Welcome back. Glad you're here.

Last week was a ghost story. This week's mystery is smaller, and you write it on every return address. Kingsport is named for a man named King, but Kingsport's centennial history and the state encyclopedia credit two different men, so I went back through the record to see who has the better case.

In today's post:

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Kingsport histories have a habit of stopping to clear one thing up. The town was not named for King George, or for any crown. Howard Long said so in his 1928 book on the city, and Kingsport's 2017 centennial timeline says it again. Both name the same man: Col. James King.

The Tennessee Encyclopedia, published by the Tennessee Historical Society, names William King.

Same town. Different King.

Start before either of them. In the early 1800s, the riverbank along what is now Netherland Inn Road was the Boatyard, where wagons met the Holston and goods went downriver on flatboats. Robert Christian started selling lots there in 1802 and called the town Christianville. Most people called it the Boatyard anyway, and so did some of the deeds.

That same year, two men named King bought lots there. On the same day.

One was William King of Abingdon, Virginia, an Irish immigrant who came over in 1784 and made a fortune in salt at Saltville. He needed a port. At the Boatyard he built a dwelling, wharves, warehouses, and a store, and sent his salt down the Holston.

The other was Col. James King, a Revolutionary War veteran with an iron works near Bristol, whose son the Rev. James King would later give the land for King College, now King University. The colonel needed a port too. Except he didn't buy the lot. A different son did. That son's name was William King.

So the property records for that day show two different William Kings buying lots at the Boatyard.

The case for the colonel goes like this. Older histories credit him with a mill at the mouth of Reedy Creek by 1774, and the 2017 timeline places his King's Mill Station there and credits him with the name. He also has the calendar. William King died in 1808, fourteen years before the legislature named the town Kingsport. The colonel lived until 1825.

The case for the salt man is the cargo. In 1956, a two-part history in the Sunday Kingsport Times-News went back through the records of the period and concluded they make William King's salt look like the Boatyard's main business, with the colonel's iron works much smaller and less profitable. Kingsport's own centennial site, on a different page, credits the salt maker, William King of Saltville, with organizing the first freighting company at the Boatyard.

In November 1809, a year after William King died, William Clark, of Lewis and Clark, came through on his way to Washington. He spent the night at William King's inn, then run by William Snider, and logged the stop in his journal as "Kingslanding on the Holston." Thirteen years before the charter, the landing already had a King in its name.

As for the colonel's mill, a 2021 write-up on Discover Kingsport points out that several local historians put King's Mill up Boozy Creek, miles from the mouth of Reedy Creek.

That 1956 history landed here: "The evidence seems to favor William King, but not decisively so."

Then there is the petition.

In a 1956 letter to the Kingsport Times, local historian L.R. Ahern wrote that staff at the state archives in Nashville had shown him, in 1954, the petition townspeople sent when they asked to be incorporated in 1822. By his account, they asked for the name Kingsport in honor of the late William King. That same year he asked the archives for a copy. They couldn't find it. The 2021 Discover Kingsport piece reports that a more recent request got the same answer.

If the petition says what Ahern remembered, it would come close to settling this. Until it turns up, it's one man's account of a document.

The legislature made the name official in 1822, ninety-five years before the Model City charter, drawing the town from the east end of Ross Bridge to the fork of the Reedy Creek road. Locals took their time. Some deeds still said Boat Yard as late as 1831.

William King's lot is still down there. Richard Netherland bought the property from King's estate in 1818, and the Netherland Inn stands on it at 2144 Netherland Inn Road. Its posted tour season runs weekend afternoons, May through October, which makes Saturday the last open day on that calendar if you want to stand where the salt went out.

The name goes out on every envelope mailed from this town.

Two hundred years in, we still haven't settled whose it is.

A few things worth getting off your couch for:

A Fall Night on the Farm: Halloween Spooktacular | Friday, Oct. 30, 5 PM | Magnolia Kay Farms, 847 Mitchell Rd. Trick-or-treating at themed Halloween trees, carnival games, guided walks in the woods, photo spots, and s'mores, with a food truck on site. It's $10 a person for ages 3 and up, free under 3, or $40 for a family package. Details

Kingsport Farmers Market | Saturday, Oct. 31, 7 AM | 308 Clinchfield St. Produce, baked goods, crafts, and live music at Center and Clinchfield, with the Haunted Half going off up the street at the Chamber the same morning. The season runs through Nov. 28, so there are four Saturdays left after this one. Details

bRUNch Club Run Club | Sunday, Nov. 1, 10 AM | Inspire Wine Bar, 116 Commerce St. Run, walk, or mix the two, at any distance and any pace, then stay for brunch when the bar opens at 11. It's free, and the clocks fall back that morning, so you get the extra hour of sleep first. Details

Presented by In the Tri. See every Kingsport event this weekend.

One group doing the work.

Meals on Wheels of Kingsport More than 200 meals go out free of charge every weekday, Monday through Friday, delivered straight to people's homes. For many of the people on the route, the volunteer at the door may be the only friendly face they see all day. Volunteering takes about two hours a month. Volunteer

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You know the house. Lights up before the leftovers are gone, synced to music, the one you slow down for on the drive home.

This year it gets some credit.

Hey Kingsport is teaming up with Keep Kingsport Beautiful on the Kingsport Holiday Decorating Challenge. Submit your house, we'll post the photos and video on heykingsport.com, and you vote once a day from November 16 through December 11. Four categories: Most Technical Display, Most Creative, Best Overall, and Top Fan Vote.

Winners get recognized at the December 15 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting. Then we'll put out a driving trail of every winning house, so you can load up the car and make a night of it.

Thanks to JWP Rentals and Mattern & Craig for sponsoring.

Submit your house here

4901 Preston Park Drive, Kingsport, TN | 4 bed, 4 bath

Two Kings. Four full baths.

This one is brick, carefully kept, and a little over 3,100 finished square feet. The hardwoods were just refinished, the ceilings are vaulted, and nobody skimped on the trim and molding. The living room has a gas fireplace and runs into the kitchen: granite counters, stainless appliances, a pantry, and a breakfast area. The formal dining room gets a coffered ceiling, for the meals that call for one.

The primary suite is on the main level, which is the line some buyers will read twice. Double-tray ceiling, plenty of natural light, his-and-hers closets, and a bath with separate vanities, a jetted soaking tub, and a walk-in shower. An office, the laundry, and another full bath round out that floor. Upstairs are three more bedrooms, two more full baths, good closet space, and new carpet.

Out back there's a private yard, a deck, and a gazebo. Plantation shutters, a two-car attached garage, landscaping, and an upgraded whole-house water filtration system handle the rest.

Then there's the basement. It's unfinished, it walks out, and it runs more than 1,000 square feet, with a double-door workshop area on top of that.

Most people would call it storage. Somebody with a table saw will call it the best room in the house.

Full listing at sellstateline.com.

What do you think they're asking for 4901 Preston Park Drive

Vote down below

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Talk soon,

Ryan