Elizabethton, Tennessee

Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee. According to the most recent U.S. Decennial Census (2000), the municipal population was determined to consist of 13,372 residents.. The most recent population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004 Population Estimates, Census 2000, 1990 Census ) places the 2004 municipal population estimation at 13,993 residents.

Geography

Elizabethton is located in Northeast Tennessee at (36.336527, -82.239038).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.3 km² (9.4 mi²). 23.7 km² (9.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (2.35%) is water.

The elevation at Elizabethton Municipal Airport is 1,593 feet (the highest point of elevation in Carter County is at Roan Mountain with an elevation of 6,285 feet) and the airport is located on the eastern side of the city along State Highway 91 Stoney Creek Exit.http://www.elizabethtonairport.com/ContentPages/Layout.htmhttp://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/parks/RoanMtn/ Elizabethton itself lies within a river valley basin mostly surrounded by mountain ridges and significant hills.

The Watauga River flows past Elizabethton. Elizabethton lies on the south bank of the Watauga along either side of its principal tributary, the Doe River. The downtown busines district is located approximatexly one-quarter mile upstream of the confluence of both the Doe River and the Watauga River. The Doe River flows underneath the historic covered bridge located within the downtown Elizabethton business district.

Elizabethton also shares a contiguous western border with Johnson City, Tennessee.

Two Tennessee Valley Authority reservoirs --- TVA Watauga Dam and TVA Wilbur Dam --- are located southeast of Elizabethton in Carter County on the Watauga River and the Appalachian Trail crosses over the Tennessee Valley Authority reservation in Carter County.http://www.tva.gov/sites/watauga.htmhttp://www.tva.gov/sites/wilbur.htm

Demographics

As of the U.S. Decennial Census, there were 13,372 people, 5,454 households, and 3,512 families residing in the city. The population density was 563.6/km² (1,459.3/mi²). There were 5,964 housing units at an average density of 251.4/km² (650.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.30% White, 2.47% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.55% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.49% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.18% of the population.

There were 5,454 households out of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.6% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 82.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,909, and the median income for a family was $33,333. Males had a median income of $26,890 versus $20,190 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,578. About 15.2% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.8% of those under age 18 and 16.1% of those age 65 or over.

Early history

Carter County is named in honor of Landon Carter, son of John Carter, Chairman of the Court as defined by the articles of the Watauga Petition. Elizabethton is the county seat and is named for Landon's wife, Elizabeth MacLin Carter. Many of the fine architectural features that can be still viewed today at the historic Carter Mansion (home of John Carter; located on the Broad Street Extension on the eastern side of town above the banks of the Watauga River) --- particularly the landscape painting of a Virginia plantation once owned by King Carter that was discovered underneath ancient layers of paint covering the wall surface above the fireplace mantle --- suggest that John Carter may have possibly been an illegitimate son of the wealthy Virginia plantation owner Robert "King" Carter.http://www.state.tn.us/environment/tn_consv/archive/cartermansion.pdf

During the American Revoluntary War, Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals served as a 1780 staging area for the Overmountain Men who were preparing to fight the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Wataugans is the official outdoor historical drama of the state of Tennessee. It is presented by the Watauga Historical Association and the Sycamore Shoals Historic Area in Elizabethton, Tennessee every July on the last three Thursday-Friday-Saturday weekends of the month. Employing a mixed cast of volunteering professional and amateur local actors and re-enactors engaged through an open casting call, The Wataugans depicts the early history of the area that is now Northeast Tennessee. Although some artistic license has been taken, the overall form of the drama is reasonably close to the historical facts. Beginning in 1975, hikers and reenactors both have particpated within segments the famous overmountain trail from Elizabethton to King's Mountain, South Carolina, and later in 1980, President James Carter recognized the historical significance of the frontier patroits marching over the Appalachian mountains to fight at the Battle of King's Mountain by signing a law designating the historical route the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail --- the first National Historic Trail in the eastern United States.http://www.nps.gov/ovvi/http://www.ovta.org/http://tennessee.gov/environment/parks/parks/SycamoreShoals/index.php?activity=Historic%20Park

Elizabethton was served by the legendary narrow gauge East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC) (also known as "Tweetsie Railroad") built in the 1880s.

Elizabethton was also first served by hydrogenerated electric utility power during the 1910s, leading to the popular moniker "The City of Power". The Horseshoe section of the Watauga River (found within the Tennessee Valley Authority reservation behind the TVA Wilbur Dam) is the site of first hydrogenerating dam constructed in Tennessee (beginning in 1909), going online with power production and distribution in 1912. The TVA Watauga Dam and Reservoir were completed three miles upstream in 1948.http://www.tva.gov/sites/wilbur.htmhttp://www.tva.gov/sites/wilbur.htm

Starting during the mid 1920s, German and Dutch business investors located two major rayon manufacturing plants in Elizabethton along the Watauga River. During World War II, the U.S. government seized managerial control of these rayon plants, and at the later apex of the Eilzabethton rayon industry, over 6,100 employees were working at the former Elizabethton rayon mills in 1949. The mills (owned by the North American Corporation, formerly North American Rayon Corporation) closed down in the late 1990s.

The 1928 Republican U.S. Presidential candidate Herbert C. Hoover made his only southern campaign stop at Elizabethton and delivered his nationally broadcasted October 6 election "stump speech" delivered before 50,000 people gathered at the base of Lynn Mountain in Harmon Field (now at the mini-park area beside the Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce building located on U.S. 321).http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,737385,00.htmlhttp://cass.etsu.edu/archives/afindaid/a354.html In an ironic twist of history, it was President Coolidge in 1928 and President Hoover later in 1931 who each vetoed the federal legislation from the U.S. Congress that would have created a feredal government water power development agency --- U.S. Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska sponsored the legislation during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt creating the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 and later became am important proponent of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 within the U.S. Congress.

Famous Natives

Admiral Samuel Powhattan (S.P.) Carter - (August 6, 1819-May 26, 1891). Only U.S. military officer to have held the rank of Army General and Navy Admiral. Commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy. The May 28, 1891 Washington Post obituary for Carter presents a timeline that suggests that Carter may have also been a member of one of the earliest classes of midshipmen (1845 or 1846) to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy.
Jason Witten - National Football League tight end for the Dallas Cowboys.

References

External links

Historic

Educational

Other

Cy Crumley ET&WNC Photo Collection

Carter County, Tennessee | Cities in Tennessee