centers, would be the death of down town..then came the big indoor malls of the mid and late 60's.

We did see Gay Street, down town and the Market Square slowly die. Business's closed, buildings abandoned and boarded up.

Two of our major movie theaters closed. The streets were left deserted and baron.

Christmas time was never the same. No more hustling from store to store with the snow falling and carols being sung from every street corner

I left Tennessee with memories in my heart of down town Knoxville as I recalled from childhood and not the ghost town I was leaving.

Twenty years later, I have returned and am amazed at the revitalization of Gay Street and Market Square. They are alive again and a bustling urban renewal has taken over. Not quite the Norman Rockwell down town I remember, but a wonderful

mixture of old and new. New stores, shops and boutiques, vintage clothing, fine restraunt's and casual eating places, coffee shops and bakeries with out door cafes, antiques and art stores line the sidewalks.

Street performers entertain visitors and often the soft sound of the flute or saxophone can be heard,all through out the square. Krutch Park has been re-landscaped with flowing streams, fountains, statues, tables and park benches through out.

All three down town movie theaters have been refurbished and are now, not only for movies, but live entertainment as well, booking some well known celebrities.

The farmers market is back on Market Square from spring though fall. Festivals of all sorts take place on the Square as well as the World's Fair Park.

Christmas time is as exciting as it was when I was young. The big Santa Claus parade, the lighting of the big tree, Christmas in the City and First Night are but a few of the holiday events offered.

Although Penny's, Sears and all the major department stores have found homes in the huge indoor malls, I think I like the new mainstreet much better. It is more personal, more comfortable and a good hometown feeling when ever I get the chance to go to our cities mainstreet.