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Campbell County

Campbell County was created in 1806 from Anderson and Claiborne Counties. Campbell County was named in honor of Col. Arthur Campbell (1743-1811). Col. Campbell was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and an Officer during the Revolutionary War.

Native Americans first lived in this area and several settlements have been excavated. The largest known site was located at present day Cove Lake State Park. The natural beauty and abundant resources attracted settlers as early as 1740. Elk, deer, and buffalo were common both in the richly timbered mountains and wide well-watered valleys. Resources such as timber and later iron and coal were exploited. While such resources formed the basis of early industry, agriculture was the primary commercial activity until the 20th century.

Campbell County has been marked by steady growth as settlements grew along the rivers and other routes of travel. This growth was briefly interrupted during the American Civil War. Staunchly Unionist, Campbell County is credited with providing the first three (3) companies of Union volunteers from the state of Tennessee. Campbell County was also the home of Joseph A. Cooper, who rose to the rank of Maj. General in the Union Army. Major troop movements by both northern and southern armies passed through Campbell County but fortunately most ante-bellum homes were spared destruction and many may still be seen today.

Norris Dam
After the Civil War, life slowly returned to normal. Then in 1936, the completion of Norris Dam on Campbell County’s southern border changed Campbell County forever. While many communities were flooded and farms lost, a beautiful lake with over eight hundred (800) miles of shoreline was formed. Today Norris Lake is a major tourist attraction with many modern resorts and fine homes located near the lake. Due to the creation of Norris Lake, tourism became a major industry and remains so today. With the construction of Norris Dam, as part of the WA project, affordable abundant electricity became available. Today WA is still one of the least expensive and most reliable suppliers of electricity in the country.

Campbell County has produced many notable leaders such as Congressman John Jennings and J. Will Taylor, Educator Burgin Dossett, Movie star Grace Moore, Maj. General Joseph A. Cooper, and Four Star General Carl Wade Stiner. The story of these and many others may be viewed daily free of charge at the Campbell County Museum and Archives located in LaFollette, Tennessee. Modern Campbell County offers superb roads such as I-75, abundant inexpensive electricity, modern schools, two state-of-the-art hospitals, and low taxes coupled with unspoiled mountain wilderness and eight hundred (800) miles of pristine shoreline. While Campbell County embraces its Appalachian heritage, progress leadership is charting a course towards a bright future.

 
Claiborne County a Great Place to Visit!

mountainsWelcome to Claiborne County, Tennessee! Located in the northeast part of the state where Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia meet and where historic figures like Daniel Boone and Thomas Walker led the westward migration that made America the country it is today.

Claiborne County consists of over 400 square miles of picturesque mountain scenery, rolling valleys, beautiful rivers and lakes.

Claiborne County and the surrounding area offers a little bit of everything for the whole family.

LincolnFrom the one of a kind Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Harrogate to the hiking trails and quaint shops of the town of Cumberland Gap to the 800 miles of shoreline of Norris Lake and the challenging 18-hole championship Woodlake Golf complex, visitors are sure to find that coming to Claiborne County is a trip worth making.

Hiking, fishing, golfing, hunting, boating, exploring, and tubing are just a few of the things to fill your family’s days in Claiborne County.

Whether you love to sit back, relax and enjoy the world passing by or you prefer your fun mixed with a little sweat and sunshine, Claiborne County is the place for you. The people are friendly and the views are breathtaking. Come for your next vacation and you may just decide to stay.

Anderson County

anderson county The county spans 598 square miles and has a population of 71,330. The median age of its residents is just shy of 40, and the median household income is $36,006.

The county is home to two planned communities - Norris, built in the Great Depression to house those working on Norris Dam, and Oak Ridge, which came into existence during World War II as a secret city devoted to helping build the first atomic bomb.

Other cities in Anderson County are Clinton, Lake City, which straddles Anderson and Campbell counties, and Oliver Springs, parts of which are also in Roane and Morgan counties. A number of smaller unincorporated communities also dot the county map, including Claxton, Briceville and Marlow. The most remote section of the county is called New River, an isolated community only reached by a winding state Highway 116.

Carved from chunks of Knox and Grainger counties by legislative act on Nov. 6, 1801, Anderson County was named after then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Anderson. The Legislature also decreed two centuries ago that the county seat would be next to the Clinch River.

Originally called Burrville, after Aaron Burr, the city was later renamed Clinton after Burr fell into dishonor. Clinton early last century was famed for its thriving market in fresh-water pearls. That unique industry was doomed when Norris Dam was built, for the dam forever altered the environment needed for the mussels that made the pearls.

Now, Clinton is the county's industrial hub, and last year city officials announced three new industries for its new Clinton/Interstate 75 Industrial Park, located a couple of miles off I-75.

With a population of 9,409, Clinton has several public parks, including Jaycee Park behind the site for the annual county fair, a tradition that's more than 100 years old. The city also has a sprawling community center that includes a large indoor pool, basketball court, bowling alley and numerous meeting rooms.

Located seven miles west of Clinton, Oak Ridge now has a total population of 27,387, including the portion of the municipality that spills over into Roane County. Oak Ridge, nicknamed the Atomic City in tribute to its legacy in the field of nuclear weapons and research, is immersed in efforts to decrease its dependency on the U.S. Department of Energy.

There are three facilities in Oak Ridge that are part of DOE's Oak Ridge Reservation: the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the former K-25 Site, a former uranium enrichment complex that's being converted to private-sector use. Oak Ridge is known for its broad spectrum of organizations devoted to the arts, from the Oak Ridge Playhouse to the Art Center to an orchestra that performs several times as year.

The county is also home to several notable museums. It's home to both John Rice Irwin's Museum of Appalachia, which abounds with artifacts from the county's history, and the American Museum of Science and Energy, which showcases some of the newest scientific advancements. They're only a 20-minute drive apart. There's also the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, located in a former school building on West Outer Drive; the Norris Museum in the McNeeley Municipal Building in downtown Norris; and the Will G. and Helen H. Lenoir Museum, located off U.S. Highway 441.

The Museum of Appalachia, with more than 250,000 items on display, is one of the county's major tourist attractions. On the second weekend of October, owner John Rice Irwin hosts a Fall Homecoming Festival that's now in its 23rd year.

The county offers numerous recreational opportunities for those who enjoy the outdoors. Norris Dam State Park, which encompasses 7,000 acres straddling Norris Dam, was shut down for an indefinite time on Nov. 30 as part of a controversial statewide cost-cutting measure due to budgetary woes. The closure came despite outcries from residents and many of the estimated 860,000 park users who booked campsites and the park's famous Tea Room building for weddings and other events.

Outdoors enthusiasts have other venues, however, including the Clinch River, one of the region's premiere trout-fishing hot spots, Norris Lake, known for striped bass as well as pleasure boating, and the 2,307-acre Norris Watershed. Along with 24 miles of trails for hikers, bikers and horseback riders, the watershed lures hunters to its woods each fall.

In Oak Ridge, there's the 800-acre Haw Ridge Park that's popular with mountain bikers, while the city-owned greenway system features miles of trails in wooded areas, including the North Ridge Trail, named a National Recreation Trail in 1973.

The three public school systems in Anderson County are the 1,000-student Clinton system that encompasses three elementary schools, the 7,000-student county system that includes 17 schools, and the seven schools in the Oak Ridge system, which has about 4,500 students.

 

 

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