Old North Knoxville, Inc. (ONK) was established to preserve, promote and protect the neighborhood, which is a residential and business district built from the 1880's to the 1940's.  It includes the triangle formed by Central Street, Broadway, and Woodland Avenue, as well as the area east of Broadway bounded by Cecil Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Glenwood Avenue and Broadway.

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The houses are of various sizes and styles that reflect the economic conditions of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Our neighborhood reflects a diversity of architectural styles from shotguns to mansions. The homes range in size from less than 1,000 square feet up to 9,000 square feet. Most of the homes are owner-occupied or rental units, although there are some abandoned and condemned houses. Since 1992, when the neighborhood was deemed a historic district and granted a historic overlay, the neighborhood has seen an increase in homes being restored and renovated. We have also experienced an increase in home sales and property values since the historic overlay was enacted. Sales price per square foot has increased 157% since 1990. ("The Economic Benefits of Historic Designation," published August 1996 by Knoxville/Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission).

Woodland Avenue is an area that that ONK is especially concerned about preserving.  In recent years, commercial development has slowly encroached into the neighborhood, resulting in demolition of sound residential housing that formerly formed part of the northern border of Historic Old North Knoxville. 

And finally, one cannot help but notice the trees in Historic Old North Knoxville, which are preserved with reverence by its residents.  Giant oaks, maples and magnolias, many dating from before the turn of the century, line the sidewalks and shade the yards of most houses in the neighborhood.