Maynardville (originally named Liberty) is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Union County, Tennessee, United States. The city was named to honor Horace Maynard, who successfully defended the creation of Union County from a challenge from Knox County. Its population was 2,413 at the 2010 census, up from 1,782 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Knoxville metropolitan area.

History

Maynardville began in the early 19th century as a small community known as Liberty. When Union County was created in the 1850s, Liberty, being nearest the center of the county, was chosen as the county seat. The land for the courthouse square was donated by Marcus Monroe, a local minister. Shortly after the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

passed legislation authorizing the creation of Union County, Knox County secured an

injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

blocking the creation of the new county, which would take some of its area from Knox County. To defend the new county, its supporters retained the services of Horace Maynard, a Knoxville-area attorney and later U.S. Postmaster General. After Maynard successfully defended the new county in litigation proceedings, Liberty was renamed "Maynardville" in his honor. Union County was formally recognized in 1856. Country music singer Roy Acuff was born in Maynardville in 1903. The Acuff family had been well-established in Union County since the mid-19th century. When Goodspeed published its ''History of Tennessee'' in 1887, the Union County section included a brief biography of Roy's grandfather, Coram Acuff (1846–1931), who represented Union County in the state legislature. Throughout the early to mid-20th century, State Route 33 through Maynardville was part of the infamous Thunder Road, which was used by bootleggers to illegally transport and trade

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

. This story was later fictionally adapted into a 1958 crime-drama film and

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

of the same name. Since the dawn of the 21st century, Maynardville has become increasingly

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an with the widening projects of SR 33 (Maynardville Highway) providing quicker access to

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 ...

. Plans to redevelop and revitalize Maynardville have been proposed since the 2010s.

Geography

Maynardville is situated near the center of Raccoon Valley, a narrow valley stretching for roughly between Copper Ridge on the south and Hinds Ridge on the north. Like most mountains in 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 ...

, these two ridges are long and narrow, and often fractured into smaller hills and knobs. The Norris Lake impoundment 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 ...

is located about north of Maynardville. Maynardville is concentrated around a stretch of State Route 33, which connects the city to

to the southwest and Tazewell to the northeast. State Route 61 connects Maynardville with Luttrell and Blaine to the south, and State Route 144 connects Maynardville with Plainview to the southwest. 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 2,456 people, 896 households, and 528 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, 1,782 people, 683 households, and 463 families were residing in the city. The population density was . The 769 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the city was 98.37% White, 0.17% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.11% Asian, and 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 0.34% of the population. Of the 683 households, 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were not families. About 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46, and the average family size was 3.03. In the city, the age distribution was 26.9% under 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $23,077, and for a family was $30,398. Males had a median income of $25,278 versus $18,603 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 $12,168. About 20.2% of families and 26.4% 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 34.8% of those under age 18 and 32.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

According to 2010 Census report published by the East Tennessee Development District in 2012, the top three industries employing residents of Maynardville were

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in liberal arts and pure sciences education or professional development education. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, d ...

, trade, and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

. Nearly 62% of the city's population was reported to commute outside of Union County for employment in 2010.

Government

Municipal

Maynardville uses the Council-manager government system, which was established in 1870 when the city was incorporated. It is governed locally by a five-member board. The citizens elect the board to four-year terms. The board elects a mayor and a vice mayor from among the seated board members.

State

Maynardville is represented in the 36th District of the Tennessee House of Representatives by Dennis Powers, a Republican. It is represented in the 8th District of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

by Frank Niceley, also a Republican.

Federal

Maynardville is represented in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

by Republican Chuck Fleischmann of the 3rd congressional district.

Notable people

* Roy Acuff (1903–1992),

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer-songwriter,

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

regular,

Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

candidate, and musician * Kenny Chesney * Carl Smith (1927–2010), country music, countrypolitan, and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

singer-songwriter, musician

In popular culture

In the 2009 film '' Inglourious Basterds'', the character of 1 SSF

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

Aldo Raine, portrayed by Brad Pitt, is said to be a

r from Maynardville. The song " The Ballad of Thunder Road", references Maynardville.

References

External links

*
Municipal Technical Advisory Service entry for Maynardville
— information on local government, elections, and link to charter * {{authority control Cities in Tennessee Cities in Union County, Tennessee County seats in Tennessee Knoxville metropolitan area