Johnson City, Tennessee, United States

🇺🇸 Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. It is the eighth largest city in Tennessee. Johnson City is the principal city of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which covers Carter, Unicoi, and Washington counties. The MSA is also a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, Tennessee–Virginia Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region. This CSA is the fifth-largest in Tennessee.

History William Bean, traditionally recognised as Tennessee's first white settler, built his cabin along Boone's Creek near Johnson City in 1769. In the 1780s, Colonel John Tipton (1730–1813) established a farm (now the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site) just outside what is now Johnson City. During the State of Franklin movement, Tipton was a leader of the loyalist faction, residents of the region who wanted to remain part of North Carolina rather than form a separate state. In February 1788, an armed engagement took place at Tipton's farm between Tipton and his men and the forces led by John Sevier, the leader of the Franklin faction.

Founded in 1856 by Henry Johnson as a railroad station called "Johnson's Depot", Johnson City became a major rail hub for the Southeast, as three railway lines crossed in the downtown area.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Johnson City served as headquarters for the narrow gauge East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (the ET&WNC, nicknamed "Tweetsie") and the standard gauge Clinchfield Railroad. Both rail systems featured excursion trips through scenic portions of the Blue Ridge Mountains and were engineering marvels of railway construction. The Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern) also passes through the city.

During the American Civil War, before it was formally incorporated in 1869, the name of the town was briefly changed to "Haynesville" in honor of Confederate Senator Landon Carter Haynes.

Henry Johnson's name was quickly restored following the war, with Johnson elected as the city's first mayor on January 3, 1870. The town grew rapidly from 1870 until 1890 as railroad and mining interests flourished. However, the national depression of 1893, which caused many railway failures (including the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad or "3-Cs", a predecessor of the Clinchfield) and resulting financial panic, halted Johnson City's boom town momentum.

In 1901, the Mountain Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (now the U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center and National Cemetery), Mountain Home, Tennessee was created by an act of Congress introduced by Walter P. Brownlow. Construction on this 450-acre (1.8 km²) campus, which was designed to serve disabled Civil War veterans, was completed in 1903 at a cost of $3 million. Before the completion of this facility, the assessed value of the entire town was listed at $750,000. The East Tennessee State Normal School was authorized in 1911 and the new college campus directly across from the National Soldiers Home. Johnson City began growing rapidly and became the fifth-largest city in Tennessee by 1930.

Together with neighboring Bristol, Johnson City was a hotbed for old-time music. It hosted noteworthy Columbia Records recording sessions in 1928 known as the Johnson City Sessions. Native son "Fiddlin' Charlie" Bowman became a national recording star via these sessions. The Fountain Square area in downtown featured a host of local and traveling street entertainers including Blind Lemon Jefferson.

During the 1920s and the Prohibition era, Johnson City's ties to the bootlegging activity of the Appalachian Mountains earned the city the nickname of "Little Chicago". Stories persist that the town was one of several distribution centres for Chicago gang boss Al Capone during Prohibition. Capone had a well-organized distribution network within the southern United States for alcohol smuggling; it shipped his products from the mountain distillers to northern cities. Capone was, according to local lore, a part-time resident of Montrose Court, a luxury apartment complex now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For many years, the city had a municipal "privilege tax" on carnival shows, in an attempt to dissuade traveling circuses and other transient entertainment businesses from doing business in town. The use of drums by merchants to draw attention to their goods is prohibited. Title Six, Section 106 of the city's municipal code, the so-called "Barney Fife" ordinance, empowers the city's police force to draft into involuntary service as many of the town's citizens as necessary to aid police in making arrests and in preventing or quelling any riot, unlawful assembly or breach of peace.

Geography Johnson City is in north-eastern Washington County, with smaller parts extending north into Sullivan County and east into Carter County. Johnson City shares a contiguous south-eastern border with Elizabethton. Johnson City also shares a small contiguous border with Kingsport to the far north along I-26 and a slightly longer one with Bluff City to the north-east along US 11E.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 43.3 square miles (112.1 km²), of which 42.9 square miles (111.2 km²) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²), or 0.75 percent, is water.

Buffalo Mountain, a ridge over 2,700 feet (820 m) high, is a city park on the south side of town. The Watauga River arm of Boone Lake, a Tennessee Valley Authority reservoir, is partly within the city limits.

Economy Johnson City is an economic hub largely fueled by East Tennessee State University and the medical "Med-Tech" corridor, anchored by the Johnson City Medical Center and Niswonger Children's Hospital, Franklin Woods Community Hospital, ETSU's Gatton College of Pharmacy, and ETSU's Quillen College of Medicine.

