TDOT installed the signs at every county line while it celebrated its 100th anniversary.

SR 1 begins as a primary route on Interstate 55 (I-55) in the middle of the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge at the Arkansas–Tennessee state line.

As SR 1 approaches 8th Avenue South/Rosa Parks, it turns right and southeast, joining US 41 and becoming known as Lafayette Street (briefly) and then Murfreesboro Road.

From here to near the downtown area, the road is locally known as Kingston Pike and near the University of Tennessee campus it is known as Cumberland Avenue.

It turns north onto Henley Street becoming Broadway Street, east onto Magnolia Avenue, north onto Hall of Fame Drive, and back onto Magnolia Avenue.

In East Knoxville, SR 1 splits from US 70 and continues northeast with US 11W as Rutledge Pike.