Halls Crossroads (known locally as Halls) is a census-designated place in northern Knox County, Tennessee. As a northern suburb of nearby Knoxville, Halls is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town takes its name from the Thomas Hall family that settled in the area in the late 18th century. The population at the 2020 census was 10,341. History In 1785, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill instructing militiamen to cut and clear a road by the most eligible route to Nashville at least ten feet wide and fit for passage of wagons and carts. This road is now known as Emory Road, which runs along a stretch of Tennessee State Route 131 in the Halls Crossroads area. One of the earliest settlers was Thomas Hall who arrived in the valley around 1796 from Orange County, North Carolina. Hall married Nancy Hais on September 25, 1783, two years after his release from a British prisoner of war camp in Charleston, South Carolina. He fought for freedom and was captured by the British in the Siege of Charleston. For this service the U.S. government presented Hall a parcel of land. It is to this northern side of Black Oak Ridge that Hall settled. Two generations later Thomas Hall's grandson Pulaski went west during the California Gold Rush and settled on a ranch in Oregon. He returned to Halls and married Joyce Hall, September 8, 1859. Pulaski and his family owned and operated one of the first businesses in the Halls area as early as 1860, which included a general store and inn as well as a blacksmith shop. The store was known as Halls Crossroads due to its location at the crossroads of Emory Road and Maynardville Pike, giving the basis for the name behind the unincorporated town. The name Halls Crossroads would be officially recognized by the state of Tennessee for the community, in order to prevent confusion with Halls in Lauderdale County, an incorporated town. Halls High School was one of the first schools in the area. Founded in 1916, the school was named for Pulaski Hall. As of the present day, Halls Crossroads has grown into a unincorporated suburban town, with many occupied and unoccupied greyfields. With the recent annexations of land extending near Halls Crossroads, any proposal to annex the community would face conflict from its residents. In the early 2010s, plans were proposed