Why is Knoxville called the Scruffy City? Where did it come from? Do we need a shave?

That last question is between us and our barber — but we do know where the nickname came from. It all starts with the World's Fair...

America's last World's Fair

Okay, "last" is a bit of an overstatement. But the 1982 World’s Fair Exhibition is considered by many to be "the last successful World's Fair held in America."

It was also the South's first World's Fair — and the rest of the nation wasn't sure we could pull it off, especially the Wall Street Journal. In an article titled "What If You Gave a World's Fair And Nobody Came?" reporter Susan Harrigan described Knoxville as "a scruffy little city of 180,000 on the Tennessee River." Okay, rude.

Scruffy and proud

World's Fair organizers and city officials could have brushed off the comment. But instead, they embraced it. They even made souvenirs that bragged, "The Scruffy Little City Did It!"

And indeed, it did. Over 11 million people came to Knoxville for the fair.

"You've made us proud.... making a scruffy little city here in East Tennessee known all over the world," said Tourism Commissioner Etherage Parker to The Press Democrat in 1982.

Construction on the Sunsphere broke ground in 1980. | Photo via the United States Department of Commerce

An abridged timeline of scruff

Okay, we know where the name comes from, but how did it take off? We dug through the archives, and here's what we found:

1995 | The Kentucky New Era prints a column proclaiming the "'Scruffy city' gets even." Columnist Paul Harvey writes about how locals took it upon themselves to "redecorate with dogwood and forsythia," transforming Knoxville into a "big, beautiful city — young again." It's worth noting that this paper also cites another writer who called Knoxville "the scruffy little city" in 1947, decades before Harrigan made the same remark in the Journal.
2007 | The Anniston Star refers to the Journal's slight in its 25-year retrospective on the World's Fair.
2012 | "Scruffy City Roots" puts on quite the show. Watch performances from the live music and variety show, which was broadcast live on television.
2014 | Scruffy City Hall opens, turning a former boutique into what Inside of Knoxville calls "probably the coolest space in Knoxville."
2015 | A small group of musicians forms the community orchestra, Scruffy City Orchestra.
2015 | Joining the scruffy family, The Knoxville Film & Music Festival becomes The Scruffy City Film & Music Festival.
2016 | The Atlanta Constitution encourages readers to "Check out the 'Scruffy City.'"
2018 | In a 2018 opinion piece for the Knoxville News Sentinel, Jack McElroy wondered, "Does Knoxville still want to be called scruffy?" McElroy wrote that members of the Knox.biz Advisory Board worried that "scruffiness was not conducive to development in a sleek metropolis."
2022 | The East Tennessee Historical Society hosts a "scruffy little exhibition" featuring the development of the fair.

The Amphitheater has hosted many acts — including the 1982 World Fair Rubik's Cube Competition, won by Gregory Gilliland. | Photo by The Knoxville News Sentinel Sunday via Wikimedia Commons

Keeping Knoxville scruffy

You don't have to embrace the scruffy moniker to support local businesses and show off your Knoxville pride. But here are a few more ways to keep it really scruffy:

Join the Scruffy City Orchestra. The orchestra is completely volunteer-based, and dues are $50 per year.
Take the World's Fair walking tour. Stroll eight markers at your leisure on this self-guided tour.
Visit the Sunsphere. The structure was built for the World's Fair. It even served food and drinks — peep the old menu.
Visit the Amphitheater. The only other remaining structure from the fair was scheduled for demolition in 2002, but was instead renovated and reopened in 2007. It's currently closed for another set of renovations, which should be complete by spring 2027.