The New Age at a Glance:
A good walk on a trail has a way of putting the past and the future in their proper perspectives. On a good walk the present becomes timeless and often the natural setting of a good walk takes on a feel of the eternal. Sometimes the timelessness of a hike can conjure an illusion the trail's setting as ancient, but in most instances the forests hiked in this region are relatively young. Like the local lakes, many of the forests are less than a century old.
Many decades ago, not long before the United States entered the Second Great War, grandfather and his buddy found themselves in Greenville, SC trying to enlist in the Army. They were both told they were too scrawny and subsequently sent to the bus station, given just enough money to purchase two tickets back to Greeneville, TN. Instead of buying the bus tickets, they purchased two bicycles and biked back over the mountains to their homes.
After their return, grandfather joined the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) where he was stationed locally, possibly working on reforesting Cherokee National Forest, or constructing the many beautiful stone walls and picnic sites at Horse Creek, Rock Creek, the Laurels, or any of the many nearby locations the CCC worked on. His work in the CCC may have been one of the principle sparks for him going on to become a surveyor.
By late 1948, great-grandmother's family and many other families living in Butler, TN were relocated when the TVA completed construction of the Watauga Dam and created Watauga Lake. The creation of Watauga Lake meant the flooding of the original community of Butler, TN. Butler was the only town flooded by the TVA, an event considered a most heinous act by the long-lived great-grandmother who never forgave the Democratic Party, or President Harry Truman in particular. Watauga Dam was one of many dams built in the region in order to bring electricity to the surrounding area, as well as mitigate flooding.
Even before the Civil War, Northeast Tennessee was reputed as being an impoverished and isolated region, a place tucked away and passed over by the nation's prosperity and cultural maturation, the Southern Appalachians were both a literary and literal barrier from the rest of the United States. The story of isolation and the story of outsiders coming into this region in order to change the status quo usually for the worst are key myths of the area and of the Appalachians in general. While these myths have taken on hyperbolic levels, there are instances of truth to the both of them.
The end of slavery in the Unites States occurred as the economy was being transformed radically by the Industrial Revolution. The changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution required massive amounts of energy, energy in the form of lumber cut from these hills (and other hills), coal dug from these mountains (and from other mountains). Northeast Tennessee acted as a gateway and as a railway to nearby resources. The nearby resources brought work and the railways brought new groups of people to Northeast Tennessee. The coal industry employed immigrants from Southern Europe and African Americans to work in the mines, surmising prejudice, cultural differences, & language would prevent unionization.
The area of Northeast Tennessee described by this site was not mined for coal like nearby regions to the north in Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southern West Virginia. Because of this, this area was largely spared from the Coal Country's violent history over property rights, human rights and labor disputes. Not unlike the Native Americans who called the mountains home, the men and women living in Coal Country found themselves being suckered or bullied out of their land by a group of outsiders. Many lost their way of life, finding themselves working in dangerous situations, often indentured to a coal company through debt and by being paid in industry-created money known as Scrip.
After many decades of bloody labor battles, coal-mining eventually became one of the better paying working class occupations in the region and the United States in general. However, the value of coal mined from the Appalachians has changed with advancement in technologies, the shift from deep-mining to strip-mining, refinement of other fuel sources like natural gas, and government regulation. The technological and market changes to the coal industry have contributed significantly to the economic and social misfortunes caused by unemployment faced by Appalachian communities closely tied to coal.
Chemical manufacturers and other industries also moved to the Appalachians, motivated in part by cheaper land and labor costs. Like King Coal and despite the mixed history overflowing with tragic stories, the captains of these industries in many instances were not solely motivated by profit. Some were also interested in uplifting the area and did so in a number of ways to include city planning. Besides street names, not much remains of Colonel Wilder's planned community, the Carnegie Addition in Johnson City, but for a brief moment the city appeared to be joining Knoxville and Chattanooga in industrial capacity, but the value of iron ore from the South drastically decreased and other events contributed to Wilder's failed vision. There are other examples of investment throughout the region, but the best known and strongest testament is the creation of Kingsport by industrialist George Carter, as well as the city's long relationship with Eastman Chemical Company.
Not long after the first industries based on the mass-collection of natural resources came to the region, missionaries, educators, and ethnographers followed and in some instances preceded. What they found was the same thing they found in the other previous economically depressed regions they visited, including the poor and immigrant sections of their own home cities. They found a society where the women were hard-working and the men most likely lazy and often drunk.
They described "hillbillies" as an over-sexed, superstitious people with empty pockets and too many mouths to feed, often uneducated but clever for their environment, creative, and musical. Much to the chagrin of future historians and social scientists, their insights were as right as often as they were wrong, often exposing the observer's own cultural and class-based prejudices far better than illuminating Southern Appalachian culture. While a strong piece of the story, the myth of the hillbilly in the Southern Appalachians overpowered a more accurate story of a people diverse in education level, moral conventions and socio-economic status.
Ethnographers like Cecil Sharp visited this region, along with other areas of the Appalachians recording previously thought lost British ballads and folk tunes still being sung by the Irish and Ulster immigrants who settled the Appalachians, and who also became a portion of the cowboys out west. One of the key contributors to Cecil Sharp's work was Jane Hicks Gentry of Hot Springs, NC. Producers also came to the region looking for new sounds to record and bring to the rest of the country.
Among the more famous sessions recorded occurred in Bristol in 1927, among those participating in the recordings were the Carter Family from nearby Maces Spring, Virginia. The Bristol Sessions launched Bristol as the Birthplace of Country Music and introduced Country Music to a larger audience, but the actual birthplace of the music performed on the Bristol Sessions took place in many different communities spread out over the nation, influenced by an amazing array of cultures. Like James Robertson, Country Music moved west to Nashville, but the region continues to be a dedicated steward to it's legacy and to Ole Time, Blue-Grass, and Country Music.
Beyond the rich musical heritage and beautiful geography, the region's economic future remains cloudy. From the onset of the War on Poverty, Appalachia has been a focal point. In fact, Appalachians were the first group to be negatively associated with welfare. A strong percentage of people living in the region, including the area described by this site continue to receive government assistance associated with welfare. The uniqueness of the girth of poverty in Appalachia has waned since the 1970s, with many other communities across the United States finding themselves in similar socio-economic circumstances.
*Please Note: I am not a professional historian or subject-matter expert, I am an enthusiast. The above work is not properly cited and is not an academic work (best to read it here, than in red ink from a professor or teacher). The time periods described by this site were researched from a variety of sources linked below and on the additional resources page. I think the information is accurate as a general history and a good starting point in understanding the region and providing a bit of context to the area's hikes. Not all the subjects of topics below are specifically tied to the area of Northeast Tennessee discussed by this site, but most are.
A good walk on a trail has a way of putting the past and the future in their proper perspectives. On a good walk the present becomes timeless and often the natural setting of a good walk takes on a feel of the eternal. Sometimes the timelessness of a hike can conjure an illusion the trail's setting as ancient, but in most instances the forests hiked in this region are relatively young. Like the local lakes, many of the forests are less than a century old.
