Claiborne County, Tennessee
Claiborne County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,043.[2] Its county seat is Tazewell and its largest city is Harrogate.[3]
History[edit]
Claiborne County was established on October 29, 1801, created from Grainger and Hawkins counties and extended the southern boundary to Anderson County. It was named for Virginia tidewater aristocrat William C. C. Claiborne, one of the first judges of the Tennessee Superior Court and one of the first representatives in U.S. Congress from Tennessee.[4]
Like a few other East Tennessee counties, Claiborne County was largely opposed to secession on the eve of the Civil War. In Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession referendum on June 8, 1861, the county's residents voted against secession by a margin of 1,243 to 250.[5]
The Four Seasons Hotel was built on the location of present-day Lincoln Memorial University in 1892 by an English land company, the American Association Limited, which was led locally by flamboyant businessman Alexander Arthur. At the time, it was reported by its promoters to be the largest hotel in the United States. The main building was four stories high with a lobby 75 feet square and a dining room 50 feet by 160 feet. It was reported to contain 700 rooms. Also included in the complex were a hospital, an inn, a sanitarium, and other smaller buildings. The hotel was not a success and was demolished in 1895. During its operation, the Four Seasons Hotel offered buggy rides to nearby English Cave, which had been improved with wooden stairways, walkways, and bridges. The rotting remains of these wooden structures can still be seen in the cave.[6]
Notable people[edit]
from Claiborne County include State Representative Boyd C. Fugate (1884-1967) and Tennessee's first female sheriff Della Riley. Claiborne County's musical heritage includes musicians Rodney Atkins, Cindy Morgan and Michael McMeel as well as bluegrass musicians Steve Gulley, Milton Estes, CF Bailey and Shadow Ridge, Vic Graves, Scott and Alan Powers, The Honeycutt Brothers, Buster Turner and the Turner Brothers, Bryan Turner, Patrick Beeler, Larry Carter, Randall Massengill, and Jerry Cole. Notable Old-Time musicians from Claiborne County include Fiddling Bob Rogers, as well as ballad singers Mae Ray, Alice Parsons, Chester Lewis, and Kinley Brooks, whose repertoires are included in Cecil Sharp's English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. Other ballad collectors in Claiborne County include Artus Moser, C P Cambiaire, and Tillman Cadle. Local African American musicians include gospel singers Ralph Ford and Rick Gregory.
Lincoln Memorial University's literary heritage includes authors Silas House, James Still, and Jesse Stuart.
Recent Awards and Recognition[16]