Kingsport, Tennessee, United States

🇺🇸 Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee; most of the city is in Sullivan County and the city is the largest in both counties, but is the county seat of neither. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, which spans a portion of south-west Virginia and the mountainous counties in north-eastern Tennessee. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area. The metro area is a component of the larger Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia.

The name "Kingsport" is a simplification of "King's Port", originally referring to the area on the Holston River known as King's Boat Yard, the head of navigation for the Tennessee Valley.

History Kingsport was developed after the Revolutionary War, at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Holston River. In 1787 it was known as "Salt Lick" for an ancient mineral lick. It was first settled along the banks of the South Fork, about a mile from the confluence. The Long Island of the Holston River is near the confluence, which is mostly within the present-day corporate boundaries of Kingsport. The island was an important site for the Cherokee, colonial pioneers and early settlers, and specifically mentioned in the 1770 Treaty of Lochaber.

Early settlements at the site were used as a staging ground for other pioneers who were traveling overland on the Wilderness Road leading to Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap. First chartered in 1822, Kingsport became an important shipping port on the Holston River. Goods originating for many miles around from the surrounding countryside were loaded onto barges for the journey downriver to the Tennessee River at Knoxville.

In the Battle of Kingsport (December 13, 1864) during the Civil War, a force of 300 Confederates under Colonel Richard Morgan stopped a larger Union force for nearly two days. An army of over 5,500 troops under command of Major General George Stoneman had left Knoxville to raid Confederate targets in Virginia: the salt works at Saltville, the lead works at Wytheville, and the iron works in Marion. While Col. Morgan's small band held off a main Union force under Major General Cullem Gillem on the opposite side the Holston River, Union Col. Samuel Patton took a force of cavalry to a ford in the river 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north and came down behind the Confederates. Out-numbered, out-flanked, and demoralised by the bitter winter weather, Col. Morgan surrendered. The Confederates suffered 18 dead, and 84 prisoners of war were sent to a Union prison in Knoxville. The city lost its charter after a downturn in its fortunes precipitated by the Civil War.

On September 12, 1916, Kingsport residents demanded the death of circus elephant Mary (an Asian elephant that performed in the Sparks World-famous Shows Circus). She had killed city hotel worker Walter Eldridge, who was hired by the circus the day before as an assistant elephant trainer. Eldridge was attacked and killed by the elephant while he was leading her to a pond. The elephant was impounded by the local sheriff. Leaders of several nearby towns threatened to prevent the circus from performing if it included the elephant. The circus owner, Charlie Sparks, reluctantly decided that the only way to quickly resolve the situation was to hold a public execution. On the following day, she was transported by rail to Erwin, Tennessee, where a crowd of over 2,500 people assembled in the Clinchfield Railroad yard to watch her hang from a railroad crane.

Re-chartered in 1917, Kingsport was an early example of a "garden city". Part of it was designed by city planner and landscape architect John Nolen of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was nicknamed as the "Model City" from this plan, which organized the town into areas for commerce, churches, housing and industry. Most of the land on the river was devoted to industry. Most of the Long Island is now occupied by Eastman Chemical Company, which is headquartered in Kingsport. As part of this plan, Kingsport built some of the earliest traffic circles (roundabouts) in the United States.

Into the 1950s, two important public works projects were constructed: the Boone Dam and the Fort Patrick Henry Dam, hydroelectric dams built along the South Fork Holston River. Kingsport was among the first municipalities to adopt a city manager form of government, to professionalize operations of city departments. It developed its school system based on a model promoted by Columbia University. Pal's Sudden Service, a regional fast-food restaurant chain, opened its first location in 1956 and is headquartered in Kingsport. In 2001, Pal's Sudden Service, won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, becoming the first restaurant company to receive the award.

Geography Kingsport is located in western Sullivan County at the intersection of U.S. Routes 11W and 23. Kingsport is the north-west terminus of Interstate 26.

The city is bordered to the west by the town of Mount Carmel, to the south-east by unincorporated Colonial Heights, and to the north-east by unincorporated Bloomingdale. The Kingsport city limits extend west into Hawkins County and north to the Virginia border.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 50.8 square miles (131.5 km²), of which 49.8 square miles (129.0 km²) are land and 0.93 square miles (2.4 km²), or 1.86%, are water. Most of the water area is in the South Fork Holston River.