Many decades ago, not long before the United States entered the Second Great War, grandfather and his buddy found themselves in Greenville, SC trying to enlist in the Army. They were both told they were too scrawny and subsequently sent to the bus station, given just enough money to purchase two tickets back to Greeneville, TN. Instead of buying the bus tickets, they purchased two bicycles and biked back over the mountains to their homes.
After their return, grandfather joined the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) where he was stationed locally, possibly working on reforesting Cherokee National Forest, or constructing the many beautiful stone walls and picnic sites at Horse Creek, Rock Creek, the Laurels, or any of the many nearby locations the CCC worked on. His work in the CCC may have been one of the principle sparks for him going on to become a surveyor.
By late 1948, great-grandmother's family and many other families living in Butler, TN were relocated when the TVA completed construction of the Watauga Dam and created Watauga Lake. The creation of Watauga Lake meant the flooding of the original community of Butler, TN. Butler was the only town flooded by the TVA, an event considered a most heinous act by the long-lived great-grandmother who never forgave the Democratic Party, or President Harry Truman in particular. Watauga Dam was one of many dams built in the region in order to bring electricity to the surrounding area, as well as mitigate flooding.
Even before the Civil War, Northeast Tennessee was reputed as being an impoverished and isolated region, a place tucked away and passed over by the nation's prosperity and cultural maturation, the Southern Appalachians were both a literary and literal barrier from the rest of the United States. The story of isolation and the story of outsiders coming into this region in order to change the status quo usually for the worst are key myths of the area and of the Appalachians in general. While these myths have taken on hyperbolic levels, there are instances of truth to the both of them.
The end of slavery in the Unites States occurred as the economy was being transformed radically by the Industrial Revolution. The changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution required massive amounts of energy, energy in the form of lumber cut from these hills (and other hills), coal dug from these mountains (and from other mountains). Northeast Tennessee acted as a gateway and as a railway to nearby resources. The nearby resources brought work and the railways brought new groups of people to Northeast Tennessee. The coal industry employed immigrants from Southern Europe and African Americans to work in the mines, surmising prejudice, cultural differences, & language would prevent unionization.
The area of Northeast Tennessee described by this site was not mined for coal like nearby regions to the north in Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southern West Virginia. Because of this, this area was largely spared from the Coal Country's violent history over property rights, human rights and labor disputes. Not unlike the Native Americans who called the mountains home, the men and women living in Coal Country found themselves being suckered or bullied out of their land by a group of outsiders. Many lost their way of life, finding themselves working in dangerous situations, often indentured to a coal company through debt and by being paid in industry-created money known as Scrip.
After many decades of bloody labor battles, coal-mining eventually became one of the better paying working class occupations in the region and the United States in general. However, the value of coal mined from the Appalachians has changed with advancement in technologies, the shift from deep-mining to strip-mining, refinement of other fuel sources like natural gas, and government regulation. The technological and market changes to the coal industry have contributed significantly to the economic and social misfortunes caused by unemployment faced by Appalachian communities closely tied to coal.
Chemical manufacturers and other industries also moved to the Appalachians, motivated in part by cheaper land and labor costs. Like King Coal and despite the mixed history overflowing with tragic stories, the captains of these industries in many instances were not solely motivated by profit. Some were also interested in uplifting the area and did so in a number of ways to include city planning. Besides street names, not much remains of Colonel Wilder's planned community, the Carnegie Addition in Johnson City, but for a brief moment the city appeared to be joining Knoxville and Chattanooga in industrial capacity, but the value of iron ore from the South drastically decreased and other events contributed to Wilder's failed vision. There are other examples of investment throughout the region, but the best known and strongest testament is the creation of Kingsport by industrialist George Carter, as well as the city's long relationship with Eastman Chemical Company.
Not long after the first industries based on the mass-collection of natural resources came to the region, missionaries, educators, and ethnographers followed and in some instances preceded. What they found was the same thing they found in the other previous economically depressed regions they visited, including the poor and immigrant sections of their own home cities. They found a society where the women were hard-working and the men most likely lazy and often drunk.
They described "hillbillies" as an over-sexed, superstitious people with empty pockets and too many mouths to feed, often uneducated but clever for their environment, creative, and musical. Much to the chagrin of future historians and social scientists, their insights were as right as often as they were wrong, often exposing the observer's own cultural and class-based prejudices far better than illuminating Southern Appalachian culture. While a strong piece of the story, the myth of the hillbilly in the Southern Appalachians overpowered a more accurate story of a people diverse in education level, moral conventions and socio-economic status.
Ethnographers like Cecil Sharp visited this region, along with other areas of the Appalachians recording previously thought lost British ballads and folk tunes still being sung by the Irish and Ulster immigrants who settled the Appalachians, and who also became a portion of the cowboys out west. One of the key contributors to Cecil Sharp's work was Jane Hicks Gentry of Hot Springs, NC. Producers also came to the region looking for new sounds to record and bring to the rest of the country.
Among the more famous sessions recorded occurred in Bristol in 1927, among those participating in the recordings were the Carter Family from nearby Maces Spring, Virginia. The Bristol Sessions launched Bristol as the Birthplace of Country Music and introduced Country Music to a larger audience, but the actual birthplace of the music performed on the Bristol Sessions took place in many different communities spread out over the nation, influenced by an amazing array of cultures. Like James Robertson, Country Music moved west to Nashville, but the region continues to be a dedicated steward to it's legacy and to Ole Time, Blue-Grass, and Country Music.
Beyond the rich musical heritage and beautiful geography, the region's economic future remains cloudy. From the onset of the War on Poverty, Appalachia has been a focal point. In fact, Appalachians were the first group to be negatively associated with welfare. A strong percentage of people living in the region, including the area described by this site continue to receive government assistance associated with welfare. The uniqueness of the girth of poverty in Appalachia has waned since the 1970s, with many other communities across the United States finding themselves in similar socio-economic circumstances.
*Please Note: I am not a professional historian or subject-matter expert, I am an enthusiast. The above work is not properly cited and is not an academic work (best to read it here, than in red ink from a professor or teacher). The time periods described by this site were researched from a variety of sources linked below and on the additional resources page. I think the information is accurate as a general history and a good starting point in understanding the region and providing a bit of context to the area's hikes. Not all the subjects of topics below are specifically tied to the area of Northeast Tennessee discussed by this site, but most are.
Milligan College
1866: Originally began as a secondary school known as the Buffalo Male and Female Institute. Under the leadership of Joseph Hopwood, the Buffalo Male and Female Institute became a college in 1882 and renamed Milligan College after one of Hopwood's favorite professors at Kentucky University.
Further Links: Milligan College: History & Heritage Tennessee Encyclopedia: Milligan College by Paul Conkin |
King University
1867: Originally known as King College, King University was established in Bristol in 1867 by the Holston Presbytery and named for William King.
Further Links: King University: History of King Tennessee Encyclopedia: King College by Margaret Binnicker |
Eastern Band of Cherokee
1868: Most Cherokee were torn from their homes in the Southern Appalachians and forced west of the Mississippi River to live on a reservation in modern-day Oklahoma, but some were able to escape the Trail of Tears, many of them by hiding in the mountains.
