---

AROUND THE USA

East Tennessee

The Tennessee Valley is rich in history, culture, contradiction

Rich and colorful stereotypes attach to the residents of the Tennessee Valley, often as the basis of derogatory images like hicks or hillbillies. Yet we know that stereotypes are often an incomplete depiction, aren't they?

Scratch deeper in the Tennessee Valley and one recognizes an independent and pioneer spirit that is the essence of what we like about ourselves as Americans. One discovers a wealth of traits like loyalty, patriotism, community and family that would benefit all of us if they were more common.

And one realizes that the accents or the unsophistication or the commitment to the land don't reveal ignorance, unless it's in the person who's quick to judge on superficial qualities. The Tennessee Valley is history, it is culture, it is scenery and it can be a rich and enveloping experience among people who are genuine and giving.

Study a topographical relief map and the Tennessee Valley is a broad, wide gouge from southwest Virginia through East Tennessee to Northern Georgia. Along its length, it's a wide, easy highway of nature that was adopted by rivers, animals, settlers, railroads and highways.

---

In addition to our overview of the Tennessee Valley, this report has detailed segments about:

• Tri-Cities
  • Tri-Cities Links
• Knoxville
  • Knoxville Links
• Chattanooga
  • Chattanooga Links

We also have a separate, extensive report on Oak Ridge, the historic atomic city near Knoxville.

---

The Cumberland Plateau to the west often buffers the valley against the wilds of nature, but the confluence of cold air from the north and warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico can produce drenching, soaking rains. A century ago, these rains filled the valley with water and flooded away lives, topsoil and property. Today they've been tamed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which has transformed the valley into a growing region with an international presence.

Before there was an American West or a Louisiana Purchase or a Texas, the frontier of the United States began at the Appalachian Mountains, stretching from Maine to Georgia. East of the mountains was civilization; west was wilderness. North Carolina renounced its territories west of the mountains with the passage of the xxx Act, and Tennessee was part of the area generally known as the Territory South of the Ohio River.

The first arrivals found rich natural resources, including game and timber. This was the era and the region of Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. Abundant streams and rivers provided fresh water for consumption and to power grist mills and saw mills.

Most of the time, the waters also provided transportation, especially the ability to move commodities downstream -- as far as New Orleans following the French Broad and Holston rivers to Knoxville, then the Tennessee River to the Ohio River in western Kentucky and finally the Mississippi River to its end. Once steam power was harnessed, packet boats could bring goods upstream.

The area attracted a hard-scrabble, Calvinist, tough class of settlers, especially Irish, Scotch and Germans. The terrain and geology were better suited for family farms than for commercial agriculture. Absent such western phenomena as the Homestead Act, it was difficult to amass large tracts of land. And, always, there were the floods, wiping families out just as they thought they might be getting ahead.

Education, travel and communication were impeded by hard-to-cross ridges, numerous streams and and primitive technologies of the time.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, secession held little appeal in this region because the nature of its agriculture was never conducive to slavery. When Tennessee left the United States in 1861, East Tennessee unsuccessfully tried to break off from the state, as West Virginia split from Virginia.

Although East Tennessee didn't see any major battles, plenty of smaller encounters occurred in the Tennessee Valley. More importantly, though, the war split many families; more than one family had relatives or sentiments with both the North and the South.

After the war, the loyalist sympathies converted into rock-rib Republicanism that pervades to this day. One of the nation's premiere Abraham Lincoln museums is at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate. Lincoln's vice president -- and 17th President of the United States -- was Andrew Johnson of Greeneville, which is between Tri-Cities and Knoxville.

But the Republicanism had a cost . For a century, an otherwise Democratic Tennessee state government chronically short-changed East Tennessee in the allocation of state spending.

The Industrial Revolution brought steel, textile and shoe mills. Coal mines. Railroads. Labor unions.

But, except for the counterbalance provided by the unions, many of these industries were focused on exploiting the poor, under-educated people of the Tennessee Valley. Children went to work in the mills before puberty. Miners died in cave-ins and explosions or ... if they survived the mines ... from black lung.

