My Hometown

Day number 2. So far so good. I chose today's topic and photo because it is very important to me. Today is Sunday and Sunday in the Joseph house is grocery day. This meant venturing out to our little city of Middlesboro, where I was born and raised. I spent the first 18 years of my life trying to escape as most children do. I managed to, but was of course drawn back home.

To give you a brief of the history of Middlesboro (some of which I didn't even know until tonight):

• The city was incorporated in 1890 as "Middlesborough", named after the town of Middlesbrough on the south bank of the River Tees in what was then the North Riding of Yorkshire, England.
  
• Geologists believe that the Middlesboro basin between Pine Mountain and the Cumberland Mountains is the remains of an ancient meteorite crater, which would give the town the rare distinction of being one of the few cities in the world completely built inside a crater. The crater is one of three known astroblemes in the state.
  
• Middlesboro installed the first electric street cars of any municipality west of Washington, D.C. The 1930s was an era when Middlesboro saw a rapid change. Then known as "Little Las Vegas," the town had no shortage of slot machines, saloons, and brothels.
  
• In the 1950's was nicknamed "The Athens of the Mountains" due to its large support for the arts. Middlesboro was one of the few cities in Eastern Kentucky to boast a grand opera house and one of the finest school districts in the state.

With all of this potential...one would think the town would be doing grand. This is not the case and business in fact sucks. I'm completely honest when I say I enjoy living here for the most part. My only regret is not being closer to a large city. The nearest city is Knoxville, TN and it is 70 miles south. I wish more for my hometown and time after time I've become disappointed.

With this said; today's photo is downtown Middlesboro on a Sunday evening. The City has done a great job keeping downtown beautiful. Now if we can find businesses to take a chance on the big little town in the mountains.

Have a great evening. New post tomorrow. :)

Mika.

Historical Middlesboro reference from Wikipedia.