Morristown, Tennessee, United States
Morristown Skymart
The Skymart is a concrete elevated sidewalk built in 1964–1967 along downtown Morristown's Main Street, linking the second storeys of shops and bridging the street, as part of a federally backed urban renewal project. It is an open-air public walkway maintained by the City of Morristown and is a contributing structure in the Morristown Main Street Historic District, listed on the National Register in 2016.
Governance
Who owns it, who runs it, what the rules are.
- Owner
- The walkway sits over the Main Street sidewalks on public pillars and bridges, and the City of Morristown has carried out its alterations, including ADA work and removals. The second-floor shopfronts that open onto it belong to private building owners.
- Operator
- City of Morristown, which administers the historic district with the Crossroads Downtown Partnership, a non-profit Main Street programme.
- Hours
- Open-air public walkway; no hours policy found.[01]
- Public right
- The Skymart is an open-air extension of the public sidewalk reached by ramps and stairs at cross streets. No closing rules or restrictions on public use were found.
- Who pays
- The City of Morristown has paid for alterations, including ADA ramps and railings in 2007–2008 and resurfacing in 2009. The nomination notes there was not enough funding to replace all railings at that time.
Legal instruments
- Urban Renewal Program, Project Tennessee R-44 (Morristown central business district) ↗Federal urban renewal project of the early 1960s that funded the Skymart, a rear parking area and Turkey Creek flood works, and asked merchants to modernise their façades.[01]
- National Register of Historic Places, Morristown Main Street Historic District (ref. 16000120) ↗Lists the Skymart as a contributing structure; listing is honorific and does not by itself restrict a local owner's changes.[03]
Governing bodies
Open issues
- The city has removed several ramps and crossings since 2004 for safety reasons or because a master plan judged them too Brutalist.
- The city and downtown partners promote a 'Skymart District' and link the walkway to the Turkey Creek greenway plan to revive its use.
Timeline
- A severe flood of Turkey Creek damages downtown, and flood control is folded into the urban renewal plan.[01]
- Construction of the Skymart begins as part of Morristown's urban renewal programme.[01]
- The Skymart opens with a ceremony and parade on 4–6 May 1967, billed as the first elevated sidewalk system in America.[01]
- A draft National Register nomination for downtown is not recommended, partly because the Skymart is seen as intrusive.[01]
- Two sections are removed: a steep crossing judged unsafe and a ramp damaged by passing trucks.[01]
- The city makes ADA accessibility changes in 2007–2008, adding a ramp at the western end and higher railings.[01]
- A non-slip pebbled surface is applied, and in 2009–2010 a ramp on S. Cumberland Street is removed on a master plan's advice.[01]
- An architectural survey reassesses the Skymart as a contributing resource to the historic district.[01]
- The Morristown Main Street Historic District, including the Skymart, is listed on the National Register on 22 March 2016.[03]
What it cost · who pays
- Urban renewal project including the Skymart · 1967
- US$5 millionFigure given in the National Register nomination[01]
- Government contribution to the elevated walkways · 1967
- over US$5 millionWikipedia figure, attributed to the National Register form[02]
- Private building upgrades and ramp links · 1967
- nearly US$2 millionSpent by building owners; Wikipedia figure not found in the National Register form text[02]
The story
By the late 1950s downtown Morristown was losing trade to suburban shopping centres, and Turkey Creek, which runs beneath Main Street, flooded the district in 1963. The city joined the federal Urban Renewal Program. Its plan cleared a parking area behind West Main Street, enlarged flood control, asked merchants to modernise their façades, and commissioned architect Hubert Bebb to design new features to draw customers back.
Bebb's answer was the Skymart, a poured-concrete walkway on precast spans and pillars that runs at second-storey level from the 200 block of West Main Street to the 100 block of East Main Street. Bridges cross the roadway and ramps or stairs reach it at cross streets. Bebb modelled it on the medieval Rows of Chester, England. It opened with a three-day celebration on 4–6 May 1967 and was promoted as the first elevated sidewalk system in America.
The National Register nomination puts the wider urban renewal project at $5 million. Other accounts add that building owners spent nearly $2 million linking their buildings to the walkway, with government funds of more than $5 million for the structure. The walkway also serves as a canopy over the sidewalk below. Owners cut new doors at second-storey level and shortened or bricked in windows to meet the walkway, changes the nomination now treats as historic in their own right.
The Skymart is a public walkway, and the City of Morristown has managed its alterations. In 2004 two sections were removed for safety. ADA ramps and railings were added in 2007–2008, though funds ran short for replacing every railing. A non-slip surface followed in 2009, and in 2009–2010 a ramp on South Cumberland Street was removed on the advice of a master plan.
Attitudes to the structure have shifted. In 1991 a state review board declined to recommend a historic district nomination partly because the Skymart was seen as intrusive. A 2014 survey reversed that view, and the Morristown Main Street Historic District, with the Skymart as a contributing structure, was listed on the National Register on 22 March 2016. The city and the Crossroads Downtown Partnership now promote a 'Skymart District' and link it to the Turkey Creek greenway plan.
Questions people ask
What is the Morristown Skymart?
Why was the Skymart built?
Who designed the Skymart?
Is the Skymart a historic landmark?
Who maintains the Skymart?
Sources
- National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Morristown Main Street Historic District — National Park Service (2016)primary
- Morristown, Tennessee — Wikipedia
- Morristown Main Street Historic District — Wikipedia
About this record
Confidence medium · reviewed 2026-10-19. History and alterations come from the 2016 National Register nomination, a strong primary source. Formal ownership is inferred from the city's role in alterations; no deed, easement or ordinance was found. The ~$2 million private / ~$5 million government split is from Wikipedia and does not appear in the nomination's text, which gives only a $5 million project total; the 1967 New York Times article (403 to fetch) may confirm it. The nomination dates the flood to 1963, while Wikipedia says 1962. The 2024 CityLab article and any recent repair, demolition or funding debates were not found because the session's web search budget ran out. Coordinates are approximate for Main Street between Cumberland and Henry Streets and should be checked on a map.
Map geometry: 15 corridor features, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), as of 2026-10-20. Levels come from OpenStreetMap tags and can be incomplete.
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