Arthur is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Claiborne County, Tennessee Claiborne County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,043. Its county seat is Tazewell and its largest city is Harrogate. History Claiborne County was established on October 29, 18 ...

, United States. It is located along State Route 63 southwest of

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

, and a few miles south of the

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a Mountain pass, pass in the Eastern United States, eastern United States through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains and near the tripoint of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. At&n ...

. Its zip code is 37707.

History

In 1870,

land developer Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways, such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpo ...

Alexander A. Arthur moved to the area from

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. He laid out a town, based on consolidated land parcels. In 1876 the area was called Butcher Springs and with the creation of a post office the town became known as Arthur in 1890. Alexander Arthur was key in having a railroad from

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Middlesboro, Kentucky Middlesboro ()Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names'', University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987p. 196 Accessed 26 August 2013. is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Bell County, Kentucky, United States. The population was ...

be installed through Arthur, allowing his namesake to develop into a

railroad town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

. The town shipped coal, ore and other minerals. As of 1901, a school, Wester College, was located in Arthur. The school was operated by Dan Wester and all grades were taught. The school burned down in the 1910s.

Geography

The Powell River travels through the Arthur. The river flooded the area in March 1826.

Amenities and attractions

Arthur Methodist Church was organized and the first church built in 1914. Located on Old Highway 63, the current church was built in 1947. As of 1986, the church had 56 members. The community has two cemeteries: Chumley Cemetery, which is maintained by a board of trustees comprising six Arthur residents, and Sowder Cemetery, which is located on private property and primarily serves as the final resting place for the Sowder family.

Notable people

* Milton Estes, early country singer

References

External links

* Unincorporated communities in Claiborne County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee {{ClaiborneCountyTN-geo-stub