Lenoir City is a suburban city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 10,117 at the 2020 Census. It is included in the Knoxville metropolitan area in the state's eastern region, along the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

southwest of Knoxville.

History

Native Americans were living in the Lenoir City area for thousands of years before the arrival of the first European settlers. On

Bussell Island Bussell Island, formerly Lenoir Island, is an island located at the mouth of the Little Tennessee River, at its confluence with the Tennessee River in Loudon County, near the U.S. city of Lenoir City, Tennessee. The island was inhabited by variou ...

, which lies across the Tennessee River to the south, archaeologists have discovered evidence of habitation dating to as early as the Archaic Period (8000–1000 B.C.). The island is also believed to have been the location of "Coste", a village visited by Spanish explorer

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...

in 1540. The historic

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

called the Lenoir City area ''Wa'ginsi'', and believed it to be the home of a large serpent that brought bad luck to anyone who saw it. By the early 19th century, an early East Tennessee pioneer, Judge David Campbell, had laid claim to part of what is now Lenoir City, where he built a log cabin and a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

.Gail Guymon
National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Lenoir Cotton Mill Warehouse
February 2006. Retrieved: 2010-03-03. In the early 19th century, the state of North Carolina granted General William Lenoir a tract of land—which included what developed as Lenoir City—as payment for his services in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. David Campbell and another early settler,

Alexander Outlaw Alexander Outlaw (1738–1826) was an American frontiersman and politician, active in the formation and early history of the State of Tennessee. A veteran of the American Revolution, he settled on the Appalachian frontier, in what is now Jeff ...

, filed a case against Lenoir in court, arguing they had already laid claim to parts of the Lenoir tract. After the case was settled in favor of Lenoir in 1809, Lenoir deeded the tract to his eldest son,

William Ballard Lenoir William Ballard Lenoir (1775–1852; also given as 1781-1855) was known as a businessman and politician in what is now known as Lenoir City, Tennessee, where he moved in the early nineteenth century. He had served in the militia and reached the ran ...

(1775–1852). In 1810 the younger Lenoir moved to the tract with his wife and established a large plantation. His workforce was composed of enslaved African Americans. Lenoir's agricultural enterprise included producing hams from a herd of Berkshire hogs. He also developed several small-scale industries, including a sawmill and flour mill. In the early 1830s, he built the

Lenoir Cotton Mill The Lenoir Cotton Mill was a 19th-century cotton mill located in the U.S. city of Lenoir City, Tennessee. One of the earliest examples of industrial architecture in Tennessee, the mill operated variously from its construction around 1830 until t ...

—one of the earliest in the South—sited along the banks of Town Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River. After Lenoir's death, his estate was divided among his children. His sons formed the William Lenoir and Brothers Company to manage the family's businesses. When the railroad reached the Lenoir plantation in 1855, a depot was constructed. The community of Lenoir Station developed around it. During the Civil War, the Lenoirs supported the Confederacy, due in part to associations with Confederate-leaning business interests in Knoxville. (One of Lenoir's sons was married to the daughter of

J. G. M. Ramsey James Gettys McGready Ramsey (March 25, 1797 – April 11, 1884) was an American historian, physician, planter, slave owner, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for hi ...

, a Knoxville historian and banker, and an ardent Confederate). On June 20, 1863, a Union scouting expedition led by General William P. Sanders arrived at Lenoir Station after having failed to destroy the railroad trestle at Loudon. Sanders burned the depot and the Lenoirs' sawmill and flour mill. He spared the cotton mill, because there were few such mills in the area to provide cloth for the army. In addition, both he and the Lenoirs were Masons.

Lenoir City Company

In the late 1880s, an abundance of financial capital, the popularity of social theories regarding planned cities, and a thriving coal mining industry in East Tennessee's

Cumberland Plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms " Al ...

region led to the development of a number of

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

s to support coal mining throughout the Upper Tennessee Valley. Most of these were funded by investors from the Northeast or Knoxville. In 1889, Knoxville railroad magnate

Charles McClung McGhee Charles McClung McGhee (January 23, 1828 – May 5, 1907) was an American industrialist and financier, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the latter half of the nineteenth century. As director of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Geo ...

and his friend and associate,

Edward J. Sanford Edward Jackson Sanford (November 23, 1831 – October 27, 1902) was an American manufacturing tycoon and financier, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 19th century. As president or vice president of two banks and more than ...

