Harriman is a city in the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, primarily in
Roane County, with a small extension into
Morgan County. It is the principal city of and is included in the Harriman Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Roane County and is a component of the
KnoxvilleFounded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
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SeviervilleSevierville is a city in Sevier County, Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 11,757 at the 2000 United States Census; in 2004 the estimated population was 14,101. Sevierville is the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee....
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La FolletteLaFollette is a city in Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 7,926 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the La Follette, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Campbell County, and is a component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette...
, TN
Combined Statistical AreaThe United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...
. The population of Harriman was 6,744 at the
2000 censusThe Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
Geography
Harriman is located at 35°55′43"N 84°33′21"W (35.928585, -84.555700). The city is situated along the physiographic boundary between the
Tennessee ValleyThe Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...
region and the
Cumberland PlateauThe Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, part of Tennessee, and a small portion of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia . The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the...
region, with the Plateau— namely its
Walden RidgeWalden Ridge is a mountain ridge and escarpment located in Tennessee, in the United States. It marks the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau and is generally considered part of it. Walden Ridge is about long, running generally north-south...
escarpment— rising several hundred feet above the city to the west. The
Emory RiverThe Emory River is a stream draining a portion of Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau.-Hydrography:The Emory River rises on the slopes of Frozen Head and Bird Mountain, prominent peaks in that part of the Cumberland Plateau in Morgan County, Tennessee. Frozen Head is the focus of a Tennessee state park...
enters the Tennessee Valley just west of Harriman at a pass known as Emory Gap, and forms an
oxbow bendA meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
that surrounds the original section of Harriman.
U.S. Route 27U.S. Route 27 is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 in Fort Wayne, Indiana...
, known as Roane Street in Harriman, runs north-to-south through the city along the base of Walden Ridge.
Interstate 40Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
runs east-to-west through the city's southern section. Harriman's southwestern boundary, which it shares with
RockwoodRockwood is a city in Roane County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 5,774 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, is located along US-27 about a half-mile south of the road's intersection with I-40. The city's southeastern boundary runs along Pine Ridge, which overlooks the
Kingston Fossil PlantKingston Fossil Plant, commonly known as Kingston Steam Plant, is a Tennessee Valley Authority 1.7-GW coal-burning power plant located at in Roane County, just outside Kingston, Tennessee on the shore of Watts Bar Lake....
. Harriman's northern boundary is near US-27's split with
State Highway 61State Route 61 is a west-to-east highway in the U.S. state of Tennessee that is 69 miles long.State Route 61 begins in Roane County, and it ends in Union County.It overlaps Interstate 75 in Anderson County.-Counties traversed :...
.
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 10.2 square miles (26.5 km²), of which 10.0 square miles (26.0 km²) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) (1.86%) is water.
Demographics
As of the
censusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 6,744 people, 2,907 households, and 1,802 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 671.5 people per square mile (259.3/km²). There were 3,309 housing units at an average density of 329.5 per square mile (127.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.11% White, 7.43% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.76% of the population.
There were 2,907 households out of which 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $23,736, and the median income for a family was $31,190. Males had a median income of $26,616 versus $20,278 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $14,763. About 18.6% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over.
East Tennessee Land Company
Harriman was founded as a
Temperance TownTemperance Towns were settlements planned, financed, and populated by followers of the temperance movement of the late 19th century.* Prohibition Park, New York , began as a summer colony for temperance followers in Manhattan and was financed by New York businessmen* Vineland, New Jersey, was...
in 1889 by
Temperance movementA temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
activists led by New York-born minister and plant manager Frederick Gates. Seeking a land venture that could attract industrial and economic development while avoiding the vice-driven pitfalls of late 19th century
company townA company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
s, Gates and fellow prohibitionists chartered the East Tennessee Land Company in May 1889 and in subsequent months acquired several hundred thousand acres of land around what is now Harriman. The company's early investors included 1888
Prohibition PartyThe Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
presidential candidate General
Clinton B. FiskClinton Bowen Fisk , for whom Fisk University is named, was a senior officer during Reconstruction in the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. He endowed Fisk University with $30,000...
, who served as the company's first president,
Quaker OatsThe Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by Pepsico since 2001.-History:Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:...
co-founder
Ferdinand SchumacherFerdinand Schumacher , aka The Oatmeal King, was a German immigrant, an American entrepreneur and one of the founders of companies which merged to become the Quaker Oats Company.-Biography:...
, and publishers Isaac Funk and
A. W. WagnallsAdam Willis Wagnalls was an American publisher. He was the co-founder and co-eponym of the Funk & Wagnalls Company in 1877....
.
The East Tennessee Land Company's plan was to purchase land, build a town based on prohibitionist and other reform movement principles, and establish subsidiary companies to attract industry. After a successful land auction in Harriman in 1890, the company established three subsidiaries: the East Tennessee Mining Company to administer the region's coal and iron extraction operations, the Harriman Coal & Iron Railroad Company to develop the local railroad system, and the Harriman Manufacturing Company to attract industries by providing start-up capital. To project its prosperity and advertise Harriman, the company built an imposing brick headquarters (now Harriman City Hall), with its four picturesque
NormanAbout|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
towers, at the corner of Walden Avenue and Roane Street near the center of the new town. By 1892, several rolling mills, factories, and other businesses had relocated to Harriman.
