Gruetli-Laager, Tennessee
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Gruetli-Laager ( ) is a city in Grundy County,
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2010 census. As its name implies, Gruetli-Laager consists of two communities— Gruetli and Laager— incorporated as a single city.


History

Gruetli was founded by German-speaking
Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...
immigrants in 1869. The town was part of a greater initiative— conducted by an organization known as the Tennessee Kolonisation Gesellschaft— to establish Swiss colonies atop 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 " Al ...
in Tennessee.Claudette Stager,
Gruetli
" ''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
Gruetli was probably named after a commune in the Swiss
canton of Glarus The canton of Glarus ( ; ; ; ) is a cantons of Switzerland, canton in east-central Switzerland. The capital is Glarus. The population speaks a variety of Alemannic German. The majority of the population (81%) identifies as Christianity in Switzer ...
.
Peter Staub Johann Peter Staub colloquially Peter Staub (February 22, 1827 – May 19, 1904) was a Swiss-born American businessman, politician, and diplomat. Staub held several public offices, most notably as U.S. Consul to St. Gallen, appointed in 1885 b ...
, a member of Knoxville's thriving Swiss community, helped purchase the initial tract of land for Gruetli. The land was advertised in Switzerland, where the opportunity for a new start appealed to many families struggling with difficult economic conditions in Europe. Although over 100 Swiss families moved to the Gruetli area in the 1870s, many were disappointed by the land's poor quality and relative isolation, and thus relocated to nearby cities. Nevertheless, by 1880, Grundy County had the largest Swiss population of any county in Tennessee. Prominent early settlers at Gruetli included Christian Marugg, who operated an inn along the stagecoach road between
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
and McMinnville, and Melchior Thoni, Jr. (1849–1926), a woodcarver whose work was displayed in the old Governor's Mansion and the Christ Church in
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. Throughout the early 1900s, railroads were constructed in the hills east of Gruetli to accommodate various
coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
operations in the area. Laager was established as a railroad stopover (initially known as "Henley's Switch") in 1918. Gruetli and Laager merged and incorporated in 1980.William Ray Turner,
Grundy County
" ''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2013.


Geography

Gruetli-Laager is located southeast of the center of Grundy County at (35.373152, -85.623617). The city is situated atop the southern
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 ...
, roughly halfway between the plateau's
Sequatchie Valley Sequatchie Valley is a relatively long and narrow valley in the U.S. state of Tennessee and, in some definitions, Alabama. It is generally considered to be part of the Cumberland Plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains; it was probably formed ...
escarpment to the east and its
Highland Rim The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee, North Alabama, and Kentucky which surrounds the Central Basin. The Central Basin is a geological dome which has subsequently fractured and eroded to produce a basin. The Highland R ...
escarpment to the west. Just north of the city, the
Collins River The Collins River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of t ...
and its upper watershed slice a gorge known as "Savage Gulf" as the river descends the plateau en route to its confluence with the
Caney Fork The Caney Fork River is a river that flows through central Tennessee in the United States, draining a substantial portion of the southwestern Cumberland Plateau and southeastern Highland Rim regions. It is a major tributary of the Cumberland Rive ...
at Rock Island. Gruetli-Laager stretches for several miles along
Tennessee State Route 108 State Route 108 (SR 108) is a State highway (US), state highway in Eastern Tennessee, Southeastern and Eastern Middle Tennessee. It connects Tennessee State Route 28, SR 28 in Whitwell, Tennessee, Whitwell to Tennessee State Route 55 ...
(SR 108). The highway connects the area with the Sequatchie Valley and
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
area to the southeast. Just west of Gruetli-Laager, SR 108 intersects SR 56, which connects the area to Monteagle and
Interstate 24 Interstate 24 (I-24) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from I-57, south of Marion, Illinois, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at I-75. It travels through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennesse ...
to the southwest and McMinnville to the northwest. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,742 people, 747 households, and 562 families residing in the city.


2000 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 1,867 people, 720 households, and 540 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 765 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.25%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.05% Asian, 0.05% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 0.54% of the population. There were 720 households, out of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.03. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.3% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $23,101, and the median income for a family was $27,542. Males had a median income of $26,198 versus $17,634 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $11,704. About 21.3% of families and 24.8% 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 35.5% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.


References


External links


Grundy County Swiss Historical Society
— headquartered in Gruetli-Laager
The Swiss Colony at Gruetli-Laager
— article by Frances Helen Jackson {{authority control Cities in Tennessee German-American culture in Tennessee Swiss-American history Cities in Grundy County, Tennessee Populated places established in 1869 1869 establishments in Tennessee