Revere & Center Street
Pal’s Sudden Service, Pal’s for short, is a regional fast food restaurant chain located in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Most of the stores are concentrated in the Tri-Cities, Tennessee area. Pal’s was opened by Fred “Pal” Barger in 1956. The first location was Revere Street in Downtown Kingsport.
In 2001, Pal’s became the first restaurant chain in the country to earn the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award.
Clinchfield & Center Street
The Texas Steer, known for their giant hamburger, was originally owned by Bill Harrell and opened for business at 420 W. Center Street in 1950. Guy Williams became owner of the business around 1953. The Texas Steer was a popular place for local teenagers to hang out at night.
Patrons could eat in the restaurant or in their cars in the 60 outdoor spaces with two-way speakers and menus.
It closed in 1975.
Press & Clinchfield Street
The Kingsport Hosiery Mill was incorporated on March 13, 1917. The four story building was located on the corner of Press (formerly Reedy) and Clinchfield Streets. When the plant began operations, it employed around 85 people and could produce over 26,000 pairs of finished hose daily. Unlike other industries being established in Kingsport at the same time, the hosiery mill provided employment to young women.
Employment at the hosiery mill continued to increase and by 1928 the plant employed more than 400 people of which 296 of those employees were women. The lunch counter at the mill served free hot coffee daily at noon. In 1932 the Kingsport Hosiery Mill closed and the building was taken over by the Miller-Smith Hosiery Mill, which remained in operation until 1943.
The hosiery mill property was bought by Dobyns-Taylor Hardware in 1945 and was used as a warehouse for the store. Dobyns-Taylor also rented out parts of the building to the Kingsport Press. Dobyns-Taylor closed in 1985 but the company continued using the building as warehouse space. The mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
West Sullivan & Clay Street
The Homestead Hotel, built in 1919 by the Grant Leather Company, served as a clubhouse for employees and executives of the company. The clubhouse had 85 rooms and operated their own cafeteria. The building was located on the corner of Sullivan and Clay Streets. It was later remodeled into a hotel and housed guests for several decades. The Homestead Hotel was torn down in the 1990s.
Press & Clinchfield Street
Kingsport Press
The Kingsport Press is a prime example of this integrated industrial production. A book published by the press could be considered the ultimate Kingsport product. The paper used at the Kingsport Press was made across the street at Kingsport Pulp (later Mead). The book cloth used was made by Holliston Mills which was located adjacent to the Kingsport Press. The book cloth made at Holliston Mills was manufactured from the gray cloth produced by Borden Mills.
In 1922, the J.J. Little and Company of New York established a book manufacturing plant in Kingsport under the trade name, Kingsport Press. Louis M. Adams was president. The plant was built to produce and distribute a series of small clothbound non-copyrighted classics to Woolworth’s. The books were sold in the chain of five and dime stores and by mail order for 10 cents a copy. The Kingsport Press initially began in vacant buildings that had been constructed by the Simmons Hardware Company to manufacture harness and saddlery. The Kingsport Press purchased the property and buildings as a home for their new book manufacturing plant. The property, the size of a city block, was bound by Center, Clinchfield, Roller, and Reedy Streets.
Once in operation, the Kingsport Press was able to manufacture low cost books for mass distribution. In January 1923, the Kingsport Press received their first order; 50,000 copies of the New Testament. Around 1925 the company was reorganized and became The Kingsport Press, Incorporated. It was at this time that Colonel E.W. Palmer succeeded Louis M. Adams as president of the company.
The Kingsport Press once produced “America’s Smallest Book.” The miniature books were designed by employee Hal “Red” Newman in 1927 as part of a training class. Students were required to plan and prepare a project before graduating from the course. Management was impressed with the small book and recognized it would make a clever novelty item to use as advertisement.
In July 1969, the Kingsport Press merged with Arcata National Corporation, the nation’s second largest printing firm. Operating under the same management, the Kingsport Press became an autonomous, wholly owned, subsidiary. Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Arcata National Corporation provided printing and information services. The company also managed Arcata Redwood Company, a timber holding and lumber processing operation.
In 1985, Arcata National Corporation changed its name to Arcata Graphics. Arcata Graphics was purchased by Quebecor Printing in the 1990s. Through this purchase Quebecor also acquired the Kingsport Press. Quebecor, founded in 1954 and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was an international printing and communications company. Quebecor Printing merged with World Color Press in 1999, creating Quebecor World.
The Kingsport Press closed its Hawkins County Plant in 2001 and closed the Kingsport plant in 2006. In 2007, Quebecor donated the Kingsport site, which included the 1 million square-foot facility and 20 acres of land, to the City of Kingsport. The property was redeveloped and is now home to the Kingsport Farmers Market, the Kingsport Carousel, and various businesses.