For nearly a decade, federal policy was to capture and deport the last remaining Cherokee west. In 1848, the United States agreed to accept the Cherokee's right to stay in North Carolina as long as the state did so as well. North Carolina did so in 1866 and two years later the federal government recognized the Eastern Band of the Cherokee. Further Links: Northcarolinahistory.org: Cherokee Indians Archives.gov: Eastern Cherokee Enumeration NCpedia.org: Cherokee Indians - Part 5: The Trail of Tears and the Eastern Band of Cherokees |
Johnson City
1869: Henry Johnson built a post office, store, and depot at the intersection of a stage road and the proposed railroad route for the East Tennessee and Virginia. Prior to the Civil War the area was known as Johnson's Tank and then Johnson's Depot. During the Civil War, Johnsons Depot was renamed to Haynesville after Confederate Senator Landon Haynes. The name changed back to Johnson's Depot after Confederate forces were repulsed from the region. In 1869, Johnson's Depot was incorporated as Johnson City. The first mayor of Johnson City was Henry Johnson.
Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Johnson City by Jean Haskell Johnsoncitytn.org: Johnson City Area History 1790-2012 by Alan Bridwell Tennessee Encyclopedia: Washington County by Mildred Kozsuch & Ruth Broyles |
The Tweetsie Railroad (ET&WNC)
22 August 1881: Nicknamed the Tweetsie Railroad, the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina (ET&WNC) Railroad was initially chartered in 1866, but plans remained dormant, until the railroad was obtained by the owner of the Cranberry Coal and Iron Company, Alfred Pardee in 1873. The Tweetsie opened on 22 August 1881, traveling from Johnson City to Hampton, TN. A year later, the ET&WNC extended to Cranberry, NC.
Further Links: Johnsoncitytn.org: Johnson City Area History 1790 -2012 by Alan Bridwell American-rails.com: The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad, "The Tweetsie" |
Daughters of the American Revolution
11 October 1890: In the terrible, lingering wake of inter-regional animosity caused by the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Daughters of the American Revolution began their mission in 1890 to rekindle patriotic sentiment through the remembrance of the events and people involved in the United States' founding.
The first Tennessee Chapter began in Memphis in 1892. The Samuel Doak Chapter of Morristown began in 1911, while the Long Island Chapter of Kingsport and the State of Franklin Chapter of Jonesborough both began in 1929. There are many more Chapters in Northeast Tennessee, including the John Sevier - Sarah Hawkins Chapter. The local DAR Chapters are responsible for many of the memorials marking the area's early history. Further Links: Tennessee Society Daughters of the American Revolution TNDAR.org: State of Franklin Chapter TNDAR.org: Long Island Chapter History TNDAR.org: Samuel Doak Chapter History |
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LT A.M. Ray
1898: Spanish-American War
Born a child of slavery, Alfred Ray enlisted into a then segregated Army and served in the famous African-American Calvary Units known as the Buffalo Soldiers. His service includes time out West when the Sioux, Comanche, Cheyenne, and others learned the hard way how insecure their territorial borders truly were. His unit was pivotal in taking San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War. Ray earned a battlefield promotion to the rank of Lieutenant for the courage of his actions. Despite documented gratitude from Theodore Roosevelt and others, the achievements of Ray's unit have been overshadowed by other units, like Teddy Roosevelt's own Rough Riders. A Historical Marker has been placed near Lt. Ray's home he bought after returning to Jonesborough. He is buried in Downtown Jonesborough, in the African-American section of a then segregated cemetery. The U.S. Armed Forces did not desegregate until Executive Order 9981 was issued by President Harry Truman in 1948. In his excellent history On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery, Robert Poole describes how the common threat posed by the mysterious sinking of the USS Maine in the Havana Harbor and subsequent call to war proved to be a very good ointment for lingering wounds held by both the North and the South over the War of Rebellion and Reconstruction. Further Links: National Archives: Buffalo Soldiers Truman Library: Executive Order 9981 Buffalo Soldier Museum: 9th & 10th Cavalry Regiments Tennessee Encyclopedia: Spanish-American War by Colin Baxter Spanish-American War: 10th U.S. Calvary Roster (F Troop) |
Mountain Branch Veteran's Home
1903: Championed by Congressman Walter Brownlow, the Mountain Branch, known now as the Mountain Home, began accepting patients in 1903, veterans of both the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.
In 1911, the branch started focusing on treating tuberculosis, in part because the mountain air was considering to be restorative. The branch would be made into a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1921 do to outbreaks during World War I. The layout of the Mountain Home and the beautiful Beaux Arts architecture of the original buildings were designed by New York architect Joseph H. Freedlander, who also designed the Museum of New York City building. The theater, chapel, and library are some of the buildings still remaining designed by Freedlander. Further Links: NPS.gov: Mountain Branch, Mountain Home, Tennessee ETSU.edu: Museum at Mountain Home |
Clinchfield Railroad
1909: Ideas of creating a railroad connecting the southeast to the central United States, cutting through the Appalachians, had been mused upon since before the Civil War, back when Ohio and Kentucky were still considered the American West.
Industrialist and Civil War Veteran, Colonel John T Wilder attempted to construct the route beginning in 1886, but he would be thwarted by a collapse in the market known as the Panic of 1893, which in part was fueled by over-investment in railways. Col. John Wilder was commander of a Union mounted infantry brigade known as the Lightning Brigade. The Lightning Brigade earned a glorious reputation during dire combat at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. Col. Wilder returned after the war, first to Chattanooga and then Johnson City believing the areas to be rich with economic potential. Wilder's failed attempt, was successfully completed in 1909 by local industrialist George Carter, with funding from outside investors. Eventually named the Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio, Carter located the railway's offices in Erwin, Tn. Although only 277 miles in distance, the railroad was a feat of engineering marvel, quoting Margaret Binnicker directly below: "The Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio (CC&O) Railway, best known as the Clinchfield Railroad, provided the "Quick Service, Short Route between the Central West and Southeast," crossing the Appalachian Mountains and opening the communities along its 277-mile route to distant markets and the twentieth century. The track stretched from Elkhorn City, Kentucky, where the CC&O connected with the Chesapeake and Ohio, through Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, to Spartanburg, South Carolina, and its connection to the Southern. The railway operated in five states, crossed four mountain ranges and five major watersheds, included fifty-four tunnels (totaling almost 10 miles) and 17,000 feet of bridges, and cost an estimated $40 million to construct." George Carter also envisioned the creation of a planned industrial city along the CCO's route. The city Carter envisioned would become Kingsport. While George Carter began the work of planning and purchasing land for the city, others would complete his vision. In 1911, Carter resigned as president of the Clinchfield Railroad and moved on to manage coalfields in West Virginia until retiring and moving back to his hometown of Hillsville, Va in 1925. Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Railroads by Edward Johnson Tennessee Encyclopedia: Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railroad by Margaret Binnicker Tennessee Encyclopedia: George L Carter by Martha Avaleen Egan American-Rails.com: Clinchfield Railroad UNCA.edu: "George L. Carter’s Clinchfield Railroad: The Construction Of A Monopoly In The Appalachian Mountains" a thesis by Jessica Lewis |
East Tennessee State University
1911: At the turn of 1900s, education in Tennessee was in a very bad state, esp. in rural communities. During the first decade of the 20th century, Tennesseans sought to make improvements in education.