, formed the Lenoir City Company. They believed the Lenoir plantation would be the ideal location to develop such a town. The company incorporated in April 1890 with $800,000 in stock, and purchased the Lenoir estate, which then consisted of , for $300 per acre. When the company issued the stock to the public, the investors each received stock in the company and a lot in the planned town.John Benhart, ''Appalachian Aspirations: The Geography of Urbanization and Development in the Upper Tennessee River Valley, 1865-1900'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2007), pp. 74-79, 90-92, 97. Lenoir City was laid out in a grid pattern with four quadrants, west of Town Creek and north of the railroad tracks. The city's northwest quadrant was planned for middle class and affluent residents, whereas the northeast quadrant would be for the city's wage-workers. The southwest quadrant would contain heavy industry, such as blast furnaces, steel works, and other large factories, while the southeast quadrant would contain woodworking, furniture, and canning factories. Influenced by late 19th-century reform movements that stressed health and

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture * Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...

, the developers set aside several lots for public parks, and planned a large garden area was planned between the railroad tracks and the river. The Lenoir City Company struggled due to a recession that froze financial markets in the early 1890s. By 1892, the company had sold only 144 of the town's 3,448 lots. McGhee and Sanford persisted, however, and while Lenoir City never developed as fully as they had conceived, it survived. McGhee convinced a rail car company to open a factory in Lenoir City, and a short time later a knitting mill was established. Both establishments still employed several hundred workers in 1910.

20th century

Beginning in the 1930s during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, a series of federal government projects provided a needed boost to Lenoir City's economy and invested in regional infrastructure. The

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

's construction of Fort Loudoun Dam and reservoir, which began in 1940, provided hundreds of locals with jobs. It also resulted in numerous road improvements, and generation of hydropower for electrification of the region. In the 1950s and 1960s, construction associated with the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

resulted in building I-75 and I-40—two trans-national highways that intersect just northeast of Lenoir City. U.S. Highway 321 was built through Lenoir City in the 1980s primarily to provide greater access to the

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, w ...

, some down the road in Blount County. On February 21, 1993 at 5:05PM, an F-3 tornado touched down in eastern Roane County (just west of town) and tracked east-southeast directly toward the City. The tornado devastated parts of the city. Parts of downtown, as well as the area near A Street and 5th Avenue, were destroyed. The Lenoir City High School/Middle School property suffered major damage (it was redeveloped as River Oaks Place). The tornado continued east-southeastward, going through the town of Friendsville before lifting in western Maryville. The death toll was one (in Lenoir City) and 55 people were injured, per the NWS Tornado Database. In March 1998, a historic landmark, the William B. Lenoir Hotel, the block of Broadway (US 11) between A and B streets, was destroyed by a massive fire. The entire block was lost as it had been built with a common attic and basement, meaning there were no firewalls between buildings. Wilburn's Barbershop, the Lenoir City Public Library, a Mexican grocery, offices for ''TV Readers'' magazine and Habitat for Humanity, a school photography company and photo finishing lab, and several apartments, were all destroyed by the blaze. This block was redeveloped for Roane State Community College, Tennessee Career Center, and a new Lenoir City Public Library.

21st century

In the early 2000s, Lenoir City's economy expanded. New businesses developed along U.S. Highway 321, where new franchise restaurants, such as Ruby Tuesday, Chili's, Cracker Barrel, Aubrey's, and Zaxby's, were added. New stores included Home Depot, Goody's Family Clothing (now defunct), Cato, and Blockbuster Video (also defunct). A new hospital, Fort Loudoun Medical Center, was built to replace the old Fort Sander's Loudon Hospital in nearby Loudon. In the late 2000s, two major commercial developments were announced. Creekwood Park is located parallel to I-75 between US-321 and US-70. A new four-lane road was built between the two highways. A luxury apartment complex was built on part of the site. In 2014, business development finally started in the area, with a few medical offices completed. From 2016 to 2017, the city constructed a new community center called "The Venue", and a new headquarters here for the Lenoir City Utilities Board here. Dr. Bob Overholt, a local physician and TV personality, announced another development: The Market at Town Creek, planned to connect US-321 and Harrison Road near the Lenoir City High School and Middle School property. New businesses there include a Food City grocery store, Bojangles restaurant, Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union, AT&T Store, Pizza Hut, and a tanning salon. In 2013 Town Creek Parkway, a four-lane road connecting US-321 and Harrison Road, was completed. In 2016, the city inaugurated its first female city councilwoman, Jennifer Wampler. She was appointed to complete the remainder of the term vacated by the death of her late husband, Harry Wampler.

