KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — If you've driven down Magnolia Avenue recently, you've likely noticed a lot of construction.
During that work, crews uncovered a piece of Knoxville history, some old trolley tracks. They were built in the 1890s.
The city stopped using trolleys in 1947. At its peak in 1913, the city had 45 miles of trolley tracks.
Leaders said they helped the city become what it is today.
"It was very important. It really made it possible to develop some of the outlying areas. The older suburbs were dependent on trolleys to get them there. They call them trolley-burbs for that reason," Jim Hagerman, Director of Engineering, said.
Not much can be done with the twisty, rusty tracks but the city said Monday that the tracks will be recycled.
Trolley track weighs something like 30 pounds per foot of length, city officials said.
This isn't the first time crews have unearthed trolley tracks on a busy Knoxville street.
In 2016, during the construction on Cumberland Avenue, crews found tracks under the road and removed them.
"The City does not remove old rail when resurfacing unless there is a pavement problem caused by the deterioration of the rails or rail bed," Knoxville spokeswoman Mary Leidig said.
Despite the discovery of the tracks on Magnolia, the city said construction is still on schedule.