Roane County, TN
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Roane County is a county of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,404. Its county seat is
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
. Roane County is included in the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area.


History

Roane County was formed in 1801, and named for Archibald Roane, the second Governor of Tennessee. Upon the creation of the Southwest Territory in 1790, the territory's governor, William Blount, initially wanted to locate the territorial capital at the mouth of the Clinch River, but was unable to obtain title to the land from the Cherokee. Kingston, Roane's county seat, is rooted in
Fort Southwest Point Fort Southwest Point was a federal frontier outpost at what is now Kingston, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. Constructed in 1797 and garrisoned by federal soldiers until 1811, the fort served as a major point of interaction between t ...
, a frontier fort constructed in the early 1790s. During the Civil War, Roane County, like many East Tennessee counties, was largely pro-Union. When Tennessee voted on the Ordinance of Secession on June 8, 1861, Roane Countians voted 1,568 to 454 in favor of remaining in the Union. In October 1861, Union guerrilla William B. Carter organized the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy from a command post in Kingston. During the Knoxville Campaign in December 1863, a Union force led by General James G. Spears scattered a small Confederate force led by John R. Hart near Kingston. In the years following the Civil War, Rockwood grew into a major iron and coal mining center with the establishment of the Roane Iron Company by General
John T. Wilder John Thomas Wilder (January 31, 1830 – October 20, 1917) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, noted principally for capturing the critical mountain pass of Hoover's Gap during the Tullahoma Campaign in Central Tenne ...
. Iron ore and coal were mined on Walden Ridge and shipped to Rockwood, where the ore was converted into pig iron. The pig iron was then shipped to rolling mills in Knoxville or Chattanooga. During the late 19th century, northern investors established two planned cities in Roane County— Cardiff and Harriman. Cardiff, located northeast of Rockwood, was planned as a company town to support several proposed mining industries in the area. Harriman was planned as a Temperance Town. Both ventures suffered critical setbacks as a result of the
Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...
. Harriman survived, but never grew in the manner its planners had envisioned, while Cardiff failed altogether. During World War II, the federal government created the city of Oak Ridge as a planned community as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. As a result of the Project, both the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory are located in the county.


Geography

According to the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (8.7%) is water. Three rivers— the Tennessee River, the Clinch River, and the
Emory River The Emory River is a river draining a portion of Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau. It flows for just over from its source near Frozen Head State Park to its mouth along the Clinch River at Kingston, Tennessee. Hydrography The Emory River rises on ...
— pass through Roane County. The Emory empties into the Clinch near Kingston, and the Clinch empties into the Tennessee just downstream from Kingston. The rivers in Roane are mostly part of
Watts Bar Lake Watts Bar Lake is a reservoir on the Tennessee River created by Watts Bar Dam as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority system. Geography Located in the U.S. state of Tennessee about midway between the cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville, the l ...
. Roane County straddles the geographical boundary between the Tennessee Valley and the
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 "Alle ...
, with the latter's
Walden Ridge Walden Ridge (or Walden's Ridge) is a mountain ridge and escarpment located in Tennessee, in the United States. It marks the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau and is generally considered part of it. Walden Ridge is about long, running gen ...
escarpment visible from much of the county.


Adjacent counties

* Morgan County (north) * Anderson County (northeast) * Knox County (east) * Loudon County (southeast) *
McMinn County McMinn County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in East Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,794. The county has a total area of . Most of the county is within the Ridge and Valley province of the Ap ...
(south) * Meigs County (southwest) * Rhea County (southwest) *
Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...
(west/CST Border)


State protected areas

*Campbell Bend Barrens State Natural Area *Crowder Cemetery State Natural Area *Kingston Refuge *McGlothin-Largen Wildlife Management Area *Mount Roosevelt Wildlife Management Area (part) *Paint Rock Refuge *Watts Bar Wildlife Management Area


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 of ...
, there were 53,404 people, 20,901 households, and 13,948 families residing in the county.


2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 54,181 people, 22,376 households, and 15,450 families residing in the county. The population density was 150 people per square mile (59/km2). There were 25,716 housing units at an average density of 71 per square mile (28/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 94.4% White, 2.7% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.5%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.0003% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. 1.3% of the population were Hispanic or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race. There were 22,376 households, out of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.8% 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 t ...
living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.88. In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.8% under the age of 18 and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.9 years. For every 100 females there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.85 males. As of the census of 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $33,226, and the median income for a family was $41,399. Males had a median income of $32,204 versus $22,439 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,456. About 10.30% of families and 13.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.80% of those under age 18 and 13.80% of those age 65 or over. The Census Bureau has defined the Harriman-Kingston-Rockwood area as a contiguous urban cluster.


Media

Several movies have been filmed in Roane County, including ''Boys of Summerville'', ''That Evening Sun'' and '' October Sky''. Roane County was the childhood home of actress Megan Fox, who lived in
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
. She attended elementary school, took dance classes, and was on the swim team in Roane County. The 2010 film, '' Get Low'', starring Bill Murray, Robert Duvall, and Sissy Spacek, was based on the true story of a Roane County man, Felix Breazeale. Breazeale was a local hermit who opted to throw himself a funeral while he was still alive. The funeral intrigued many, making it a gathering of thousands. Roane County has produced thousands of successful athletes. One of Roane County's most recent athletes is Tyler Thompson of Kingston. Thompson played Division I basketball in the Ohio Valley Conference for Tennessee Technological University.


Communities


Cities

* Harriman (small part in Morgan County) *
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
(county seat) * Oak Ridge (partial) * Rockwood


Town

*
Oliver Springs Oliver Springs is a town in Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its population was 3,231 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Roane Count ...
(partial)


Census-designated place

* Midtown


Unincorporated communities

*
Blair Blair is an English-language name of Scottish Gaelic origin. The surname is derived from any of the numerous places in Scotland called ''Blair'', derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''blàr'', meaning "plain", "meadow" or "field", frequently a “ba ...
* Cave Creek * Cedar Grove * Midway * Ten Mile (partial) * Postoak


Former communities

* Cardiff * Wheat


Politics


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Roane County, Tennessee __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Roane County, Tennessee. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and historic districts in Roane County, Tennessee, United States, that are list ...


References


External links


Official site
*
Roane County News
- Twice-weekly community newspaper covering Harriman, Kingston, Oliver Springs, Rockwood and Roane County, Tennessee
The Roane Alliance
- Roane County's umbrella economic development organization over both public and private organizations, including the Roane County Chamber of Commerce and others, each with a separate board and budget.
Roane County Tennessee Family History Project
- Provides scans and searchable transcriptions of old documents and books relating to history and genealogy of past or present Roane County families.
Roane County, TNGenWeb
- free genealogy resources for the county {{Coord, 35, 52, 12, N, 84, 30, 6, W, source:svwiki_region:US_type:adm1st, display=title 1801 establishments in Tennessee Populated places established in 1801 Counties of Appalachia Second Amendment sanctuaries in Tennessee East Tennessee