Geography

Lenoir City is located at (35.797618, -84.271103). The Tennessee River and TVA's Fort Loudoun and Watts Bar reservations provide the city's southern boundary. Four major federal highways pass through Lenoir City: U.S. Route 11, which runs roughly parallel to the river shore, traverses the city east-to-west;

U.S. Route 321 U.S. Route 321 (US 321) is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for from Hardeeville, South Carolina to Lenoir City, Tennessee; with both serving as southern termini. It reaches its northernmost point at Elizabethton, Tennessee. Because o ...

, which crosses Fort Loudon Dam south of the city, traverses the city north-to-south.

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

and U.S. Route 70 intersect US-321 in the northern part of the city. I-75 provides access to the city from exit 81, and leads northeast 26 miles (42 km) to downtown Knoxville (via a connection with

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

), and southwest 91 miles (146 km) to

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. U.S. 321 runs through the center of town from southeast to northwest, leading northwest seven miles (11 km) to I-40 at exit 364 (the highway's northern terminus), and east twenty miles (32 km) to Maryville. U.S. 70 runs to the north of the city, leading northeast nine miles (14 km) to Farragut and northwest 19 miles (31 km) to Kingston. U.S. 11 runs through the center of the city, leading northeast to Farragut and Knoxville, and southwest seven miles (11 km) to the city of Loudon. Lenoir City is traditionally spread out along US-11, west of the road's junction with US-321. This section of the city still roughly follows a grid plan laid out in the 1890s. In recent decades, Lenoir City has annexed a corridor of land along US-321 between its US-11 intersection and I-40 intersection. This corridor contains the city's newer, commercial area which caters to the high volume of traffic brought to the area by I-75 and I-40.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, there were 10,117 people, 3,479 households, and 2,198 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2010, there were 8,642 people, 3,369 households, and 2,183 families residing in the city. There were 3,703 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 87.30%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 1.60%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.50% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.30%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 8.0% from other races, and 1.80% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 17.50% of the population. As of the 2000

, there were 2,910 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.95. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every hundred females, there were 90.3 males; for every hundred females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,889, and the median income for a family was $33,462. Males had a median income of $27,229 versus $20,744 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $16,632. About 13.4% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The City of Lenoir City operates under a Mayor/City Council Form. The mayor is elected on four-year terms. The City Council is elected every four years.

Education

Residents are zoned to both city and county schools. Because of the proximity of the county schools to Lenoir City and the distance to the county high schools ( Loudon High School and Greenback School), most students who attend county schools within the city through elementary and middle grades (

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through eighth) transfer to the city school system upon enrolling in high school.

Lenoir City Schools

*Lenoir City Elementary School *Lenoir City Middle School *Lenoir City High School

Loudon County Schools within Lenoir City

*Eaton Elementary School *North Middle School *Highland Park Elementary School

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system, Lenoir City has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Notable Attractions

* Hindu Community Center of Knoxville *

Fort Loudoun Dam Fort Loudoun Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Loudon County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in the early 1940s as part of a un ...

Notable people

* Tommy Bartlett, basketball coach * John Bowers, author * Tom Collins, music producer *

Claire Donahue Claire Christine Donahue (born January 12, 1989) is an American competition swimmer. She won two gold medals at the 2011 Pan American Games and finished second at the 2011 National Championships in the 100-meter butterfly. She earned a gold me ...

, Olympic gold-medal swimmer *

Lee Guetterman Arthur Lee Guetterman (born November 22, 1958), nicknamed "Goot," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played from to for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Ba ...

, baseball pitcher * Graig Nettles, baseball player *

Kenny Roberts Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951, in Modesto, California) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. H ...

, Country musician

References

External links

Official Website of Lenoir City

City charter
{{authority control Cities in Tennessee Cities in Loudon County, Tennessee Knoxville metropolitan area Company towns in Tennessee U.S. Route 11 Tennessee populated places on the Tennessee River