Greasy Corner Becomes Five Points

In Kingsport's early days Five Points was known as Greasy Corner, probably a reference to all the "greasy spoon" restaurants in the area. In 1920 the merchants of the area formally asked residents in a newspaper article to quit calling it Greasy Corner and start calling it Five Points.

A 1925 special section of the Kingsport Times listed these Five Points merchants: the Tennessee Motor Company, Neal Motor Company, Sullivan Street Garage, S. L. Showker’s (clothing), Cooper Brothers (general merchandise and grocery), The Fair Store (clothing), N. Shaheen’s (clothing and notions), Five Points Self Service Store (grocery), E. P. Ketron’s (grocery), Simmerman’s (five and dime), Stone Brothers (grocery), Boone Meat Market, Hampton and Company (grocery), Bowles Hardware Store, American Fruit Company (newsstand), Palace of Sweets (candy, tobacco), M. M. Haney Company (dry goods), Woody Brothers (dry cleaning), Lynch Furniture Store, L. D. Fletcher Furniture Store, Kingsport Electric Laundry, Kingsport Variety Store and R. J. Bridwell’s (grocery store).

Here are the Five Points stores as reflected in the 1927 Kingsport City Directory:
Five Points Barber Shop
OK Barber Shop
Palace of Sweets
Cooper Bros. Cash Sstore
Showker Department Store
Slage’s Drug Store
Holston Pharmacy
Fletcher Furniture (Five Points and Sullivan)
American Fruit Company
Simmerman’s General Merchandise
A&P Grocery
Five Points Self Service
Sproles Grocery
Stones Grocery
Golden Rule Grocery on Boone
L.H. Foo Laundry on Charlemont

Seven years later the streets had numbers and here are the Five Points merchants listed in the 1934 Kingsport City Directory:
605 Boone OK Barbershop
241 Charlemont A&P
239 Charlemont Stop & Shop Grocery and Meat Market
424 Cherokee Slages Drug
422 Cherokee Mack Taylor Barber
300 Sullivan New Deal Café
301 Stone Grocery
303 Lyon Grocery
308 Liberty Café
311 Little Store
235 Holston Pharmaccy