U.S. Weather Bureau Kiosk in downtown Knoxville was installed in 1912 and is the last of 100 across the country.
(Knoxville, TN) The East Tennessee Historical Society will host the spring meeting of the American Meteorological Society, Smoky Mountain Chapter, with a guest lecture on the historic weather kiosk located outside of the East Tennessee History Center. Grant Goodge, Climatologist for the National Climatic Data Center, will speak on “Celebrating East Tennessee Weather History—the further resurrection of the sole surviving U.S. Weather Bureau Kiosk, used for posting weather information before Radio, TV, and Internet.
The historic weather kiosk, located at the corner of Clinch Ave. and Market St. in downtown Knoxville just outside of the Old Custom House, has been identified as the oldest and last remaining U.S. Weather Bureau kiosk in its original location. Installed in 1912, the kiosk was one of 100 across the country that served as a way to distribute weather data and forecasts as well as other significant news such as WWI battles and casualties.
The East Tennessee Historical Society, the National Weather Service in Morristown, TN, and the American Meteorological Society, Smoky Mountain Chapter, were recently awarded a grant by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Heritage-Legacy Funding Program to preserve and protect the last remaining U.S. Weather Bureau kiosk in the nation and document its national and local history in Knoxville. Goodge will speak on the history of the instrument shelter, plans for refurbishing it, and the background on the instruments that were installed in this type of kiosk.
The program is free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 30, at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.EastTNHistory.org.
About the ETHS
Established in 1834, the East Tennessee Historical Society is widely acknowledged as one of the most active history organizations in the state and enjoys a national reputation for excellence in programming and education. For 185 years the East Tennessee Historical Society has been helping East Tennesseans hold on to our unique heritage– recording the events, collecting the artifacts, and saving the stories that comprise the history we all share.