City of Kingsport unveils new Heritage Trail signs

The City of Kingsport is excited to announce the unveiling of new signs for the Heritage Trail – a walking trail located in downtown Kingsport highlighting some of the district’s historical buildings and destinations.

The two-mile long Heritage Trail stretches from Church Circle, down Broad Street, to Main Street with a couple of stops along Shelby Street, Cherokee Street and Commerce Street.

The trail includes 24 signs – designed in-house by city staff – featuring information and an archival photo of the particular building or destination, such as Church Circle, First National Bank, the State Theater, the Train Station and the Improvement Building.

Each sign includes a QR code you can scan that will take you to a website featuring all of the destinations along with a digital map you can use to follow the path of the trail.

“The purpose of the trail remains the same – to attract people downtown, show off our historical buildings and destinations and have a walking trail downtown,” said Kristie Leonard, cultural services superintendent. “Many locations are already known by locals, so we hope people visiting our area or new residents will learn a bit more about our downtown and our city.”

The Heritage Trail was originally installed in 1998 and showcased 16 buildings and destinations in the downtown area. Last year, a committee was charged with updating the walking path with new signs and destinations. The new signs were installed in mid-February of this year.

For more information on the Heritage Trail, please visit www.artskingsport.org/look/.