Among the improvements made, was the creation of four teacher colleges, also known as normal schools, to help produce better qualified school teachers. One of the normal schools was built in Johnson City on land donated by industrialist George Carter. Students began attending East Tennessee State Normal School in 1911. In the 1920s, the normal school changed its name to East Tennessee State Teachers College and in 1941 the college became known as East Tennessee State College (ETSC). In 1961, ETSC became East Tennessee State University (ETSU). In 1974, ETSU also included the Quillen College of Medicine, located across the street on the campus of the Mountain Home VA. Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: East Tennessee State University by Frank Williams Jr. |
Wilbur Dam
1912: Construction of Wilbur Dam began in 1909 and was finished in 1912. In 1945, the TVA bought Wilbur Dam from the East Tennessee Light and Power Company.
Further Links: TVA: Wilbur Reservoir TWRA: Wilbur Reservoir |
Cecil Sharp collects Folk Songs in Appalachia
1915 - 1918: Renown English folk music collector, Cecil Sharp visited the Appalachians collecting folk songs from 1915 - 1918, some of them traditional British ballads thought to be lost forever. Among his chief contributors was Jane Gentry from Hot Springs, NC who provided 70 songs to Cecil Sharp, including The False Knight on the Road. Sharp also traveled to Flag Pong, TN where he collected 17 songs of British origin from Jeff Stockton.
Further Links: Cecil Sharp in America: Collecting in the Appalachians by Mike Yates YouTube.com: Tim Hart & Maddy Prior performing The False Knight on the Road Vaughan Williams Memorial Library: Cecil Sharp Vaughan Williams Memorial Library: Appalachian Diaries |
Bays Mountain Dam
November 1916: In 1907, J. Fred Johnson started purchasing land on Bays Mountain for the construction of a dam to create a water source for Kingsport. Kingsport, the model city, also was in development at the time. Completion of the dam occurred in November 1916, shortly before Kingsport was incorporated. Bays Mountain Dam served Kingsport until 1944.
Further Links: Bays Mountain Park & Planetarium History Tennessee Watchable Wildlife: Bays Mountain DiscoverKingsport.com: Bays Mountain History Tennessee Division of Natural Areas: Bays Mountain |
Kingsport, the Model City
1917: Planned, industrial city initially envisioned by industrialist George L. Carter
Directly quoted below from Kingsport, The Planned Industrial City by the Kingsport Rotary Club, John A. Piquet and Joseph Hamblen in 1946: Nestling amid the hills of East Tennessee, along the shores of the Holston River, the unique industrial city of Kingsport presents a most interesting panorama to the stranger viewing the scene for the first time. With an elevation of about 1200 feet above sea level, the saucer-shaped city area is completely encircled with mountain ranges towering above the lofty church spires and the industrial smoke-stacks. At first glimpse one realizes that this is no unplanned community allowed to grow in helter-skelter fashion. A sense of newness is counteracted by an atmosphere of sturdiness; the evidences of modernness with an intermingling of peoples that suggest the possibility of age-old hardihood; the sight of farm wagons and trucks parked side-by-side with dozens of the newest in automobiles and trucks; an ordered activity within the peaceful environment of an agricultural area. History is often stranger than fiction. A community has grown amid these hills in less than three decades; a prosperous, intensely active city has been built in what was once a quiet agricultural valley by taking advantage of natural resources and in giving desired employment to thousands of worthy native sons and daughters. And in this community are to be found some rather modern ideas in industrial development and in civic statesmanship. The site, the people, the diversified nature of the industries, the plan upon which the city was constructed and the apparent harmony prevailing all about, interests and intrigues the visitor and encourages research into the past as well as present conditions. One is immediately impressed with the necessity for knowing more about the beginnings of Kingsport, and in indulging one's fancy a real romance in empire building is uncovered. Further Links: Archives.org: Kingsport, the Planned Industrial City (1946) Tennessee Encyclopedia: Kingsport by Margaret Ripley Wolfe Tennessee Encyclopedia: George L. Carter by Martha Avaleen Egan Tennessee Encyclopedia: John B. Dennis by Martha Avaleen Egan |
SGT Alvin York18 October 1918: World War I
Born in 1887 in Pall Mall, TN, Alvin York served in the 82nd Infantry Division during World War I. He received both the Congressional Medal of Honor and the French Legion d'honneur for his courageous actions cited below in France's Argonne Forest on 18 October 1918. As one of the most decorated American Soldiers of World War I, York's actions in the Argonne Forest and in other battles inspired both writers and film-makers to tell his story. York himself was a complex figure, a deeply spiritual Christian whose faith was born from a youth misspent on alcohol. Even during basic training, he had reservations on whether it was moral to commit to the violence of war. Ultimately, he decided it was his duty, despite being a pacifist. After the War, he went back home to Fentress County & created the York Institute for the purpose of providing an education to the children growing up in poverty on those same mountains where he also grew up. Congressional Medal of Honor Citation: After his platoon had suffered heavy casualties and 3 other Non-Commissioned Officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading 7 men, he charged with great daring a machinegun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machinegun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns. Further Links: CMOHS.org: Corporal York, Alvin WorldWar1.com: Sgt Alvin York by Dr. Michael Birdwell Tennessee Virtual Archive: Alvin C. York |
Tennessee Eastman Company
17 July 1920: The Tennessee Eastman Company was established on 17 July 1920 in Kingsport, TN. The Kodak Eastman Company had suffered supply shortages caused by World War I. In order to avoid further disruptions, George Eastman, owner of Kodak Eastman decided to build a chemical manufacturing company.
He chose Kingsport for a variety of good reasons. The city was pro-industry and recently designed for industry. Taxes were lower and labor cheaper. Maybe most important, Kingsport was on a river, had good railway transportation, and was close to raw materials such as lumber and coal. During World War II, Tennessee Eastman Company earned a good reputation with the War Production Board by commercializing the production of synthetic rubber when natural rubber from Asia was in shortage do to the War. Later, Tennessee Eastman partnered with the Defense Department in the development and production of the explosive RDX. The government then tasked the company to build Holston Ordinance Works and produce both RDX and Composition B, two very powerful explosives, in massive quantities. After their great success in manufacturing the explosives, Colonel Leslie Groves enlisted Tennessee Eastman Company into the Manhattan Project to run the the Y-12 Plant, also known as Clinton Engineering Works in Oakridge, TN. They did so from 1943 - 1947. Since World War II, Tennessee Eastman Company has undergone both name changes and organizational changes. The company now known as Eastman Chemical Company is still Kingsport's largest employer, as well as Tennessee's 5th largest private employer. Further Links: Eastman.com: History Tennessee Encyclopedia: Tennessee Eastman Company by Martha Avaleen Egan Tennessee Encyclopedia: Holston Ordinance Works by Susan Gordon |
Appalachian Fair
1926: The Appalachian Fair began in 1926 as a half-day event known as the Gray Community Fair.
