Every city has its landmarks — the places people talk about, point toward, or weave into stories. In Kingsport, Bays Mountain may be our crown jewel and Church Circle our architectural capstone, but tucked quietly behind it all sits a lesser-known landmark with its own kind of legend — Cement Hill.
I’ve lived in Kingsport for close to fifty years now. Gulp. How did that happen?
All that time, Cement Hill has been the backdrop — a quiet foothill between downtown and Bays Mountain. Its name reaches back to the Pennsylvania-Dixie (Penn Dixie) Cement Corporation, one of Kingsport’s earliest industries. Historic archives note that the plant sat beside the hill, and longtime residents recall that small company houses once stood on its slopes — homes built for workers who labored at the cement works along the Holston River.
The hill’s very soil still hints at that legacy. Local history holds that Cement Hill was dusted with kiln residue from the old manufacturing process — a fitting reminder of how this place helped pour the foundations of Kingsport’s industrial past.
The only “big idea” I ever heard for Cement Hill came from Norman Sobels, who ran a men’s store on Center Street years ago. He’d point toward the hill and describe a chairlift that would carry people from downtown all the way up toward Bays Mountain. For a time, the idea floated around — and like many Kingsport dreams, it never quite lifted off.
So, the hill grew a lot of kudzu. It became the stage for fireworks on the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve. But lately, that old backdrop is starting to step into the light again.
This past summer, while shooting drone images for the City of Kingsport, I spent hours exploring from above — capturing the new Brickyard Park, the emerging Riverwalk Park, and, of course, Cement Hill itself. From the air, you can see how these places connect — like puzzle pieces from a century of city planning finally snapping together.
One of those drone shots even made the cover of the State of the City 2025 presentation at MeadowView — a southwest view of Riverwalk Park where the Holston River meets the new roundabout at Netherland Inn Road and Industrial Drive.
I still remember when Kitty Frazier and the Parks & Recreation team were shaping the vision for Riverwalk Park. Now, with the mountain in the background and the Greenbelt winding nearby, it’s becoming one of Kingsport’s signature destinations — a blend of history, recreation, and renewal.
And that’s the story I see through my drone lens. Kingsport isn’t just preserving its past — it’s designing a connected, walkable future. When the pedestrian bridge across the tracks is complete, families in Brickyard Village will stroll straight into downtown. And maybe one day, Cement Hill itself will welcome visitors with a quiet walking path to its summit — a place to look out over the city that grew around it.
I’m thankful for the people who dream these projects into being — the planners, builders, and leaders who keep their eyes on the horizon. Because when you rise above Kingsport and look toward Bays Mountain, it’s easy to believe that our best view is still ahead.
