Rogersville | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 36°25′N83°0′W / 36.417°N 83.000°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Tennessee |
County | Hawkins |
Settled | 1775 |
Founded | 1789 |
Incorporated | 1903 [1] |
Named for | Joseph Rogers |
Government | |
• Type | Mayor-council |
• Mayor | Jim Sells (R) |
• Vice Mayor | Brian Hartness |
• Town Council | Aldermen |
Area | |
• Town | 3.76 sq mi (9.73 km2) |
• Land | 3.76 sq mi (9.73 km2) |
• Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
Elevation | 1,312 ft (400 m) |
Population | |
• Town | 4,671 |
• Density | 1,242.62/sq mi (479.83/km2) |
• Urban | 6,390 [6] |
Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 37857 |
Area code | 423 |
FIPS code | 47-64820 [7] |
GNIS feature ID | 2407236 [4] |
Website | townofrogersville |
Rogersville is a town in and the county seat of Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. [4] It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers. Tennessee's second oldest courthouse, the Hawkins County Courthouse, first newspaper The Knoxville Gazette, and first post office are all located in Rogersville. The Rogersville Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rogersville is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Tri-Cities region.
The population of Rogersville as of the 2010 census was 4,671. [8]
In 1775, the grandparents of Davy Crockett, a future member of the United States Congress from Tennessee and hero of the Alamo, settled in the Watauga colony in the area in what is today Rogersville near the spring that today bears their name. [10] After an American Indian attack and massacre, the remaining Crocketts sold the property to a Huguenot named Colonel Thomas Amis. [11]
In 1780, Colonel Amis built a fort at Big Creek, on the outskirts of the present-day town, with the assistance of fellow Scots-Irish settler John Carter. [10] That same year, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) above downtown Rogersville, Amis erected a fortress-like stone house, around which he built a palisade for protection against Native American attack. [10] The next year, Amis opened a store, erected a blacksmith shop, and built a distillery. [10] He also eventually established a sawmill and a gristmill. From the first he kept a house of entertainment. [10]
In 1785, the State of Franklin organized Spencer County (which includes the area of present-day Hawkins County, Tennessee) and declared the seat of county government to be located at what is today Rogersville. [12] Thomas Henderson was chosen county court clerk and colonel of the militia. William Cocke and Thomas King were elected representatives to the Franklin General Assembly. The remaining county officers are unknown. [12]
In November 1786, North Carolina began once more to contend with the Franklin government for control over the area, and that state's General Assembly passed an act creating Hawkins County. [13] It included within its limits all the territory between Bays Mountain and the Holston and Tennessee rivers on the east to the Cumberland Mountains on the west. [13] The county court was organized at the house of Thomas Gibbons. [13] As had the state of Franklin, North Carolina set the new county seat about the property of Joseph Rogers. [14]
Joseph Rogers (August 21, 1764 – November 6, 1833) was born near Cook's Town, Ireland, the son of James Rogers and his wife, Elizabeth Brown. He traveled to the area, by then known as the State of Franklin (which had been carved out of far west North Carolina), by 1785. During a stay at a tavern adjacent to Colonel Thomas Amis' home, Rogers met the colonel's daughter, Mary Amis, whom he wed, on October 24, 1786. Her father ceded the lands near Crockett Spring to his son-in-law— the same land that Colonel Amis had purchased from the heirs of David Crockett. [11]
When North Carolina considered where to establish the county seat for its new Hawkins County, Rogers successfully lobbied to have the government located near his home. He volunteered his tavern, which had been established about 1784–85, as the first county courthouse, where it was finally established in 1787. With the help of other local settlers, Rogers laid out a plan for the town, and the town of Rogersville was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1789. The plan included a public square, deeded to the town government, which would host the town's public well and a county courthouse.
In November 1792, Rogers was appointed the first postmaster at Rogersville. The town's second post office, built by Rogers c. 1815, still stands at the corner of east Main Street and south Hasson Street.
Rogers was the father of fourteen children with Mary. He died on November 6, 1833, at Rogersville, and is buried in Rogers Cemetery. His wife, Mary, died a month later.
In November 1863, during the Civil War, Rogersville was the site of a battle between occupying Federal forces and invading Confederate troops. Union forces had encamped just outside the town. The Confederates, led by Brigadier General William E. Jones, were able to surprise the Union forces and pursue them across the Holston River and into Greene County. The Confederates held the town for the remainder of the war.
Sentiment in Rogersville was divided. Many supported the efforts of twenty-six East Tennessee counties seceding from the state (much as the State of Scott had done) and re-joining the Union. Others saw President Lincoln's invasion of Tennessee as an unprecedented invasion of their homes and an incursion by Federal power; these people became strong Confederates.[ citation needed ] Rogersville was spared destruction during the war. In fact, structures such as the Hale Springs Inn were used by the different occupying armies.
