Kingsport, Tennessee

Kingsport was developed after the Revolutionary War, at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Holston River. In 1787 it was known as "Salt Lick", for an ancient mineral lick. It was first settled along the banks of the South Fork, about a mile from the confluence. The Long Island of the Holston River is near the confluence, which is mostly within the present-day corporate boundaries of Kingsport. The island was an important site for the Cherokee, colonial pioneers and early settlers, and specifically mentioned in the 1770 Treaty of Lochaber.

Early settlements at the site were used as a staging ground for other pioneers who were traveling overland on the Wilderness Road leading to Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap. First chartered in 1822, Kingsport became an important shipping port on the Holston River. Goods originating for many miles around from the surrounding countryside were loaded onto barges for the journey downriver to the Tennessee River at Knoxville.

Kingsport in 1937

In the Battle of Kingsport (December 13, 1864) during the Civil War, a force of 300 Confederates under Colonel Richard Morgan stopped a larger Union force for nearly two days. An army of over 5,500 troops under command of Major General George Stoneman had left Knoxville to raid Confederate targets in Virginia: the salt works at Saltville, the lead works at Wytheville, and the iron works in Marion. While Col. Morgan's small band held off a main Union force under Major General Cullem Gillem on the opposite side the Holston River, Union Col. Samuel Patton took a force of cavalry to a ford in the river 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north and came down behind the Confederates. Out-numbered, out-flanked, and demoralised by the bitter winter weather, Col. Morgan surrendered. The Confederates suffered 18 dead, and 84 prisoners of war were sent to a Union prison in Knoxville.[9]

The city lost its charter after a downturn in its fortunes precipitated by the Civil War.

On September 12, 1916, Kingsport residents demanded the death of circus elephant Mary (an Asian elephant that performed in the Sparks World-famous Shows Circus). She had killed city hotel worker Walter Eldridge, who was hired by the circus the day before as an assistant elephant trainer. Eldridge was attacked and killed by the elephant while he was leading her to a pond. The elephant was impounded by the local sheriff. Leaders of several nearby towns threatened to prevent the circus from performing if it included the elephant. The circus owner, Charlie Sparks, reluctantly decided that the only way to quickly resolve the situation was to hold a public execution. On the following day, she was transported by rail to Erwin, Tennessee, where a crowd of over 2,500 people assembled in the Clinchfield Railroad yard to watch her hang from a railroad crane.[10]

Re-chartered in 1917, Kingsport was an early example of a "garden city". Part of it was designed by city planner and landscape architect John Nolen of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was nicknamed as the "Model City" from this plan, which organized the town into areas for commerce, churches, housing and industry. Most of the land on the river was devoted to industry. Most of the Long Island is now occupied by Eastman Chemical Company, which is headquartered in Kingsport. As part of this plan, Kingsport built some of the earliest traffic circles (roundabouts) in the United States.

Kingsport was among the first municipalities to adopt a city manager form of government, to professionalize operations of city departments. It developed its school system based on a model promoted by Columbia University.

Pal's Sudden Service, a regional fast-food restaurant chain, opened its first location in 1956 and is headquartered in Kingsport. In 2001, Pal's Sudden Service, won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, becoming the first restaurant company to receive the award.[11]

Kingsport is located in western Sullivan County at 36°32′N 82°33′W (36.5369, −82.5421),[12] at the intersection of U.S. Routes 11W and 23. Kingsport is the northwest terminus of Interstate 26. US 11W leads east 22 miles (35 km) to Bristol and southwest 28 miles (45 km) to Rogersville, while US 23 leads north 38 miles (61 km) to Big Stone Gap, Virginia. I-26 and US 23 lead south 8 miles (13 km) to Interstate 81 and 83 miles (134 km) to Asheville, North Carolina.

The city is bordered to the west by the town of Mount Carmel, to the southeast by unincorporated Colonial Heights, and to the northeast by unincorporated Bloomingdale. The Kingsport city limits extend west into Hawkins County and north to the Virginia border.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 50.8 square miles (131.5 km²), of which 49.8 square miles (129.0 km²) are land and 0.93 square miles (2.4 km²), or 1.86%, are water.[3] Most of the water area is in the South Fork Holston River.

As of the census of 2000, there were 44,905 people, 19,662 households and 12,642 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,018.9 per square mile (393.4/km²). There were 21,796 housing units at an average density of 494.6 per square mile (191.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.32% White, 4.07% African American, 0.79% Asian, 0.24% American Indian/Alaska Native, 0.02% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 0.34% some other race, and 1.06% two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.05% of the population.

There were 19,662 households, of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22, and the average family size was 2.80.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,524, and the median income for a family was $40,183. Males had a median income of $33,075 versus $23,217 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,549. About 14.2% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.9% of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.

Kingsport is the location of two hospitals:

• Holston Valley Medical Center
• Indian Path Community Hospital

• The vessel SS Kingsport Victory, which later became USNS Kingsport, was named in honor of the city.

