Most towns and cities have statues and memorials of all kinds, but for me it’s the unique ones that not only inform the feel of a place, but also convey some local history. The most Knoxville-centric downtown statue is the Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial Monument that stands today outside the fire hall on Summit Hill Drive. The monument has an unusual past in that it has stood in at least four downtown locations since its unveiling 120 years ago, and still honors firemen who lost their lives battling Knoxville fires.
Let’s take a look into the history of the monument and see where it’s been.
The monument with its distinctive statue was erected in front of the Knox County Courthouse in July 1905 as a result of a fire on the east side of the 400 block of Gay Street, just the year before, that would claim the lives of two firemen and seriously damage multiple buildings.
The fire began at 9 o’clock in the evening on February 2, 1904, at 420 Gay Street, then known as the Phoenix Building. Operating there was Murphy-Robinson, a wholesale hat store…