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Johnson County, Tennessee

Coordinates: 36°28′N 81°52′W / 36.46°N 81.86°W / 36.46; -81.86
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Johnson County
County
Johnson County Courthouse in Mountain City
Johnson County Courthouse in Mountain City
Official seal of Johnson County
Seal
Map of Tennessee highlighting Johnson County
Location within the U.S. state of Tennessee
Map of the United States highlighting Tennessee
Tennessee's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 36°28′N 81°52′W / 36.46°N 81.86°W / 36.46; -81.86
Country United States
State Tennessee
Founded1836
Named forThomas Johnson, early settler[1]
SeatMountain City
Largest townMountain City
Area
 • Total303 sq mi (780 km2)
 • Land298 sq mi (770 km2)
 • Water4.2 sq mi (11 km2)  1.4%
Population
 • Estimate 
(2018)
17,778
 • Density61/sq mi (24/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district1st

Johnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,244.[2] Its county seat is Mountain City.[3] It is the state's northeasternmost county, sharing borders with Virginia and North Carolina.

History

Johnson County was created in 1836 from parts of Carter County. This followed several years of bickering over the location of Carter County's seat, with residents of what is now Johnson County arguing that travel to Elizabethton was too lengthy and difficult. When their petition to move the seat to a more central location was rejected, they petitioned the state legislature for the creation of a new county. The new county was named after Thomas Johnson, an early settler. The county seat was initially named "Taylorsville" in honor of Colonel James P. Taylor (it was changed to "Mountain City" in the 1880s).[1][4]

Most Johnson Countians supported the Union during the Civil War. The county's residents rejected secession by a margin of 788 to 111 in Tennessee's secession referendum on June 8, 1861.[5] The county sent a sizable delegation to the Greeneville session of the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention in June 1861.[6]

Due in large part to the county's remoteness, the railroads did not reach Johnson until the early 20th century. The arrival of the railroads during this period aided the development of the timber and manganese mining industries.[1]

Geography

Snake Mountain, viewed from Trade
Mountainous terrain near Laurel Bloomery

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 303 square miles (780 km2), of which 298 square miles (770 km2) is land and 4.2 square miles (11 km2) (1.4%) is water.[7]

Situated entirely within the Blue Ridge Mountains,[8] Johnson County is relatively rugged and hilly. The county's boundary with Sullivan County to the northwest is defined as the ridgeline of Holston Mountain, while the Iron Mountains provide the county's boundary with Carter County to the southwest. Snake Mountain, at 5,574 feet (1,699 m), is the county's highest point.[1]

High elevation

In terms of average elevation, Johnson County is one of the highest counties (if not the highest) in Tennessee. The county is home to the two highest communities in the state: Trade, at 3,133 feet (955 m), and Shady Valley, at 2,785 feet (849 m). Mountain City is the highest incorporated city in Tennessee, at 2,418 feet (737 m). The highest place in Johnson County is Snake Mountain's lower peak, (near the North Carolina state line), at 5,518 feet (1,682 m). The lowest point in the county is Watauga Lake, at an elevation of 1,959 feet (597 m).

Lakes

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18402,658—
18503,70539.4%
18605,01835.4%
18705,85216.6%
18807,76632.7%
18908,85814.1%
190010,58919.5%
191013,19124.6%
192012,230−7.3%
193012,209−0.2%
194012,9986.5%
195012,278−5.5%
196010,765−12.3%
197011,5697.5%
198013,74518.8%
199013,7660.2%
200017,49927.1%
201018,2444.3%
2018 (est.)17,778[9]−2.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[10]
1790-1960[11] 1900-1990[12]
1990-2000[13] 2010-2014[2]
Age pyramid Johnson County[14]

As of the census[15] of 2000, there were 17,499 people, 6,827 households, and 4,751 families residing in the county. The population density was 59 people per square mile (23/km2). There were 7,879 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile (10/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 96.40% White, 2.42% Black or African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. 0.86% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,827 households, out of which 26.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.40% were married couples living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.40% were non-families. 26.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.70% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 30.80% from 25 to 44, 27.10% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 114.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $23,067, and the median income for a family was $28,400. Males had a median income of $24,018 versus $18,817 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,388. About 18.70% of families and 22.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.80% of those under age 18 and 21.50% of those age 65 or over.