Further Links: Johnson City Press: Here Comes the fun: Appalachian Fair starts Monday by Amanda Marsh AppalachianFair.com |
The Bristol Sessions
1927: The Birthplace of Country
Having recently left OKeh Records to form his own music publication company, Ralph Peer partnered with Victor Talking Machine Company in the search for new musical talent to record on Victor and those songs deemed to be original published through Peer's company. Having chosen Bristol as a site to record for no particular reason according to Peer in interviews, he scouted the area twice, as well as consulted with Ernest Stoneman, a musician who Peer worked with during his OKeh days who lived nearby in Galax, Va and was the first to record during the two weeks making up the Bristol Sessions in the Summer of 1927. The first records sold from the Bristol Sessions were gospel songs, making the recordings historically significant also to the Southern Gospel Tradition. However, the esteem to which the Bristol Sessions are held are due in large part because both Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, founders of Country Music were discovered during the Bristol Sessions. Decades later, the Bristol Sessions was recognized as a significant moment in American music history, with the US Congress recognizing Bristol as the birthplace of Country Music. In recent years, Bristol and the surrounding area celebrate their musical heritage in a number of ways, including the Rhythm and Roots Music Festival held annually in downtown Bristol, as well as the opening of The Birthplace of Country Museum, also in downtown Bristol. (For further reading on the Bristol Sessions, I recommend a collection of essays edited by Charles Wolfe and Ted Olson, titled The Bristol Sessions: Writings About the Big Bang of Country Music, a principle source of the above information, but don't let that dissuade you.) Further Links: AmericasLibrary.gov: Birthplace of Country Music BirthPlaceofCountry.org NPR.org: At the Cradle of Country-Music, A Monument You can Hear as Well as See by Robbie Harris PBS.org: American Experience - The Carter Family and Ralph Peer YouTube.com: Bristol Session recording of B.F. Shelton performing Pretty Polly YouTube.com: Ernest V. Stoneman and his Dixie Mountaineers performing Are You Washed in the Blood YouTube.com: Blind Alfred Reed performing The Wreck of the Virginian YouTube.com: Ernest Phipps and His Holiness Quartet performing Do Lord, Remember Me YouTube.com: The Johnson Brothers performing Two Brothers Are We YouTube.com: El Watson performing Pot Licker Blues YouTube.com: The Tenneva Ramblers performing The Longest Train I Ever Saw YouTube.com: Jimmie Rodgers performing Sleep, Baby, Sleep YouTube.com: The Carter Family performing Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow Tree |
Kings Mountain National Military Park
03 March 1931: Kings Mountain National Military Park was established on 03 March 1931, in honor of the victory over British forces at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War.
Further Links: NPS.gov: Kings Mountain |
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
1933: Among the most controversial pieces of legislation passed within FDR's first 100 days, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created as an independent, government-supported corporation with the purpose of modernizing the poorest parts of the South along the Tennessee River.
The TVA is principally known for the building of dams, beginning with Norris Dam in Union County, Tn, completed in 1936. The TVA's intent in building dams was to mitigate flooding and to generate cheap and consistent power to some of the country's poorest regions. Regionally, the TVA began work on Watuaga Dam and South Holston Dam in 1942, but stopped work to focus on projects directly related to World War 2. After the war, the TVA went back to work on building the two dams and built a couple of more in the region. In The Virginia-Tennessee Tri-Cities, Tom Lee writes the dam projects provided numerous jobs locally and paid better than the local industry, about a dollar more, or twice as much as the local rayon factories paid in Elizabethton. Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Tennessee Valley Authority by W Bruce Wheeler History, Art, & Archives, US House of Representatives: A Spirited Debate Over a Tennessee Valley Authority Dam |
The Civilian Conservation Corps
1933 - 1942: The Great Depression & the New Deal
Initially known as the Emergency Conservation Work Deal, the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) was enacted into law on 31 March 1933 and was a key part in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal In addition to stabilizing the banks and recovering the economy, the New Deal offered by FDR also sought to provide relief for those Americans who were suffering under the severe poverty and unemployment caused by the Great Depression. The CCC provided work, income, shelter, food, clothing, and vocational training to young men, Veterans, and eventually to men of other ethnicities. Those who served in the CCC earned $30 a month, $25 was sent home or held by the War Department until an honorable fulfillment of service. Tennessee's first CCC company was headquartered at Camp Cordell Hull located near Unicoi, Tennessee. Later Johnson City would become site of a district headquarters with branches in Kingsport, Bristol, and Elizabethton. Locally, the CCC worked on reforesting Cherokee National Forest as well as building many trails, including the Appalachian Trail. They built Unaka Mountain Road as well as the original buildings and structures at Rock Creek Campground, the Laurels Picnic Area, Backbone Rock Campground, Old Forge Campground, and Round Knob Picnic Area. The CCC also built fire towers, roads, worked on the many dam projects being done by the TVA, and built the Tri-Cities Airport. Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Conservation by Ann Toplovich Tennessee Encyclopedia: Civilian Conservation Corps by Ruth Nichols |
Cherokee National Forest
1936: Conservation, Great Depression, and New Deal
Quoted directly below from the Tennessee Encyclopedia entry on Cherokee National Forest by Jaime Woodcock: "The Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee’s largest wildlife management area and single largest tract of public land, is the only national forest in the state. Its origin dates back to the Weeks Act of 1911, which gave the federal government the authority to purchase private land for the creation of national forests as a way to regulate the flow of navigable streams and timber production. In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson officially combined various federal lands along the southern Appalachian Mountains into national forests. But it was not until 1936, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt combined the Tennessee sections of the Unaka, Cherokee, and Pisgah National Forests, that the Cherokee National Forest was established in its present form. Today, its 640,000 acres are entirely within the borders of Tennessee, from Bristol to Chattanooga, and are divided into two sections by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park." Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Cherokee National Forest by Jaime Woodcock |
The Appalachian Trail
1937: Completed in 1937, the idea for the Appalachian Trail (AT) was first proposed by Benton MacKaye in 1921 in an architecture journal. Four years later, the Appalachian Trail Conference was formed to begin planning the trail. In 1968, Congress designated the AT a national scenic trail.
Originally, the CCC were the principle builders of the AT through this region, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, the trail has changed over the decades, with property adjacent being bought up by the federal government, like the recent 2008 acquisition of the Rocky Fork tract in Unicoi County. Additionally, volunteer organizations like the Tennessee Eastman Hiking & Canoeing Club, Greeneville Hiking Club, and the Carolina Mountain Club coordinate efforts with forest rangers and trail crews to redirect the AT to beautiful spots, as well as reroute the trail's steeper ascents into something more reasonable. Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Appalachian Trail by Robert Brandt Appalachian Trail Conservancy: History |
McKellar Field
05 November 1937: The New Deal
Known now as the Tri-Cities Regional Airport, construction of McKellar Field was completed in September of 1937 and dedicated on 05 November by US Senator Kenneth McKellar (Tenn). Two prominent institutions of the New Deal, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Project Administration played vital roles in construction of McKellar Field, as well as many other airports across Tennessee, including improvement of already existing airports. Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Airports by Carroll Van West Tri-Cities Regional Airport: History |
Cumberland Gap National Historic Park
1940: Cumberland Gap was established as a national historic park in 1940, in commemoration of the site's significance in the story of the nation's western expansion.