George Roulstone was Tennessee's first printer. He was encouraged to settle in Rogersville by William Blount, the new governor of the Southwest Territory. Roulston printed Tennessee's first newspaper on November 5, 1791. Because Knoxville, the intended seat of the new territorial government, had not yet been established, Roulstone published the first year of his paper near the Rogers tavern. Roulstone called the newspaper The Knoxville Gazette and in October 1792, he moved his press to Knoxville, where he continued to publish the Gazette as well as other papers until his death in 1804. After the Gazette was moved, there was no newspaper in the area until 1813, when John B. Hood began publishing The East Tennessee Gazette at Rogersville. Other papers shortly followed, including The Western Pilot, c. 1815, and The Rogersville Gazette from the same era.[ citation needed ]
Specialty publications emerged during these early days, including The Rail-Road Advocate, The Calvinistic Magazine, and The Holston Watchman. Numerous other newspapers have been published in Rogersville over the years, most surviving only a short time and having modest circulation. Among them were The Independent, The Rogersville Spectator, The Weekly Reporter, The Rogersville Gazette, Rogersville Press and Times, Holston Journal, Hawkins County Republican, Hawkins County Telephone, and The Rogersville Herald.[ citation needed ]
Rogersville's longest-lasting newspaper is The Rogersville Review , which began publication as The Holston Review in 1885 by William T. Robertson. A year later, Robertson changed the name to the present banner. The Review's closest competitor in lifespan was The Rogersville Herald, which was published from 1886 to 1932.
The town's printing heritage is chronicled by the Tennessee Newspaper and Printing Museum, located in the town's historic Southern Railway train depot, c. 1890. [15]
In 2020, the Rogersville Town Council acquired a three-acre site of a vacant shopping center with plans to turn the site into a civic service campus, consisting of a new community center, town hall, and a concessions area for users of Rogersville town park, which borders the complex site. [16]
Rogersville is located slightly southwest of the center of Hawkins County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.4 square miles (8.8 km2), all land. [8] The town is in the valley of Crockett Creek, a southwest-flowing tributary of the Holston River. [17] The elevation of Rogersville is 1,286 feet (392 m). Via U.S. Route 11W (see below), it is 28 miles (45 km) southwest of Kingsport and 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Knoxville. [18]
Rogersville is located in the Ridge and Valley Ecoregion, part of the Appalachian Mountains. [19]
Climate data for Rogersville 1 NE, Tennessee (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1896–present) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 80 (27) | 81 (27) | 86 (30) | 95 (35) | 96 (36) | 104 (40) | 102 (39) | 102 (39) | 103 (39) | 95 (35) | 84 (29) | 81 (27) | 104 (40) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 45.3 (7.4) | 50.2 (10.1) | 59.1 (15.1) | 68.6 (20.3) | 76.2 (24.6) | 82.6 (28.1) | 85.5 (29.7) | 84.9 (29.4) | 80.4 (26.9) | 70.1 (21.2) | 58.2 (14.6) | 48.2 (9.0) | 67.4 (19.7) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 35.4 (1.9) | 39.4 (4.1) | 47.0 (8.3) | 56.3 (13.5) | 64.8 (18.2) | 71.8 (22.1) | 75.2 (24.0) | 74.2 (23.4) | 68.9 (20.5) | 57.6 (14.2) | 46.5 (8.1) | 38.5 (3.6) | 56.3 (13.5) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 25.5 (−3.6) | 28.7 (−1.8) | 34.9 (1.6) | 44.1 (6.7) | 53.4 (11.9) | 60.9 (16.1) | 64.9 (18.3) | 63.5 (17.5) | 57.5 (14.2) | 45.2 (7.3) | 34.9 (1.6) | 28.8 (−1.8) | 45.2 (7.3) |
Record low °F (°C) | −23 (−31) | −17 (−27) | −4 (−20) | 20 (−7) | 27 (−3) | 33 (1) | 44 (7) | 44 (7) | 31 (−1) | 16 (−9) | 5 (−15) | −18 (−28) | −23 (−31) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 4.56 (116) | 4.17 (106) | 4.53 (115) | 4.54 (115) | 4.15 (105) | 4.40 (112) | 4.94 (125) | 3.22 (82) | 3.29 (84) | 2.73 (69) | 3.38 (86) | 4.93 (125) | 48.84 (1,241) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 3.2 (8.1) | 2.1 (5.3) | 0.3 (0.76) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.7 (1.8) | 6.3 (16) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 9.6 | 9.2 | 9.6 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 10.6 | 10.4 | 7.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 8.8 | 105.4 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.9 |
Source: NOAA [20] [21] |
The Hawkins County Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located six nautical miles (7 mi, 11 km) northeast of the central business district of Rogersville. [22]
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1870 | 657 | — | |
1880 | 740 | 12.6% | |
1890 | 1,153 | 55.8% | |
1900 | 1,386 | 20.2% | |
1910 | 1,242 | −10.4% | |
1920 | 1,402 | 12.9% | |
1930 | 1,590 | 13.4% | |
1940 | 2,018 | 26.9% | |
1950 | 2,545 | 26.1% | |
1960 | 3,121 | 22.6% | |
1970 | 4,076 | 30.6% | |
1980 | 4,368 | 7.2% | |
1990 | 4,149 | −5.0% | |
2000 | 4,240 | 2.2% | |
2010 | 4,420 | 4.2% | |
2020 | 4,671 | 5.7% | |
Sources: [23] [24] [5] |
Race | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic) | 4,214 | 90.22% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 149 | 3.19% |
Native American | 11 | 0.24% |
Asian | 35 | 0.75% |
Other/Mixed | 168 | 3.6% |
Hispanic or Latino | 94 | 2.01% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,671 people, 1,767 households, and 1,150 families residing in the town.