Male inmates in the Northeast Correctional Complex, southwest of Mountain City, account for 1,299 (7.4%) of the county's population.[16]

Communities

Mountain City
Butler

Town

Unincorporated communities

Politics

Presidential election results
Presidential Elections Results[17]
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2020 82.9% 6,468 16.0% 1,246 1.1% 85
2016 82.2% 5,410 15.0% 988 2.8% 181
2012 74.4% 4,611 23.9% 1,483 1.6% 100
2008 70.1% 4,621 27.9% 1,837 2.0% 133
2004 71.5% 4,634 28.0% 1,812 0.5% 34
2000 66.1% 3,740 32.1% 1,813 1.8% 104
1996 58.5% 3,137 31.7% 1,698 9.8% 524
1992 57.0% 3,170 32.0% 1,781 11.0% 612
1988 73.1% 3,715 26.2% 1,329 0.7% 35
1984 79.1% 3,853 20.5% 999 0.4% 19
1980 75.0% 3,716 23.0% 1,141 2.0% 98
1976 66.7% 2,986 32.7% 1,464 0.6% 28
1972 87.1% 3,362 11.7% 450 1.3% 49
1968 79.0% 3,107 11.4% 450 9.5% 375
1964 75.7% 2,889 24.3% 927
1960 86.7% 3,854 12.9% 571 0.4% 18
1956 87.4% 3,690 11.9% 503 0.6% 27
1952 87.7% 3,590 12.4% 506
1948 83.0% 2,413 14.9% 433 2.1% 62
1944 85.5% 2,699 14.3% 450 0.3% 9
1940 84.2% 2,502 15.8% 469
1936 84.4% 2,882 15.6% 533
1932 84.5% 2,400 15.0% 425 0.5% 15
1928 94.0% 3,057 6.0% 196
1924 91.4% 2,799 8.3% 254 0.4% 11
1920 92.6% 3,627 7.4% 291
1916 87.3% 1,812 12.7% 263
1912 42.1% 933 11.6% 256 46.3% 1,025
1908 90.2% 2,148 9.7% 232 0.0% 1

Johnson County is a long-term Republican stronghold and is located within Tennessee's 1st congressional district, which has not been represented by a Democrat in over 120 years. Johnson County has never been carried by a Democratic presidential candidate. Since a Republican Party presidential candidate first appeared on the ballot in Tennessee in 1872, there has only been one occasion when the county's voters didn't vote for the official Republican Party candidate, and that was in 1912, when voters voted for the official Bull Moose Progressive Party candidate, Theodore Roosevelt, the former Republican president of the United States from 1901–1909.

Johnson County was reportedly the strongest county in the US for Calvin Coolidge in 1924,[18] Herbert Hoover in 1932[19] and the second strongest behind Jackson County, Kentucky for Alf Landon in 1936.[20] The Republican candidate has consistently won since 1916,[21][22] during which period no Republican candidate has received less than 57 percent of the county's vote. In 2012, Mitt Romney received 74.4 percent[23], while Donald Trump received 82.2 percent in 2016, and then 82.9 percent in 2020.

Steve Earle’s song “Copperhead Road” is about a family of moonshiners from Johnson County – where, until 2018, alcohol was prohibited ever since the Twenty-First Amendment. The second verse contains the line “Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side”.

The childhood home of Valene Ewing, a character in the TV series Dallas and Knots Landing, is in Johnson County, in the fictional community of Shula.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Jewell Hamm, "Johnson County," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved: 18 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  4. ^ "The Forming of Johnson County," Mountain City Elementary School website. Retrieved: 28 September 2015.
  5. ^ Oliver Perry Temple, East Tennessee and the Civil War (R. Clarke Company, 1899), p. 199.
  6. ^ Charles F. Bryan, Jr., "A Gathering of Tories: The East Tennessee Conventions of 1861," Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Spring 1980), pp. 27-48.
  7. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  8. ^ Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, et al., "Ambient Air Monitoring Plan," Environmental Protection Agency website, 1 July 2010. Accessed: 18 March 2015.
  9. ^ "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  10. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  11. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  12. ^ Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  13. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  14. ^ Based on 2000 census data
  15. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  16. ^ Census Bureau Data Sets [1] Archived 2020-02-12 at archive.today The Correctional Complex comprises census block 1020, block group 1, census tract 9561. Use table P37 on the SF 1 data set.
  17. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  18. ^ David Leip's Presidential Atlas: Statistics for 1924
  19. ^ David Leip's Presidential Atlas: Statistics for 1932
  20. ^ David Leip's Presidential Atlas: Statistics for 1936
  21. ^ David Leip's Presidential Atlas: Statistics for 1956
  22. ^ David Leip's Presidential Election Atlas (Election maps for Tennessee)
  23. ^ The New York Times electoral map (Zoom in on Tennessee)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Johnson County, Tennessee.

36°28′N 81°52′W / 36.46°N 81.86°W / 36.46; -81.86

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