Further Links: NPS.gov: Cumberland Gap |
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
02 September 1940: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Great Smoky Mountains National Park's opening on 02 September 1940. The idea to create a park in the Southern Appalachians began as early as the 1890s and President Calvin Coolidge signed into law a bill enacting the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, along with Shenandoah National Park in 1926.
Steam for the idea increased during the 1920s, when Ann Davis suggested the Smoky Mountains be home to a national park. She made the suggestion after having recently returned from visiting the parks out west. Even today, as one makes the great American road trip, headed out to the west coast, after crossing the Mississippi River, the amount of wide open land and towns consisting of five or six buildings at the most can be completely mind-blowing for those used to the population density of the eastern half of the country. Many of the early National Parks located out west were created in places lacking large human populations and economic development, often already under the authority of the federal government. Creating them was a complicated political process, with each new park causing the whispers on President Theodore Roosevelt's overreach of executive authority to get louder. Regardless, the creation of the first national parks were a cakewalk compared to the struggle to get the Great Smoky Mountains National Park established. There were already well established economic interests involved in the development of the region, in particular the lumber industry. The lumber industry wasn't just a consortium of outsiders exploiting the land, the industry was also made up of native highlanders, who were involved as owners, workers, and jacks of all trades. The region was also home to numerous communities like Cades Cove. Many of these communities used the Smoky Mountain's natural bounty to supplement a subsistence living. The park's creation meant an end to these communities, as well as an end to the extraction of raw materials such as lumber. The lumber companies fought the creation of the park in the courts and in the halls of Congress. When finally forced to sale, the larger companies were able to inflate the price the land sold for, making a hefty profit. Prices had already surged caused from the knowledge the government would be purchasing land for the park. The government paid people living on the land to move away but most likely not with the same generosity demanded by the more powerful lumber companies. Many were glad at the chance to move away, not unlike Darrell Scott's song "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." Just as many considered the government's actions a betrayal of their most basic individual liberties. The sick and the elderly were allowed long term leases to live out the rest of their days in the park. The young and the middle-aged were offered short-term leases, with the opportunity to renew. However, like visitors to the park, the long-time residents were restricted in what activities they could pursue. Activities vital to mountain life, like hunting and foraging were severely restricted and in most cases banned outright. Just like those who opposed the park made up a divergent group of people, those who supported the park also consisted of a disparate group of both outsiders and locals. Two particularly strong voices in favor of the park came from interested parties in Knoxville and Asheville. In the beginning, these groups conflicted over where the park should be, eventually compromising. President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal finished what remained of purchasing the land envisioned to create Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The CCC did much of the initial ecological restoration and building of the park during the 1930s. Ecological restoration, in particular reforestation, was made necessary by the substantial destruction caused by practices of many companies in stripping the land as much as they could before turning the land over to become a pristine wilderness. Since then, Great Smoky Mountains National Park has become the most visited of the national parks. Despite the toll of human activity, the park remains among the most beautiful in the world. While I personally favor the Smokies and argue the park's creation was a great idea, there were people, many of them local, who truly lost and not abstractly so in the park's creation. Further Links: NPS.gov: Stories Great Smoky Mountain National Park NPS.gov: Founding the National Park (GMSNP) PBS.org: The National Parks: America's Best Idea: Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Ken Burns Tennessee Encyclopedia: Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Dan Pierce |
Cherokee Dam
05 December 1941: The TVA began construction on Cherokee Dam on 01 August 1940 and completed the dam on 05 December 1941.
Further Links: TVA: Cherokee Reservoir |
Holston Ordnance Works
1942: World War II
Directly quoted below from The Ordinance Department: Procurement and Supply by Harry C. Thompson & Lida Mayo: As demands for RDX skyrocketed after Pearl Harbor, Ordnance built another facility, Holston Ordnance Works, to use a more economical process than the British nitration method used at Wabash. This new process, developed by Canadian and American investigators through the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), enabled Holston by May 1945 to reach a monthly capacity of 27 million pounds and cut the estimated cost in half. Holston was operated by Tennessee Eastman Corporation, which had taken a leading part in the development work. The support auxiliary facilities for Holston were Morgantown Ordnance Works & Cherokee Ordnance Works. Further Links: 'Holston Ordnance Works Transcripts of Oral History Interviews' by Mark Swanson Tennessee Encyclopedia: Holston Ordnance Works by Susan Gordon |
Clinton Engineering Works
1942: World War II (Oakridge, TN)
From David Kennedy's American People in World War II: Freedom from Fear: 'Before it was over, the Manhattan Project consumed more than two billion dollars, employed 150,000 people, and required a mess of machinery, plant, and other resources that were available nowhere but in America. In places, the bomb project changed the very face of the continent. On a 59,000 acre site near Oak Ridge, TN, squarely in the midst of the vast power grid that the TVA had been building for nearly a decade, 20,000 construction workers laid down 50 miles of railroad and 300 miles of paved roads and streets and built several gaseous diffusion and electromagnetic installations for the extraction of U-235. The precious isotope offered itself in miniscule quantities at first... By early 1945, Oak Ridge was giving up seven ounces a day of 80% enriched U-235... In the space of three years, Colonel Leslie Groves had erected out of nothing a vast industrial complex, as large in scale as the entire pre-war automobile industry.' Further Links: Voices of the Manhattan Project Tennessee Encyclopedia: Oak Ridge by Charles Johnson The Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Association: History |
Douglas Dam
1943: The TVA began construction on Douglas Dam in February 1942 and the dam was completed a little over 12 months later in 1943.
Further Links: TVA: Douglas Reservoir |
SGT Elbert Kinser
04 May 1945: World War II
During combat against Japanese forces on the island of Okinawa-Shima while serving in the 1st Marine Division, Sgt Elbert Kinser committed the greatest honor by sacrificing his own life to save the lives of those he was serving with by using his body as a shield against a grenade. The citation for Sgt Kinser, Greeneville native and recipient of the Medal of Honor, on his courageous actions on 04 May 1945 is quoted directly below. Congressional Medal of Honor Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while acting as leader of a Rifle Platoon, serving with Company I, 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 4 May 1945. Taken under sudden, close attack by hostile troops entrenched on the reverse slope while moving up a strategic ridge along which his platoon was holding newly won positions, Sgt. Kinser engaged the enemy in a fierce hand grenade battle. Quick to act when a Japanese grenade landed in the immediate vicinity, Sgt. Kinser unhesitatingly threw himself on the deadly missile, absorbing the full charge of the shattering explosion in his own body and thereby protecting his men from serious injury and possible death. Stouthearted and indomitable, he had yielded his own chance of survival that his comrades might live to carry on the relentless battle against a fanatic enemy. His courage, cool decision and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death sustained and enhanced the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country. Further Links: Defense.gov: Marine Corps Medal of Honor Recipients Army.mil: Medal of Honor Recipients East Tennessee Military Affairs Council: Medal of Honor Convention |
Rhododendron Festival
June 1947: The first Rhododendron Festival on Roan Mountain was held in June of 1947.