As of the census [7] of 2000, there were 4,240 people, 2,060 households, and 1,155 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,277 inhabitants per square mile (493/km2). There were 2,268 housing units at an average density of 683.1 per square mile (263.7/km2). [26]
The racial makeup of the town was 94.13% White, 4.06% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population.
There were 2,060 households, out of which 21.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.9% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.9% were non-families. 40.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.63.
In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 17.8% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 26.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 76.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $23,275, and the median income for a family was $32,236. Males had a median income of $30,226 versus $22,482 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,940. About 14.9% of families and 21.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.0% of those under age 18 and 15.8% of those age 65 or over.
Listed chronologically by date of birth:
There are no non-Christian congregations in Rogersville. Among Christian churches, congregations are predominantly Baptist. Denominations with congregations currently in Rogersville include:
The following media originates from within or nearby the Town:
Located in the eastern part of the town, the Rogersville City Park is owned and operated by the town of Rogersville. It is bounded by U.S. Route 11W on the northwest, Park Boulevard on the northeast, and East Main Street on the south.
The park has four children's playgrounds, two outdoor basketball courts, four outdoor tennis courts, numerous picnic shelters, three large, lighted pavilions (two with restroom facilities), an amphitheatre, a lighted stage area, six lighted baseball/softball fields, the town's soccer fields, a duck pond, a fitness trail, and two walking trails. It is home to the Rogersville City Pool, the home pool of the Rogersville Flying Fish Swim Association, which is open to the public from Memorial Day to the start of classes in the City school system in August.
The park is the site of a traveling midway carnival in the late spring and early fall and hosts more than fifty thousand people annually during the Rogersville Fourth of July celebration.
The town-sponsored festival of lights is hosted at the Park, where the Department of Parks & Recreation illuminates several thousand holiday lights and exhibits.
In September 2023, the Rogersville Parks and Recreation Department was awarded a $500,000 grant, to be matched with local funds, from the TN Local Parks and Recreation Fund to install ADA compliant restroom facilities and upgrade playground equipment. [29]
Located in downtown Rogersville, the Crockett Spring Park is a joint project of the town and the Rogersville Heritage Association. The park is the site of Rogersville's first settlement, and the tavern and home built by founder Joseph Rogers is preserved on the site. The park encompasses the Rogers Cemetery, where Joseph and Mary Rogers and the grandparents of Davy Crockett are buried.
The site of Rogersville's first public swimming pool is here, as is the gazebo built to commemorate the bicentennials of both the town (1989) and the state (1996). This public park is maintained by the Rogersville Parks and Recreation Department and the auspices of the Rogersville Tree Board.
Rogersville was home to an African-American college, Swift College, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Swift Park, located off North Hasson Street in the central part of the town, commemorates the legacy of that institution. In addition, the park boasts picnic shelters, two playgrounds, and basketball courts.
There are two school districts covering the Rogersville municipal limits: elementary students are in the Rogersville City Schools while secondary students are in the Hawkins County School District. [30]
The Rogersville School District has a single PreK-8 school, Rogersville Elementary School. [31] It was established circa 1923. (present configuration beginning 1950; Rogersville City School System). Mascot is the Warrior (Formerly the Chief; Until Cherokee High School in 1981); colors are red, white, and black. Serving grades K-8 since 1950; from 1923 to 1950, grades 1–12 (grades 9–12 transferred to Rogersville High School). Competes in interscholastic athletics. In 2007, the RCS Warriors football team won the TMSAA state championship.
The current high school including Rogersville in its attendance boundary is Cherokee Comprehensive High School, c. 1981–present (Hawkins County School System). Serves grades 9–12. Mascot is the Chief; colors are red, black, and white. Comprehensive public high school serving students from the former Rogersville High School and Bulls Gap High School. Competes in TSSAA-sanctioned interscholastic athletics. The previous high school was Rogersville High School, c. 1923–1980. Mascot was the Warrior, colors were maroon and gray.
