Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee.[7] Johnson City is the principal city of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Carter, Unicoi, and Washington counties[8] and had a population of 207,285 as of 2020. The MSA is also a component of the Tri-Cities region. This CSA is the fifth-largest in Tennessee, with a population of 514,899 as of 2020.
Johnson City
United States
1856
1869[1]
Henry Johnson
Dr. Todd Fowler
Aaron T. Murphy
Cathy Ball
Jenny Brock
Joe Wise
John Hunter
43.75 sq mi (113.32 km2)
43.44 sq mi (112.52 km2)
0.31 sq mi (0.80 km2)
1,634 ft (498 m)
71,046
72,514
1,635.38/sq mi (631.42/km2)
207,285 (US: 215th)
514,899 (US: 87th)
UTC−4 (EDT)
47-38320[5]
1328579[6]
History[edit]
William Bean, traditionally recognized as Tennessee's first white settler, built his cabin along Boone's Creek near Johnson City in 1769.[9] In the 1780s, Colonel John Tipton (1730–1813) established a farm (now the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site) just outside what is now Johnson City. During the State of Franklin movement, Tipton was a leader of the loyalist faction, residents of the region who wanted to remain part of North Carolina rather than form a separate state. In February 1788, an armed engagement took place at Tipton's farm between Tipton and his men and the forces led by John Sevier, the leader of the Franklin faction.[10]
Founded in 1856 by Henry Johnson as a railroad station called "Johnson's Depot",[11] Johnson City became a major rail hub for the Southeast, as three railway lines crossed in the downtown area.[12]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Johnson City served as headquarters for the narrow gauge East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (the ET&WNC, nicknamed "Tweetsie") and the standard gauge Clinchfield Railroad. Both rail systems featured excursion trips through scenic portions of the Blue Ridge Mountains and were engineering marvels of railway construction. The Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern) also passes through the city.[13]
During the American Civil War, before it was formally incorporated in 1869, the name of the town was briefly changed to "Haynesville" in honor of Confederate Senator Landon Carter Haynes.[14]
Henry Johnson's name was quickly restored following the war, with Johnson elected as the city's first mayor on January 3, 1870. The town grew rapidly from 1870 until 1890 as railroad and mining interests flourished. However, the national depression of 1893, which caused many railway failures (including the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad or "3-Cs", a predecessor of the Clinchfield) and resulting financial panic, halted Johnson City's boom town momentum.[15]
In 1901, the Mountain Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (now the U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center and National Cemetery), Mountain Home, Tennessee[16][17] was created by an act of Congress introduced by Walter P. Brownlow. Construction on this 450-acre (1.8 km2) campus, which was designed to serve disabled Civil War veterans, was completed in 1903 at a cost of $3 million. Before the completion of this facility, the assessed value of the entire town was listed at $750,000. The East Tennessee State Normal School was authorized in 1911 and the new college campus directly across from the National Soldiers Home. Johnson City began growing rapidly and became the fifth-largest city in Tennessee by 1930.[18]
Together with neighboring Bristol, Johnson City was a hotbed for old-time music. It hosted noteworthy Columbia Records recording sessions in 1928 known as the Johnson City Sessions. Native son "Fiddlin' Charlie" Bowman became a national recording star via these sessions.[19] The Fountain Square area in downtown featured a host of local and traveling street entertainers including Blind Lemon Jefferson.
During the 1920s and the Prohibition era, Johnson City's ties to the bootlegging activity of the Appalachian Mountains earned the city the nickname of "Little Chicago".[20] Stories persist that the town was one of several distribution centers for Chicago gang boss Al Capone during Prohibition. Capone had a well-organized distribution network within the southern United States for alcohol smuggling; it shipped his products from the mountain distillers to northern cities. Capone was, according to local lore, a part-time resident of Montrose Court, a luxury apartment complex now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For many years, the city had a municipal "privilege tax" on carnival shows, in an attempt to dissuade traveling circuses and other transient entertainment businesses from doing business in town.[21] The use of drums by merchants to draw attention to their goods is prohibited. Title Six, Section 106 of the city's municipal code, the so-called "Barney Fife" ordinance, empowers the city's police force to draft into involuntary service as many of the town's citizens as necessary to aid police in making arrests and in preventing or quelling any riot, unlawful assembly or breach of peace.[22]
Sports[edit]
Several Minor League Baseball teams have been based in Johnson City. Professional baseball was first played in the city by the Johnson City Soldiers in the Southeastern League in 1910.[37] The city's longest-running team was the Johnson City Cardinals, who played in the Appalachian League as the Rookie affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1975 to 2020.[37] 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 Cardinals were replaced by the Johnson City Doughboys, a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshman and sophomores.[38][39]
Government[edit]
In the United States House of Representatives, Johnson City is represented by Republican Diana Harshbarger of the 1st district.
Johnson City is run by a five-person board of commissioners.[40] The mayor is Todd Fowler, the vice mayor is Aaron Murphy, and the commissioners are Jenny Brock, Joe Wise, and John Hunter. The city manager is Cathy Ball.[41]
Education[edit]
Colleges and universities[edit]
East Tennessee State University has around 16,000 students in addition to a K-12 University School, a laboratory school of about 540 students.[42] University School was the first laboratory school in the nation to adopt a year-round academic schedule.[43]
Milligan University is just outside the city limits in Carter County, and has about 1,200 students in undergraduate and graduate programs.
Northeast State Community College has renovated a building in downtown Johnson City for use as a new satellite teaching site.[44]
Tusculum College has a center on the north side of Johnson City in the Boones Creek area.
Johnson City School System[edit]
Elementary schools
Johnson City's sister cities are:[64][65]