Church Circle wasn't always called Church Circle. For decades, locals called it "Civic Circle" or just "the Circle." You can find references in old Kingsport Times-News articles from the 1940s-1960s where it's labeled Civic Circle in photo captions and event descriptions. The name Church Circle eventually stuck because, well, there are four churches surrounding it. But if you talk to anyone who grew up here in the '50s and '60s, they'll still slip and call it Civic Circle. The official name change happened slowly, organically, the way most things do in Kingsport.
In today’s post:
The Hub: How a roundabout became Kingsport's compass
Two Names: Why old-timers still call it Civic Circle
Stand Still: What twenty minutes at Church Circle will show you
KINGSPORT HISTORY
Every city has a center. Kingsport has Church Circle.
Stand there on a Tuesday afternoon and you'll see the whole city pass through. The lawyer heading to court. The kid on a skateboard cutting through downtown. The couple holding hands on their way to grab coffee on Broad Street.
Church Circle isn't just a roundabout. It's the hub. Designed by railroad engineer William Dunlap and refined by city planner John Nolen as part of the original 1919 City Plan, this spoke-and-wheel street pattern made Kingsport one of the first professionally planned cities in America. Four brick church buildings surround the circle, all built in the early days of modern Kingsport.
Jeff Fleming wrote extensively about Church Circle's evolution in his piece "Church Circle: Kingsport's Town Square" on Kingsport Spirit. He traces how the circle went from being the literal center of daily life to nearly being redesigned out of existence in 1969, and how generations of Kingsport residents have fought to preserve it. It's worth the read if you want to understand how close we came to losing what makes downtown downtown.
The buildings around it tell you everything about this place. The Woodyard Center, once the First Methodist Episcopal Church. The First Broad Street United Methodist Church. First Presbyterian. First Baptist. All facing each other like they've been having a conversation for over a century.
When someone asks me to explain Kingsport, I tell them to stand in Church Circle for twenty minutes. Watch the flow. See who shows up. Notice how people move through the space like they own it, because in a way, they do.
Cities are built around intentions. Kingsport was built around a circle. And if you pay attention, that circle will show you exactly what this place is becoming.