Stories from The Strip: How Cumberland Avenue's history could come full circle

The history of Knoxville’s Cumberland Avenue starts more than a century ago. Each decade seemed to bring something new to the Scruffy City.

From a neighborhood of mansions to restaurants and a theater to the place for nightlife, it was always the main route to the west.

“Name a decade and Cumberland Avenue had a different identity in that time than it did the decade before,” Knoxville historian Jack Neely said.