• Fredrick 'Pal' Barger, founder of Pal's Sudden Service
• Lisa Alther, author, born and grew up in Kingsport
• Edward L. Ayers, Bancroft Prize-winning historian and ninth president of the University of Richmond, raised in Kingsport
• Barry Bales, Grammy Award-winning musician with Alison Krauss and Union Station
• James F. Barker, president of Clemson University (1999–2013)
• Nick Castle, actor who played Michael Myers in the original Halloween, was born in Kingsport and makes appearances at the local haunted houses.
• Jeff Chapman-Crane, Appalachian artist
• Harry Coover, inventor of Super Glue
• Denny Crawford, professional football player
• Amy Dalley, country music artist
• Bobby Dodd, College Football Hall of Fame inductee as both a football player (University of Tennessee) and coach (Georgia Institute of Technology)
• Bobby Eaton, professional wrestler
• Elle and Blair Fowler, online beauty retailers who spent part of their childhoods in Kingsport
• Daniel Kilgore, professional football player, Kansas City Chiefs
• Cliff Kresge, Nationwide Tour golfer who splits his time between homes in Kingsport and Florida
• Blake Leeper, Paralympic silver medallist[23]
• Cripple Clarence Lofton, noted boogie-woogie pianist and singer, born in Kingsport
• Matt Mahaffey, musician, frontman of pop/rock band Self
• Brownie and Stick McGhee, brothers and blues musicians, grew up in Kingsport and other East Tennessee towns
• Ken Mellons, country music artist
• John Palmer, former NBC News correspondent, born in Kingsport and a graduate of Dobyns-Bennett High School
• Jimmy Quillen, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 1st congressional district (1963–1997)
• John Shelton Reed, sociologist and essayist, author or editor of eighteen books, most of them dealing with the contemporary American South
• Selwa Showker "Lucky" Roosevelt, Chief of Protocol of the United States from 1982-1989 and former journalist for the Washington Post, married Archibald B. Roosevelt, grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt
• Coty Sensabaugh, cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Gerald Sensabaugh, retired NFL cornerback, played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Dallas Cowboys
• LeRoy Sprankle, high school multi-sport coach, author, and general manager of the Canton Independents
• Adam Steffey, bluegrass artist
• Bill Streever, biologist and author
• Cyrus Thomas, entomologist and ethnologist
• Steven Williams, actor who starred in 21 Jump Street and The Blues Brothers
• Charles Wright, poet who spent part of his childhood and adult life in Kingsport

The 1921 Kingsport Indians were the first professional baseball team from Kingsport.

The city is home to the Kingsport Axmen, a collegiate summer baseball team of the Appalachian League.[24] The nickname is in reference to frontiersman Daniel Boone, who began the Wilderness Road in Kingsport.[24] The Axmen play their home games at Hunter Wright Stadium,[25] which is named after former mayor Hunter Wright.[26]

Professional baseball was first played in Kingsport, by the Kingsport Indians in the Appalachian League from 1921 to 1925.[27] The team went dormant for 12 years before it returned to the circuit as the Kingsport Cherokees from 1938 to 1955—with the exception of the 1942 season as the Kingsport Dodgers and as members of the Mountain States League in 1953 and 1954.[27] The club was later known as the Kingsport Orioles (1957), Kingsport Pirates (1960–1963), Kingsport Royals (1969–1973), and Kingsport Braves (1974–1979).[27] The Kingsport Mets were members of the Appy League from 1980 to 2020, except for the 1983 season when the New York Mets temporarily relocated the team to Sarasota, Florida, as the Gulf Coast League Mets, while their home ballpark was being renovated.[27] In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer baseball league, and the Mets were replaced by the Axmen, a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshman and sophomores.[28]

Eastman Chemical Company has its world headquarters in Kingsport.[29] Domtar operates a paper mill in Kingsport. Domtar has temporarily shut this plant down from uncoated freesheet paper manufacturing and plans to convert the plant by 2023 to be able to create containerboard. [30] Holston Army Ammunition Plant operated by BAE Systems' Ordnance Systems, Inc. manufactures a wide range of secondary detonating explosives for the Department of Defense.[31]

In 2019, Kingsport's gross metropolitan product was reported to be US$14.1 billion .[8]

The Kingsport Parks and Recreation manages several parks within the city.

• Bays Mountain Park
• Borden Park
• Dogwood Park
• Edinburgh Park
• Kingsport Greenbelt Walking/Cycling Trail
• Riverview Splash Pad
• Scott Adams Skate Park
• Warrior's Path State Park

Kingsport Police Department is the municipal law enforcement agency for the city.[32]

In 2006, the KPD consisted of 104 sworn officers, 44 full-time non-sworn officers, and 17 part-time non sworn officers.[33] The budget for 2005 was $8,602,800.[34] The KPD has twelve SWAT members that train regularly. KPD SWAT responded to thirteen emergency calls during 2005.[35]

• Netherland Inn
• Old Kingsport Presbyterian Church

• Long, Howard. Kingsport: A Romance of Industry. Overmountain Press (October 1993) 304 pages. ISBN 0-932807-89-5
• Spoden, Muriel Millar Clark. The Long Island of the Holston: Sacred Island of the Cherokee Nation. (1977) 32 pages. ASIN: B0006WOGAM
• Wolfe, Margaret Ripley. Kingsport Tennessee: A Planned American City. University Press of Kentucky (November 1987) 259 pages. ISBN 0-8131-1624-4

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kingsport.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kingsport, Tennessee.

• City of Kingsport official website
• Kingsport History