To help finance its early operations, the East Tennessee Land Company borrowed just over one million dollars from the Central Trust Company of New York. In late 1891, capital markets in the U.S. began to freeze, leading to the
Panic of 1893The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
. The East Tennessee Land Company, unable to pay the interest on its million-dollar loan, attempted a last-ditch stock sale to raise money to pay off the loan, but the sale failed. In November 1893, the company was forced into bankruptcy.
Development of Harriman
Harriman is named for
Walter HarrimanWalter Harriman was an American preacher, merchant, soldier, and politician who served two terms as the Governor of New Hampshire. He was a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War....
, a governor of
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
whose son, Walter C. Harriman, was managing director of the East Tennessee Land Company. As a Colonel (later General) in the
Union ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the
Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, he had traveled on foot through the area with his 11th New Hampshire Regiment and camped for several days on the Emory River near the future site of the city. An elderly local later told the directors that Harriman had said that the site would be the perfect place for a town, and based on this conversation, the directors chose the name of "Harriman."
The site of Harriman was chosen primarily for its proximity to Emory Gap, where the
Cincinnati Southern RailwayThe Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway is a railroad that runs from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, forming part of the Norfolk Southern Railway system. The rail line that it operates, the Cincinnati Southern Railway, is owned by the City of Cincinnati and is...
joined the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway. The city, platted on Christmas Day in 1889, was laid out in a grid pattern that conformed to the Emory's oxbow bend at the base of Walden Ridge. The block bounded by Roane, Walden, Morgan, and Clinton streets was set aside for the city's public buildings (this block is now the location of the city hall, library, and fire department). Lots in the heights around Cumberland and Clinton streets (now
Cornstalk HeightsCornstalk Heights is a neighborhood in Harriman, Tennessee, USA. Platted in the early 1890s as a residential area for Harriman's upper and professional classes, the neighborhood contains over 100 buildings added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as a historic district for their...
) were substantially larger, as it was expected that the city's wealthy and professional-class residents would buy homes here. The areas along the river (Emory Street) were for mills and residential areas for skilled laborers.
The initial land auction for Harriman was held in late February 1890, and was attended by over 4,000 prospective buyers from across the nation. Several hundred lots were sold, raising over $600,000. The most expensive lots were along Roane Street and in what is now Cornstalk Heights, most of which sold for over $2,000 apiece, while the lots closer to the river typically sold for less than $500 apiece. Shortly after the initial auction, the company platted several more lots outside the city in what is now the Walnut Hills and Oak View neighborhoods for the city's wage workers.
20th century
In spite of the East Tennessee Land Company's collapse, Harriman continued to grow, although its growth was very gradual. The
American Temperance UniversityAmerican Temperance University opened in 1893 in the planned town of Harriman, Tennessee, which was developed as a community with no alcoholic beverages permitted. In its second year of operation the institution enrolled 345 students from 20 states. However, it closed in 1908. Those who attended...
was established in 1894, and operated out of the East Tennessee Land Company's abandoned headquarters. In the 1920s, the combination of the
stock market crashThe Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
and a devastating
floodA flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
of the Emory River, both in 1929, wiped out much of the city's industry. A
paper millA paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
and two
hosieryHosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as hose...
mills provided the largest share of jobs in the city through the rest of the twentieth century, with the paper mill (a
Mead CorporationMeadWestvaco Corp. is an American packaging solutions company based in Richmond, Virginia. It has approximately 23,000 employees. In February 2006, it moved its corporate headquarters to Richmond, Virginia...
property) and the hosiery companies (Harriman Hosiery, formerly a Burlington Corp. plant, and independent Roane Hosiery) operating into the 1980s.
The city got a boost in the 1940s and 1950s from heavy automobile traffic along US-27, which was a primary artery connecting the
Great LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region with
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
before I-75 was completed. The routing of Interstate 40 through southwestern Harriman connected the community more closely with Knoxville but never produced the kind of modern industrial development inside the town that community leaders expected.
The city, still quaint but clearly different now from its economic heyday, still shows considerable evidence of being a "planned community". Its streets retain its original grid pattern, as the collapse of the East Tennessee Land Company in 1893 "froze" the city in its original developmental state. There remains a considerable number of homes— especially in Cornstalk Heights— displaying
Victorian architectureThe term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
as well—many of which have been either painstakingly maintained or restored. The Temperance heritage was slow to depart. There was no liquor store in Harriman until 1992.
Education
Harriman's K-12 public schools are operated by the Roane County school system. Institutions of higher education include the main campus of
Roane State Community CollegeRoane State Community College is a two-year college located in eastern Tennessee. It was authorized by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1969, along with two other community colleges, and operates under the authority of the Tennessee Board of Regents....
(located just outside Harriman city limits) and the Tennessee Technology Center at Harriman, located just north of the city.
External links