COMMUNITIES

According to local Knoxville legend, the part of town now known as Bearden got its name from a bear den that early pioneers stumbled across in the area. Apparently somewhere along the way someone got pretty drunk, because they started pronouncing it “BEER-den” instead of “BARE-den.” In fact, the West Knoxville community of Bearden isn’t named after bears at all. ...

The community of Bluegrass doesn’t seem to be named for non-annoying country music. Nor does it seem to have some sort of association with Kentucky, long hailed as the Bluegrass State. It’s a little unclear where the name actually comes from. Bluegrass may also be Knoxville’s most unknown neighborhood. Where is it? What is it? It’s a bit like trying ...