Further Links: RoanMountain.com: Rhododendron Festival |
Watauga Dam
1948: The TVA began construction of Watauga Dam in 1942, but delayed construction do to the war. Construction resumed in 1946 and the dam was completed in 1948.
Further Links: TVA: Watauga Reservoir |
Roan Mountain State Park1950s: Tennessee created Roan Mountain State Park in the 1950s, with development of the park happening in the 1970s.
Further Link: RoanMountain.com: Roan Mountain State Park Tennessee State Parks: Roan Mountain |
South Holston Dam
1950: The TVA began construction on the South Holston Dam in 1942, but delayed construction do to the war. The project was renewed in 1947 and the dam completed in 1950.
Further Links: TVA: South Holston Dam |
Boone Dam
1952: The TVA began construction on Boone Dam in 1950 and completed the dam in 1952.
Further Links: TVA: Boone Reservoir |
Fort Patrick Henry Dam
1953: The TVA began construction on Fort Patrick Henry Dam in 1951 and completed the dam in 1953.
Further Links: TVA: Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir |
SFC Ray Duke
26 April 1954: The Korean War
Born in Whitewell in Marion County, TN on 9 May 1923, Sergeant First Class (SFC) Duke was already a Veteran of World War II when he found himself in a tough fight with North Korean forces in South Korea near Mugok in the spring of 1954. His unit, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment was forced to withdraw from their position, but some had been cut off by enemy fire, including indirect fire. SFC Duke led a dangerous mission to join those Soldiers who had been cut off and were heavily engaged in combat. Linking up, SFC Duke coordinated maximum counter-fire despite being wounded twice. The enemy's assault proved to be too effective and a withdraw was ordered. After being shot in the leg, making for a third combat wound, he ordered the men helping to evacuate him to leave him behind, where he continued to counter-attack. SFC Duke would be captured and die from wounds sustained in combat just a few days later. For his courageous actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The citation for SFC Ray Duke's Congressional Medal of Honor is quoted below. Congressional Medal of Honor Citation: Sfc. Duke, a member of Company C, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. Upon learning that several of his men were isolated and heavily engaged in an area yielded by his platoon when ordered to withdraw, he led a small force in a daring assault which recovered the position and the beleaguered men. Another enemy attack in strength resulted in numerous casualties but Sfc. Duke, although wounded by mortar fragments, calmly moved along his platoon line to coordinate fields of fire and to urge his men to hold firm in the bitter encounter. Wounded a second time he received first aid and returned to his position. When the enemy again attacked shortly after dawn, despite his wounds, Sfc. Duke repeatedly braved withering fire to insure maximum defense of each position. Threatened with annihilation and with mounting casualties, the platoon was again ordered to withdraw when Sfc. Duke was wounded a third time in both legs and was unable to walk. Realizing that he was impeding the progress of 2 comrades who were carrying him from the hill, he urged them to leave him and seek safety. He was last seen pouring devastating fire into the ranks of the onrushing assailants. The consummate courage, superb leadership, and heroic actions of Sfc. Duke, displayed during intensive action against overwhelming odds, reflect the highest credit upon himself, the infantry, and the U.S. Army. Further Links: CMOHS.org: Sergeant First Class Ray Duke East Tennessee Military Affairs Council: Medal of Honor Convention |
Warriors Path State Park
1960s: Warriors Path State Park was created during the 1960s, built along the shore of Fort Patrick Henry Lake. Ft Patrick Henry Lake was created when the TVA completed construction of Ft Patrick Henry Dam in 1954.
Further Links: Tennessee State Parks: Warriors Path Tennessee Encyclopedia: Warriors Path State Park by Carroll Van West |
Bristol Motor Speedway
1961: Larry Carrier, RG Pope, and Carl Moore built Bristol International Speedway in 1961. The half-mile track originally had a seating capacity of 18,000, among the larger capacities of the time and has since grown to 147,000.
The track known as "The Last Great Colosseum" and "The World's Fastest Half Mile" was purchased by Bruton Smith Speedway Motorsports from Larry Carrier in 1996. 1996 was also the year the track's name changed to Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol hosts several events, including two races for the Winston Cup Series, with the Irwin Tools Night Race held in late summer amongst the most popular races to attend in NASCAR. Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Bristol Motor Speedway by Dan Pierce Bristol Motor Speedway: Track History |
Langston High School1965: Desegregation
In 1965, Johnson City Public Schools desegregated, closing Langston High School. Langston High School opened in 1893 and was the oldest African-American school in Johnson City. Students from Langston were integrated into Science Hill. Kingsport Public Schools desegregated a year later in 1966. Further Links: SonsandDaughtersofDouglas.org: Douglas High School History Johnson City Press: Langston High School Reunion Held Every Two Years Since 1976 by Jennifer Sprouse Tennessee Encyclopedia: Civil Rights Movement Waymarking.com: Langston High School |
Northeast State Community College
1966: Northeast State Community College began in 1966 and was originally known as the Tri-Cities State Area Vocational-Technical School. The college would go on to change names several times to reflect its growing curriculum. Most recently in 2009, the school changed its name to Northeast State Community College.
Further Links: Northeast State: About Northeast State |
SGT Mitchell Stout
12 March 1970: The Vietnam War
A native of Lenoir City, TN, SGT Mitchell Stout was serving his first tour of duty when his position near the Khe Gio Bridge, just south of the demilitarized zone in South Korea came under heavy attack from a North Vietnamese Sapper unit on 12 March 1970. After a grenade was tossed into the bunker, SGT Stout picked up the grenade, keeping it close to his body, as he tried to get it out. The grenade detonated before he could get rid of it, but because SGT Stout used his own body as a shield, others in the bunker were saved. For committing the greatest sacrifice in giving his own life to save others, SGT Mitchell Stout was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The citation for SGT Mitchell Stout is quoted below. Congressional Medal of Honor Citation: Sgt. Stout distinguished himself during an attack by a North Vietnamese Army Sapper company on his unit's firing position at Khe Gio Bridge. Sgt. Stout was in a bunker with members of a searchlight crew when the position came under heavy enemy mortar fire and ground attack. When the intensity of the mortar attack subsided, an enemy grenade was thrown into the bunker. Displaying great courage, Sgt. Stout picked it up, and started out of the bunker. As he reached the door, the grenade exploded. By holding the grenade close to his body and shielding its blast, he protected his fellow soldiers in the bunker from further injury or death. Sgt. Stout's conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action, at the cost of his own life, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the U.S. Army. Further Links: CMOHS.org: SGT Mitchell Stout The Fires Bulletin: Beyond the Call of Duty - The Medal of Honor by W. Blair Case East Tennessee Military Affairs Council: Medal of Honor Convention |
Bays Mountain Park
24 May 1971: Bays Mountain Park, the largest city park in Tennessee, was opened in the spring of 1971 in Kingsport.
Further Links: Bays Mountain Park & Planetarium History Tennessee Watchable Wildlife: Bays Mountain DiscoverKingsport.com: Bays Mountain History Tennessee Division of Natural Areas: Bays Mountain |
Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park
1973: David Crockett's birthplace became a Tennessee State Park in 1973.