President Franklin Roosevelt took the first concrete steps to address the region's endemic poverty when he supported the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA's mission: Dam the rivers to control floods and generate electricity; promote soil conservation and modern agricultural practices; and otherwise help the Tennessee Valley catch up with the rest of America.

TVA helped, but 30 years later as President Lyndon Johnson launched his War on Poverty, the Tennessee Valley was still a black-eye for a prosperous nation. Johnson and Congress created the Appalachian Regional Commission to help selected counties from Virginia to Mississippi break the cycle of poverty.

And, in the 1960s, the Republican Party became competitive in Tennessee, which meant that state dollars and other policies were more fair to the Tennessee Valley. In particular, the federal Interstate Highway System and a more aggressive state road building effort beginning in the 1980s improved access to the remote counties and towns. Industry could move raw materials in and finished goods out. People could efficiently travel to jobs that might have previously been beyond reach.

At the cusp of the new millennium, the fruits of these efforts are flourishing. The Tennessee Valley is vibrant and growing with a diverse economy. Less insulated from the rest of the world, the valley benefits as newcomers inject fresh ideas and natives return with knowledge from afar.

Each of the metropolitan areas has a significant higher education presence, and a 1970s-era network of state community colleges dots the map. The area is easily accessible by various combinations of rail, highway and air transportation. It celebrates its culture and history while joining the progress of the nation.

Tri-Cities

Tucked into the northeastern corner of the state, this cluster of cities is increasingly important and enmeshed.

The term "Tri-Cities" refers to Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City. But two other cities are also important. Blountville isn't big, but it's in the middle and represents neutral territory where civic rivalries can be intense. The airport is in Blountville, and increasingly other institutions are, too. To the southeast is Elizabethton, which is also important to the regional economy.

To the southwest is Jonesborough, the oldest city in Tennessee. It is a worthwhile tourist destination.

Bristol grew as a rail center. Located smack-dab on the state line with Virginia -- the border runs down the middle of Main Street -- it is really two cities, Bristol, Tenn., and Bristol, Va. Each has its own city council, and the Virginia side is generally larger.

Johnson City is an old city that was augmented by the early presence of a state college, which is now East Tennessee State University.

Kingsport wasn't much until the Tennessee Eastman Co. put a munitions factory there during World War I, and it has been economically strong ever since.

Each city has a daily newspaper and a television station, and the TV stations reach all three cities.

Generally, these are solid, mid-size cities that lack the excitement of a larger city but which are increasingly offering the amenities necessary to many families. Blessed with low crime, good access to anywhere, solid local economies and increasingly progressive leadership, they are more and more attractive to outsiders.

Tri-Cities Links

• xxx

Knoxville

In his book "Inside U.S.A." (Harper & Bros., 1947), John Gunther called Knoxville, "the ugliest city I ever saw in America."

Knoxvillians were outraged. Twenty years later, the original furor having subsided, he said it again on "The Today Show." Knoxvillians were outraged again.

Truth be known, he wasn't far from right when he said it. But the last 30 years have transformed Knoxville in many respects. A generally prosperous economy and a growing importance as a regional center were capped in 1982 when Knoxville was the site of an international World's Fair.

The World's Fair helped Knoxville clean up its act. A derelict valley on the west side of downtown was redeveloped to be the fair site, and tens of millions of dollars in investments had a lasting effect on infrastructure and amenities. Some well-placed investments downtown complemented the salutary effects of the World's Fair, and the University of Tennessee continues to grow.

Bank customers nationwide indirectly subsidized much early-1980s growth. Brothers Jake and C.H. Butcher built a corrupt banking empire that underwrote huge capital expenditures, including much of the World's Fair, before collapsing in 1983. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. got stuck with a large part of the tab for the cleanup.

