by design | Oct 19, 2026 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely Senior Writer steelym@knoxfocus.com You probably know that Knoxville’s Fort Sanders neighborhood was named for General William Sanders, a Kentucky native who played a vital role in the Union capturing and holding East Tennessee during the Civil...
by design | Sep 28, 2026 | Columnist, Steely
More Than A Day Away By Mike Steely Burnside begins march to Knoxville South of Burnside’s advance, forces were scouting the mountain roads, earlier taken by Sanders, and reporting back on the route’s “terrible” condition. When word reached Burnside that loyal...
by design | Sep 21, 2026 | Columnist, Steely
More Than A Day Away By Mike Steely The month of September is important in the history of Knoxville. It was the month the city was captured by Union forces, and the East Tennessee region remained in Northern hands for the rest of the war. Unlike the rest of the...
by design | Aug 10, 2026 | Columnist, Steely
More Than A Day away By Mike Steely Several years ago, I asked what Focus readers collected, and the answers ran the gamut. My wife and I continue to collect, and one of my favorite things is coffee cups. Each cup in our wide collection represents trips,...
by design | Jul 13, 2026 | Columnist, Steely
A Day Away By Mike Steely Sometimes a side trip during a journey to somewhere else ends up being more interesting than the final destination. In our many years of traveling on business and for pleasure, my wife and I have discovered some unexpected jewels of places...
by design | Jul 6, 2026 | Columnist, Steely
A Day Away By Mike Steely As I’ve shared before, my wife and I have visited most of Tennessee’s state parks as well as many parks in our surrounding states and several national parks. A new Tennessee park is now on our bucket list, and it looks very, very...