Further Links: Tennessee State Parks: Davy Crockett Birthplace |
National Storytelling Festival
October 1973: The first National Storytelling Festival was held in Jonesborough in 1973.
Further Links: StorytellingCenter.net: Festival History Historic Jonesborough: International Storytelling Center |
South Fork National River and Recreation Area
07 March 1974: The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area was created on 07 March 1974.
Further Links: NPS.gov: History and Culture of Big South Fork |
Quillen College of Medicine
12 March 1974: Initially envisioned of in the early 1960s, A medical college was a tough sell politically to Middle and West Tennessee. Despite being a stated goal by a then incoming ETSU president Dr. D.P. Culp in 1969, the medical school seemed a distant dream by 1971 after a Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) study advised against a medical college in Northeast Tennessee.
However, in the same year of 1971, US Representative Jimmy Quillen (1st District, Tn) attached an amendment to the Teague-Cranston Act limiting consideration for the creation of five medical colleges in under-served areas to locations neighboring a VA hospital, like ETSU and the Mountain Home VA in Johnson City. The Teague-Cranston Act passed through Congress and was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972. The vote in Nashville proved to be more difficult, with those in favor of creating the medical school calling in favors to get the law passed, as well as overturn Governor Winfield Dunn's veto. The college of medicine was established in 1974, the first students to attend did so in 1978. The school was renamed for World War II Veteran and long serving Congressman from Tennessee's first district, Jimmy Quillen in 1989. Further Links: ETSU.edu: History of Quillen College of Medicine Tennessee Encyclopedia: Quillen College of Medicine by Frank Williams Jr. |
Sycamore Shoals State Park
1976: In commemoration of the multiple momentous historical events that occurred at the Watauga Settlement during the late 1700s, Tennessee made the Sycamore Shoals a state park in 1976.
Further Links: Tennessee State Parks: Sycamore Shoals |
Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
08 September 1980: The then upcoming United States' bicentennial celebration in 1976 inspired descendents of the Overmountain Men to reenact the journey to the Battle of Kings Mountain.
From this initial pilgrimage, the Overmountain Victory Trail Organization was forged and in 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed a law enacting the Overmountain Victory Trail as a national historic trail. Further Links: NPS.gov: Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail NPS.gov: Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail Long-Range Interpretive Plan |
Buffalo Mountain Park
1994: Johnson City purchased 725 acres from Cherokee National Forest, creating Buffalo Mountain Park in 1994.
Further Links: Johnsoncitytn.gov: Parks and Recreation TEHCC: Buffalo Mountain Park |
Harrah's Cherokee Casino
13 November 1997: In 1988, President Ronald Reagen signed the Indian Gambling Act into law, creating regulation for legalized gambling on Indian Reservations. Harrah's Cherokee Casino was opened in 1997 on the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokees.
Further Links: NCpedia.org: Part VII: Modern-day Cherokee Life and Culture NCpedia: Qualla Boundary UNC.edu: Assessing the Economic and Non-Economic Impacts of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, North Carolina by James H. Johnson Jr, John D. Kasarda, & Stephen J. Appold |
House Concurrent Resolution 214 (105th Congress)
12 October 1998: On 11 February 1998, US Representative Bill Jenkins (1st District, Tenn) sponsored House Concurrent Resolution 214 (H. CON. RES.), "acknowledging and commending" Bristol as the birthplace of Country Music. A version of this resolution was passed by Congress on 12 October 1998.
Further Links: GPO.gov: Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998) Birthplaceofcountrymusic.org: BCM History |
Gray Fossil Site
2000: Prehistoric alligator bones were discovered during a highway construction project in Gray, TN. Road construction was delayed and ultimately diverted away from the site of the discovery as it turned out to be a large site for Miocene Era fauna and flora remains.
Further Links: Tennessee State Site ETSU & General Shale Brick Natural History Museum |
Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion
October 2001: The first Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion was held in October 2001. The music festival is a 3 day event celebrating the musical heritage of the region and the 1927 recording sessions conducted by Ralph Peer in Bristol.
Further Links: Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion: About Us Verybestofvirginia.com: 6 Reasons You Should Attend The Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion |
Major General Gary Harrell
20 March 2003: Operation Iraqi Freedom / War on Terror
A native of Greene County and graduate of ETSU, MG Gary Harrell commanded Special Forces during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He was among the Commanding Officers sitting around General Tommy Franks, US Commander of the Iraq Invasion in one of Saddam Hussein's Baghdad palaces famously photographed after US Forces captured Baghdad. Of course, the real struggle had really only begun as the invasion shifted to military occupation. MG Harrell served in the Special Forces for most of his career, serving in combat operations from Grenada to Panama, to Mogadishu, to Afghanistan. A short synopsis of his career is quoted directly below from SFC Jason B. Baker's article, "USASOC DCG reflects on long, memorable career." He would go onto serve in Grenada as the assistant G-3 with the 82nd during Urgent Fury. He led Soldiers as a troop commander with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta during Operation Just Cause in Panama. He participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was a squadron commander during the defeat of Pablo Escobar in Columbia and then operations in Somalia. At the start of the War on Terrorsim he served as the assistant division commander for the 10th Mountain Division during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. He later went on to command Special Operations Command-Central at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom assembling the largest special operations force since World War II. His final assignment was deputy commanding general for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Further Links: NavySeals.com: Ex-Delta Force Commander Harrell Retires by Henry Cunningham ShadowSpear.com: USASOC DCG reflects on long, memorable career by SFC Jason B. Baker NewYorkTimes.com: Photo by Karen Ballard |
Pinnacle Tower Trail
October 2011: The Pinnacle Fire Tower was originally built by the CCC during the Great Depression of the 1930s and was renovated recently as an observation point for the wayward adventurer. The 4.8 mile Pinnacle Tower Trail was built in conjunction with the reopening of the tower in late October 2011, originating from Jack Snyder Park in the town of Unicoi.
Further Links: Appalachian Treks; Pinnacle Mountain Trail Cherokee National Forest: Pinnacle Mountain Lookout |
Rocky Fork State Park
01 July 2013: The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) purchased 2,000 acres of the 7,000 acre Rocky Fork tract recently acquired by Cherokee National Forest in order to be made into Tennessee's 55th state park. The park is in the development and planning stages, but the land is still accessible and a great place to hike.
Further Links: KnoxNews.com:A Mountain Jewel: Tennessee's newest state park to be located in the middle of Rocky Fork by Morgan Simmons The Conservation Fund: Rocky Fork TN.gov: Governor Haslam and Senator Alexander Name Rocky Fork as Proposed Site for Tennessee's 55th State Park |
Tweetsie Trail
28 August 2014: A portion of the East Tennessee and West North Carolina (ET&WNC) railway from Johnson City to Elizabethton was converted to a biking and walking trail. The path opened in 2014 and is named for the ET&WNC, nicknamed the Tweetsie.
Further Links: Tweetsie Trail Homepage Johnson City Press: Tweetsie Trail Officially Opens with Thursday Dedication and Ribbon-Cutting by Tony Casey |