Knoxville's been trying very hard to improve since the days of Gunther's cruel remarks, and it's made progress. The restored Tennessee Theatre downtown is beyond description. Downtown overall is gaining momentum.

The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame is near downtown. Old City, near downtown, has a good nightlife. UT plays football in Neyland Stadium.

Knoxville is a fine place to live and a mildly interesting place to visit.

Knoxville Links

• City of Knoxville
• About Knoxville is a well-done commercial site.

Chattanooga

Twenty years ago, Chattanooga was the armpit of Tennessee's major cities. Smog covered it with grey haze, even on a sunny day. The local economy was gritty and industrial. A few old families controlled the power structure and discouraged civic initiative. Racial divisions were striking.

And then something changed.

Federal clean air statutes tamed pollution. A new generation of leaders came to the front, and the city responded. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 brought blacks into the power structure and helped shrink racial barriers. Revitalizing downtown became a civic goal.

The old Chattanooga Terminal Station was reborn as the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, a hotel and railroad monument. The world's largest freshwater aquarium was built downtown, and an abandoned bridge became the cornerstone of a pedestrian mall. The entire riverfront area downtown is booming.

Today, Chattanooga is the most exciting city in East Tennessee, in our opinion. The buzz about Chattanooga is great, and on a recent visit we found a vibrant downtown, a rich choice of dining options and great choices for families or adults without kids.

We can hardly wait to go back.

Chattanooga owes its existence to its position on the Tennessee River. Located above a difficult stretch of the river, the Chattanooga area was first inhabited by the Chickamauga band of the Cherokee Indians. Whites invaded after the Indians were driven west along the infamous Trail of Tears.

The State of Georgia, aggressively building a rail network as its route to the future, picked Chattanooga as a railhead to access the Tennessee River. Rail lines from other directions aimed at Chattanooga so they could link with the line from Chattanooga to Atlanta, a rail center. Traffic on the river also increased.

The National Model Railroad Association headquarters is in Chattanooga. The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is a wealth of railroad equipment and operating trains

Heavy industry developed to take advantage of the transportation routes. These features made Chattanooga a focal point of Confederate defenders and Union attackers.

Several major battles occurred here, and Civil War markers dot the landscape, particularly to the east and south of downtown. This was the destination of Andrews Raiders in the Great Locomotive Chase and is immortalized as a rail destination in the song Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

The train Chattanooga Choo-Choo was mythical, by the way. There was never a regularly scheduled passenger train that fit the description in the song.

For nearly 100 years, transportation and heavy industry -- smokestack industry -- dominated Chattanooga. The upper crust built homes on Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain and other heights, lifting themselves above the haze that clouded the valley. They barely worried about the city decaying at their feet.

The transformation in the past 20 years has been absolutely remarkable. The Utne Reader in 1997 selected Chattanooga as the most enlightened city in America.

In essence, Chattanooga rediscovered its origins at the banks of the Tennessee River. The Chattanooga Aquarium is an enthralling examination of fresh water wildlife and of the ecosystem that feeds the Tennessee River. A nearby Imax Theatre complements the Aquarium.

A Children's Discovery Museum and other attractions, including the Towing and Recovery Museum (for real) opened nearby. Broad and Market streets -- the downtown arteries -- were revitalized. The Chestnut Street Bridge -- a massive through-truss bridge that is a monument to steel construction -- was retired as a vehicular conduit and reborn as a pedestrian route across the river. At the other end, xxxx was developed, opening in Fall 1999.

Restaurants, lodging and night life filled in the redevelopment picture. Terminal Station was converted into a hotel called Chattanooga Choo-Choo in the 1970s and has regained momentum with the downtown resurgence. In addition to conventional rooms, it has a bevy of rail cars that have been converted into hotel rooms. (Each 85-foot car is divided in half, creating spacious rooms with modern conveniences.) The Read House, a grand hotel from the turn of the century, has been renovated.

In short, downtown Chattanooga is hopping, night and day.

 

Chattanooga Links

• Rock City is among Chattanooga's most famous attractions.