Unicoi County

UnicoiCounty

UnicoiCounty became founded in 1875. The name of the county was in honor of“Unaka,” which was an Indian ethnic name meaning “white.” Themountain range in the county goes by this name. The isfound in the Tennessee state and tends to lie almost entirely in theUnaka Mountain region (Genealogy Trails History Group 1). The regionthat is currently was initially part of Carter andWashington counties until 23^rdMarch 1875, when the Tennessee General Assembly established the newcounty. Exceedingly little part of the county is adapted for thepurpose of cultivation, despite the availability of fertility valleysin the county. Some of the most fertile and beautiful spots in thecounty are Lime Stone Cove and Greasy Cove. has an areathat is approximately 480 square miles. The county is rich in timberand mineral resources. Iron ores and manganese are found in vastquantities in case these resources become well tapped and developed,they can make Unicoi one of the richest counties of East Tennessee.The Nolichucky River navigates the county in a northerly direction,and together with the South Indian and North Indian Creeks makes themain streams in the county. The scenery of the county is magnificent,which is marked by different picturesque waterfalls, as well ascascades, which can be adopted and developed by the population in thearea to drive machineries in case they desire to cultivate theresources. The population of the county has been increasing andfalling at times, which is portrayed by the census conducted in thecounty. The population in 2013 stood at 18,082. However, the currentpopulation is approximately 17,719. The census results for thepopulation between 1880 and 2000 is as follows

Witha population of 17,719, Unicoi is the 72^ndmost populated county in Tennessee State. In 2015, the county had amedian household income of $33,210. Nevertheless, 22.5% of thecounty’s residents were in poverty. The largest ethnic group in the is White, which constitutes around 94% of thepopulation. The whites are followed by Hispanic at 4.3% while theBlacks make 0.8% of the population. In addition, the median age forthe residents in the county is 45.7%.

Thecounty seat was initially named Vanderbilt, but this name becameretained until 1879, when the legislature changed it to Ervin (Ray58). The name was adopted in honor of David Ervin, who had offeredfifteen acres for the development of the county seat. However,erroneously, the post office unit of the government spelt the name asErwin, which remained as the name of the county seat. The firstsettlers of the county were Enoch Job, James Acton, Robert Hampton,George Martin, Jonathan Webb, Jesse Brown, William Lewis, and RichardDeakins. During the early days of their settlement in the county,they encountered hostility from the Indians. Settlers arrived in thecounty during the late 1770s and hurriedly developed farms andchurches. The first Baptist Church became established in 1785. Thename of the church disappeared from the records of the associationthat formed it after 1791, which resulted in its disbandment (Ray64). The next Baptist Church became established in 1882. In thecounty, other Baptist Churches include Paul’s Gap and Coffee Ridge.Alternatively, the first Methodist Church in the county becamedeveloped near the Limestone Cove Center.

Constructionand upkeep of the county roads and bridges emerged as a major issuefor the newly developed county. Second and third class roads in thecounty became replaced by macadamized roads between 1916 and 1919.The state of the roads in the county has changed because acontemporary four-lane highway joins to the NorthCarolina state line and Interstate 81. The highway is expected tojoin more areas to the county.

Thecounty started to experience fast expansion with the launch of theconstruction of the railroad in 1886. Several railroads such asCincinnati, Chicago, and Charleston have run trains in the county.Rails cross five main watersheds and four mountain ranges. The countyprides itself in a fully accredited Hill-Burton hospital whose doorsopened in 1953. This was the first healthcare facility in upper EastTennessee to have a centralized oxygen system installed (Padgett andStevens 1).

Thenumber of public schools in the is 8, and these schoolsserve approximately 2503 students. Out of the 8 public schools, fiveare elementary schools, two are middle schools, and one is a highschool. Some of these public schools include Temple Hill elementary,Rock creek Elementary, Love Chapel Elementary, Unicoi Elementary, Intermediate, and Unicoi Community Learning Center. School District emerges as the most diverse schooldistrict in the county. Besides, in the , minoritystudents have an enrollment of 12% and there are few teacherscompared to the learners enrolled since the ratio of students toteachers is 15:1. Therefore, the minority (mostly Hispanics) areindicated to have low literacy rates in the county. In the county,public schools tend to have a diversity score of 0.22 this is alower score compared to the diversity average score of 0.27 ofTennessee State (Ray 68).

Thecounty is famed for having one time executed an elephant. SparksBrothers Circus visited Kingsport in 1916. An elephant that weighed9,500 pound named Mary killed her trainer in a parade that occurredafter the show (Carey 1). Initially, it seemed like nothing could bedone to the elephant, but after a few days, circus officials gave into the public pressure and reached an agreement to put Mary to deathat Erwin. The elephant was hanged from a railroad at the ClinchfieldRailway Yards. The elephant is still buried there although no one issure of the location of the grave. Besides, emerges asone of the seven east Tennessee counties that have parts of theAppalachian Trail that stretches 2,175 miles through Maine.

Therailroad in the county remained a key employer in the county until1916 the moment Southern Potteries opened doors in Erwin. The potteryfocused on hand-painted dinnerware known as Blue Ridge China. Duringthe construction of the plant, the local community was equipped withthe skill of hand-painting. However, most of the workers came fromWest Virginia and Ohio. In the 1940s, peak employment was more thanone thousand. Following the World War II, imports slowly brought areduction in production making the plant to close in 1957. After theSouthern Pottery closed, Nuclear Fuel Services (formerly DavisonChemical Company) became located in Erwin. The plant is involved inprocessing thorium and uranium products and has now become the majorsupplier of fuel for Navy ships (Padgett and Stevens 2). Also, thereare other industries that have based their operations in the countysuch as Hoover Precision products, Morrill Motors, Georgia Pacificamong other companies.

Conclusion

The is found in the Tennessee state and tends to lie almostentirely in the Unaka Mountain region (Genealogy Trails History Group1). The region that is currently was initially part ofCarter and Washington counties until 23^rdMarch 1875, when the Tennessee General Assembly established the newcounty. Exceedingly little part of the county is adapted for thepurpose of cultivation, despite the availability of fertility valleysin the county. Some of the most fertile and beautiful spots in thecounty are Lime Stone Cove and Greasy Cove. In 2015, the county had amedian household income of $33,210. Nevertheless, 22.5% of thecounty’s residents were in poverty. The largest ethnic group in the is White, which constitutes around 94% of thepopulation. The whites are followed by Hispanic at 4.3% while theBlacks make 0.8% of the population. The county seat was initiallynamed Vanderbilt, but this name became retained until 1879, when thelegislature changed it to Ervin (Ray 58). The name was adopted inhonor of David Ervin, who had offered fifteen acres for thedevelopment of the county seat. However, erroneously, the post officeunit of the government spelt the name as Erwin, which remained as thename of the county seat.

WorksCited

Carey,Bill. UnicoiCounty.Retrieved fromhttp://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/history/counties/counties/unicoi-county.2463586

GenealogyTrails History Group. UnicoiCounty Genealogy and History.Retrieved from http://genealogytrails.com/tenn/unicoi/index.html

Padgett,Britt Hilda and Stevens, Washburn B. UnicoiCounty, Tennessee.Retrieved fromhttp://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnunicoi/countyhistory.htm

Padgett,Britt Hilda and Stevens, Washburn B. TheTennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.Retrieved from http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1415

Ray,Worth S. TennesseeCousins: A History of Tennessee People.Baltimore, Md: Genealogical Pub. Co, 2012. Print.