The popular citrus soda Mountain Dew traces its origins to Johnson City. In 2012, PepsiCo announced a new malt-flavored version of the drink named Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold in honor of the city.

Johnson City and its metropolitan area had a gross metropolitan product of US$9.1 billion in 2019.

Economy: Top employers Ballad Health; East Tennessee State University; Washington County School System; James H. Quillen VA Medical Center; American Water Heater Company; AT&T Mobility.

Major Companies • American Water Heater Company (owned by A.O. Smith Corp.) • Advanced Call Center Technologies • Cantech Industries • General Shale Brick LLC • LPI, Inc. • Moody Dunbar, Inc. • Mullican Flooring • R.A. Colby, Inc. • TPI Corporation

Other companies • JD Squared, manufacturer of tube and pipe benders and other fabrication tools

Public art Public art includes 12 to 15 sculptures that change every two years. Also, 24 bronze statuettes of animals indigenous to the Appalachian Highlands, cast by faculty and students at ETSU, are installed in various downtown locations; staff at the Johnson City Public Library created a list of clues to aid in the search for all the animals. Other public art includes banners and art on light poles and traffic boxes, and quote stones along sidewalks and paths. Two annual art events take place in the city.

Economy: Retail As a regional hub for a four-state area, Johnson City is home to a large variety of retail businesses, from well-known national chains to local boutiques and galleries.

The Mall at Johnson City is the city's only enclosed shopping mall. Much of the new retail development is in North Johnson City, along State of Franklin Road. Johnson City Crossings is the largest of these developments.

Points of interest • Buffalo Mountain Park • East Tennessee State University Arboretum • ETSU/Mountain States Health Alliance Athletic Center • Founders Park • Freedom Hall Civic Center • Johnson City STOLport • Thomas Stadium, baseball venue • Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site • Tweetsie Trail • Watauga River • William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.

Sport Several Minor League Baseball teams have been based in Johnson City. Professional baseball was first played in the city by the Johnson City Soldiers in the Southeastern League in 1910. The city's longest-running team was the Johnson City Cardinals, who played in the Appalachian League as the Rookie affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1975 to 2020. In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer baseball league, and the Cardinals were replaced by the Johnson City Doughboys, a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshman and sophomores.

Government In the United States House of Representatives, Johnson City is represented by the 1st district.

Johnson City is run by a five-person board of commissioners.

Education: University East Tennessee State University has around 16,000 students in addition to a K-12 University School, a laboratory school of about 540 students. University School was the first laboratory school in the nation to adopt a year-round academic schedule.

Milligan University is just outside the city limits in Carter County, and has about 1,200 students in undergraduate and graduate programs.

Northeast State Community College has renovated a building in downtown Johnson City for use as a new satellite teaching site.

Tusculum College has a centre on the north side of Johnson City in the Boones Creek area.

Schools Elementary schools • Cherokee Elementary • Fairmont Elementary • Lake Ridge Elementary • Mt. View Elementary • North Side Elementary • South Side Elementary • Towne Acres Elementary • Woodland Elementary; Middle schools • Indian Trail Middle School • Liberty Bell Middle School; High schools • Science Hill High School; Private schools • Ashley Academy (PreK-8) • St. Mary's (K-8) • Providence Academy (K-12) • Tri-Cities Christian Schools (PreK-12) • University School (K-12).

Transport Johnson City is served by Tri-Cities Regional Airport (IATA Code TRI) and Johnson City Airport (0A4) in Watauga.

Transport: Road • Interstate 26 • U.S. Route 19W • U.S. Route 11E • U.S. Route 321 • U.S. Route 23

Transport: Public Johnson City Transit operates a system of buses inside the city limits, including BucShot, a system serving the greater ETSU campus.

The Southern Railway used to serve Johnson City with several trains: the Birmingham Special (ended 1970), the Pelican (ended 1970) and the Tennessean (ended 1968).

Hospitals Johnson City serves as a regional medical centre for north-east Tennessee and south-west Virginia, along with parts of western North Carolina and south-eastern Kentucky.

Johnson City Medical Center includes a level 1 trauma centre, the Niswonger Children's Hospital, and Woodridge Hospital, an inpatient psychiatric hospital.

Franklin Woods Community Hospital is an 80-bed hospital with emergency services.

James H. and Cecile C. Quillen Rehabilitation Hospital serves patients who have suffered debilitating trauma, including stroke and brain-spine injuries.