The county school system operates these schools within the city limits of Rogersville, although these are not the zoned schools for city residents:
The following county school is near, but not inside, the Rogersville city limits, and is not a zoned school for city residents:
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee on its northeast border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,163. Its county seat is Blountville.
Hawkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56,721. Its county seat is Rogersville. Hawkins County is part of the Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.
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Church Hill is a city in Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,998 at the 2020 census and 6,737 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the "Tri-Cities" region. It is the largest municipality located entirely within Hawkins County.
Mount Carmel is a city in Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,429, an increase of 634 since the 2000 census. It is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the "Tri-Cities" region.
Surgoinsville is a town in Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. The 2020 census showed a population of 1,882, an increase over the figure of 1,801 tabulated in 2010. It is part of the Kingsport–Bristol (TN)–Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.
Mascot is a census-designated place (CDP) in Knox County, Tennessee. The population was 2,760 at the 2020 census up from 2,411 at the 2010 census.
Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, which spans a portion of southwest Virginia and the mountainous counties in northeastern Tennessee. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, which had a population of 307,613 in 2020. The metro area is a component of the larger Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, with a population of 508,260 in 2020.
Bean Station is a town split between the counties of Grainger and Hawkins in Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,967. It is part of the Kingsport and Knoxville metropolitan statistical areas.
U.S. Route 11W (US 11W) is the western branch of US 11 from the twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia, where US 11 splits into US 11E and US 11W, to Knoxville, Tennessee, where the two highways rejoin. The highway serves the Appalachia region's Ridge-and-Valley section of East Tennessee, bounded by the Clinch Mountain ridge to the north and the Holston River to the south. US 11W from Bristol to Bean Station and Blaine to Knoxville are designated as part of the National Highway System.
The Knoxville Gazette was the first newspaper published in the U.S. state of Tennessee and the third published west of the Appalachian Mountains. Established by George Roulstone (1767–1804) at the urging of Southwest Territory governor William Blount, the paper's first edition appeared on November 5, 1791. The Gazette provided an important medium through which Tennessee's frontier government could dispense legislative announcements, and the paper's surviving editions are now an invaluable source of information on life in early Knoxville.
The Rogersville Review is a twice-weekly newspaper publishing in Rogersville, Tennessee, United States.
Strawberry Plains is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson, Knox, and Sevier counties in the State of Tennessee, United States. Before 2010, it was treated by the United States Census Bureau as a census county division. It is included in both the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Morristown Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Joseph Rogers (1764–1833) was an Irish-born pioneer and settler who, with his father-in-law Thomas Amis, founded the town of Rogersville, Tennessee in 1789.
The Hawkins County Courthouse is the seat of county government for Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States, located in the city of Rogersville. It was built in 1836, it is one of six antebellum courthouses still in use in Tennessee, and it is the second oldest courthouse still in use in the state.
The Rogersville Historic District is a historic district in Rogersville, Tennessee, the county seat of Hawkins County. It is both a local historic district and a National Register of Historic Places historic district.
Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found only in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, the stone has been used in the construction of numerous notable buildings and monuments throughout the United States and Canada, including the National Gallery of Art, National Air and Space Museum, and United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., the Minnesota State Capitol, Grand Central Terminal in New York, and Union Station in Toronto. Tennessee marble achieved such popularity in the late-19th century that Knoxville, the stone's primary finishing and distribution center, became known as "The Marble City."
Mooresburg is a census-designated place (CDP) and an unincorporated town in Hawkins County, Tennessee. Its population was 941 as of the 2010 census. It is located along U.S. Route 11W between Rogersville and Bean Station.
Phipps Bend Nuclear Plant was a planned nuclear power generation facility that was to be constructed and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in unincorporated Hawkins County, Tennessee. Proposed to house two reactor units, the power plant was estimated to cost $1.6 billion when it was first planned in late 1977, provide a generating capacity of 2,600,000 kilowatts. Following negative public reactions towards nuclear energy following the Three Mile Island accident and a decreasing demand for power due to regional economic decline, the TVA's board of directors voted to defer further construction of the power plant. By 1981, the plant was 40% complete and an estimated $1.5 billion in planning, engineering, and construction costs had accumulated. Construction never resumed, and the project was canceled overall in 1982 due to lower load growth than forecast. By the project's cancellation, the TVA had amassed over $2.6 billion in spending for the incomplete nuclear facility. After being auctioned off by the TVA in 1987, the land acquired for the plant would be under the ownership of Hawkins County's industrial development board, who converted most of the site into an industrial park. A 1 MW solar farm was built at the site in 2017.
Hawkins County School District, also known as Hawkins County School System or Hawkins County Schools (HCS), is a school district headquartered in Rogersville, Tennessee.