Kodak 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 a neighborhood of Sevierville in Sevier 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 small city is located along State Route 139 and

State Route 66 The following highways are numbered 66: International * European route E66 Australia * Barkly Highway (Northern Territory) * Riddoch Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 66 * Highway 66 (Ontario) Cuba * Autopista Sancti Spiritus (4-6 ...

, and just south of I-40 and

Knoxville, Tennessee 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 elevation of the city of Kodak is about above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The city of Kodak is included in Sevierville's

urban growth boundary An urban growth boundary (UGB) is a regional boundary, set in an attempt to control urban sprawl by, in its simplest form, mandating that the area inside the boundary be used for urban development and the area outside be preserved in its natural s ...

for future annexation.

History

Kodak was named in 1892 when the local postmaster, Harvey N. Underwood, learned of the new "Kodak" brand of camera. Underwood decided that this was a name that was easy to remember and spell, hence he sought permission from the founder of

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he ...

, to use this name for his village and its

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 ...

. Eastman granted this permission. In 1989, a new post office building was constructed on Highway 66. A large portion of Kodak along State Highway 66 and I-40 exit 407 has been annexed into the City of Sevierville since the 1990s.

The Treaty of Dumplin Creek

The Treaty of Dumplin Creek was signed at Maj. Hugh Henry's fort, in the area that would become Kodak, on June 10, 1785, between the proposed, never-recognized

State of Franklin The State of Franklin (also the Free Republic of Franklin, Lost State of Franklin, or the State of Frankland) was an unrecognized proposed U.S. state, state located in present-day East Tennessee, in the United States. Franklin was created in ...

and the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

tribe of Native Americans. The precise location of the treaty signing is not known and has been subject of archaeological investigation. According to a state historical marker placed at one site thought to be the location of the signing, commissioners involved in the treaty from the State of Franklin were

John Sevier John Sevier (September 23, 1745 September 24, 1815) was an American soldier, frontiersman, and politician, and one of the founding fathers of the State of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he played a leading role in Tennes ...

(namesake of the county in which Kodak sits), Alexander Outlaw and Daniel Kennedy. The marker identifies the Cherokee signers as "the King of the Cherokee, Ancoo of Chota, Abraham of Chilhowee, The Sturgeon of Tallassee, the Bard of the Valley Towns and some thirty others." The treaty's effect was to open the East Tennessee counties of Blount, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox and Sevier to white settlers and homesteaders without Native resistance. The historical marker incorrectly identifies this as the only treaty made by the State of Franklin, though there was at least one other (the Treaty of Coyatee, also with the Cherokee).

Commerce

Exit 407 on

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

has many restaurants and several stores including national and various local shops. A Buc-ee's opened in 2023 and it claims to be the world's largest convenience store.

Education

Schools in Kodak are a part of Sevier County Schools. *Northview Primary School – grades K–3 *Northview Intermediate School – grades 4–6 *Northview Academy – grades 7–12

Library

*Sevier County Public Library System - Kodak Branch Library , 319 W. Dumplin Valley Rd. , Kodak, TN 37764

Points of interest

* Smokies Stadium * Seven Islands State Birding Park * Sevier County Public Library System - Kodak Branch Library

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Sevier County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee Kodak