Karns 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 ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in northwest

Knox County, Tennessee Knox County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 500,669 as of a 2023 estimate, making it the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Knoxville, which is the third-most populous city in Te ...

, about northwest of the center of

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 ...

. The population of the CDP was 3,536 at the 2020 census.

History

The community was formerly called Beaver Ridge. However, in 1913 when the first

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

building was erected in Karns, the school was named in honor of Professor Thomas Conner Karns (1845–1911), the first

Superintendent of Public Instruction A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or U.S. territory, territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistan ...

for Knox County. Later, in the 1950s, the community voted to officially change its name from Beaver Ridge/Byington to Karns.

Geography

Karns is located in the Beaver Creek Valley between Beaver Ridge and Copper Ridge, both of which are elongate ridges typical of the

Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three se ...

. The center of the community is located at (35.982, -84.114). Elevation ranges from about 960 to above sea level. Beaver Creek, a tributary of the

Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...

, flows through the community.

Demographics

Economy

Karns has grown from primarily a farming area to a community with a population of over 19,000. Mixed among the remaining farms and pastures are subdivisions, small businesses, schools, and light industry. Industries in the community include Unitrac Railroad Materials, a manufacturer of railroad components. The Karns schools are part of

Knox County Schools Knox County Schools is the school district that operates all public schools in Knox County, Tennessee. History Before the 1987–1988 school year, the city of Knoxville and Knox County operated separate school districts. In that year the tw ...

, and including Karns High School, enroll over 3,700 students from Karns, Ball Camp, Hardin Valley, and Solway. Most people commute to work outside of the community.

Education

Karns is the site of several public schools operated by

. Public elementary schools in the area are Karns Elementary School, Ball Camp Elementary School, Amherst Elementary School, and Hardin Valley Elementary School. Three middle schools, Karns Middle School, Hardin Valley Middle School, and Northwest Middle School include grades 6, 7, and 8. The community's long-time high school is Karns High School. A new high school, Hardin Valley Academy, opened in 2008 to reduce pressure on Karns, Farragut, and Bearden High Schools due to growth in the student population in western Knox County. In addition, it is the site of Grace Christian Academy, a K-12 private school operated as a ministry of Grace

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Church.

Public services

Karns is the site of a Knox County public library branch, a branch

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, and the Karns Community Club building. The Karns Fire Department serves a area of western Knox County from four fire stations located in Karns, Ball Camp, Hardin Valley, and Solway.Karns Fire Department website
/ref> Karns Fire Department provides fire suppression, emergency medical first responder services, public assists, and rescue services on a subscription-based service. Ambulance services are primarily provided by American Medical Response (AMR), per contract with Knox County. The Knox County Sheriff's Department is responsible for law enforcement services. The mayor of Karns is long time resident, T Roy Louis

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Knox County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee Knoxville metropolitan area