Morrison City 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 ...
in
Sullivan 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 United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Named for pioneer settler Peter Morison, Morrison City developed with the industrial growth of nearby
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, ...
, in the 1930s. Peter Morison, his wife Mary Kirkpatrick Morison, and other relatives, are buried in the Morrison Chapel Cemetery, in the heart of the community. They were awarded a land grant by the state of North Carolina, which controlled the area prior to Tennessee Statehood, in 1780. This was to recognize distinguished service during the
Battle of King's Mountain.
Lynn Garden Drive (
Tennessee State Route 36
State Route 36 (SR 36) is a state highway, broken in two segments. In Unicoi County, it serves as the hidden concurrency of U.S. Route 19W; in Washington and Sullivan counties, it serves as a stand-alone secondary road connecting th ...
) and
U.S. Route 23 intersect where the community's business district once stood, running north and south. Carter's Valley road runs east and west through the community. Bell Ridge School stands to the south of West Carter's Valley Road, behind State Line Baptist Church. This school was the community's only educational enterprise, and was part of the Sullivan County School system until it closed and was purchased by a private school.
Tenneva Street and Echo Drive were the main north–south streets before Lynn Garden Drive. Two churches, several businesses, and many homes were removed or relocated when the new US 23 was built through the area in the 1980s. Basset's Dairy Bar, W. D. Sensabaugh's Store, Lee's Barber Shop, a Monument Company, and several fruitstands once operated there. Parker's Grill was a restaurant that later was occupied by a taxidermy shop.
Citizens just north of the Virginia state line were categorized by utility companies for several years in a grouping called "Morrison City, Virginia." They maintained Virginia residency, but were served by Tennessee telephone and mail service. The Virginia side had several businesses attracted to the area because of the proximity to the state line, and capitalizing on cheaper goods not available in Tennessee due to differences in state and county laws. These included cigarette sales businesses, liquor trafficking stores, fireworks stands, and a club where alcohol was served to customers.
An unnamed tributary of the North Fork of the
Holston River
The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee ...
begins in the Tennessee side of the Morrison City community and runs through the state line, alongside of the state highway, and empties into the river in Virginia. A natural gap in ridge dividing the two states provides easy access for the roadways.
References
*http://tennessee.hometownlocator.com/tn/sullivan/morrison-city.cfm
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Unincorporated communities in Sullivan County, Tennessee
Unincorporated communities in Tennessee