Neighborhoods There are several neighborhoods located within or just outside of Kingsport, offering different lifestyles: • Allandale • Amersham • Bloomingdale • Borden Village • Carter's Valley • Cliffside • Colonial Heights • Cooks Valley • Downtown • Edinburgh • Fairacres • Fort Robinson • Gibson Town • Green Acres • Highland Park • Hillcrest • Huntington Hills • Indian Springs (Fall Creek & Airport) • Litz Manor • Lynn Garden • Malabar Heights • Meadowview • Midtown • Morrison City • Orebank • Preston Forest • Preston Hills • Ridgefields • Riverfront • Riverview • Rock Springs • Sevier Terrace • Sullivan Gardens • Tellico Hills • White City.

Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 44,905 people, 19,662 households and 12,642 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,018.9 inhabitants per square mile (393.4/km²). There were 21,796 housing units at an average density of 494.6 per square mile (191.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.32% White, 4.07% African American, 0.79% Asian, 0.24% American Indian/Alaska Native, 0.02% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 0.34% some other race, and 1.06% two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.05% of the population.

There were 19,662 households, of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22, and the average family size was 2.80.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,524, and the median income for a family was $40,183. Males had a median income of $33,075 versus $23,217 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,549. About 14.2% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.9% of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy Eastman Chemical Company has its world headquarters in Kingsport. Domtar operates a paper mill in Kingsport. Domtar has temporarily shut this plant down from uncoated freesheet paper manufacturing and plans to convert the plant by 2023 to be able to create containerboard. Holston Army Ammunition Plant operated by BAE Systems' Ordnance Systems, Inc. manufactures a wide range of secondary detonating explosives for the Department of Defense.

In 2019, Kingsport's gross metropolitan product was reported to be US$14.1 billion.

Sport The city is home to the Kingsport Axmen, a collegiate summer baseball team of the Appalachian League. The nickname is in reference to frontiersman Daniel Boone, who began the Wilderness Road in Kingsport. The Axmen play their home games at Hunter Wright Stadium, which is named after former mayor Hunter Wright.

Professional baseball was first played in Kingsport, by the Kingsport Indians in the Appalachian League from 1921 to 1925. The team went dormant for 12 years before it returned to the circuit as the Kingsport Cherokees from 1938 to 1955—with the exception of the 1942 season as the Kingsport Dodgers and as members of the Mountain States League in 1953 and 1954. The club was later known as the Kingsport Orioles (1957), Kingsport Pirates (1960–1963), Kingsport Royals (1969–1973), and Kingsport Braves (1974–1979). The Kingsport Mets were members of the Appy League from 1980 to 2020, except for the 1983 season when the New York Mets temporarily relocated the team to Sarasota, Florida, as the Gulf Coast League Mets, while their home ballpark was being renovated. 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 Mets were replaced by the Axmen, a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshman and sophomores.

Parks and recreation The Kingsport Parks and Recreation manages several parks within the city. • Bays Mountain Park • Borden Park • Dogwood Park • Edinburgh Park • Kingsport Greenbelt Walking/Cycling Trail • Riverview Splash Pad • Scott Adams Skate Park

Warrior's Path State Park, a 950 acres (3.8 km²) state park, is located in the Colonial Heights area of the city.

Education: University While no college or university has its main campus within the city, these institutions have branch campuses in Kingsport: • East Tennessee State University • Lincoln Memorial University • Northeast State Community College

Lincoln Memorial and Northeast State are located in the Kingsport Academic Village complex in downtown Kingsport. East Tennessee State offers general education courses in the Hawkins County (westernmost) portion of the city, with more advanced courses at the Academic Village.

Primary and secondary Residents of Kingsport are served by the Kingsport City Schools public school system. It operates eight elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. In addition, Kingsport has eight private academies, most with religious affiliation.

Kingsport city schools • John Adams Elementary School • Andrew Jackson Elementary School • Andrew Johnson Elementary School • John F. Kennedy Elementary School • Abraham Lincoln Elementary School • Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School • Thomas Jefferson Elementary School • George Washington Elementary School • Ross N. Robinson Middle School • John Sevier Middle School • Dobyns-Bennett High School • Cora Cox Academy (formerly New Horizons Alternative School) • Dobyns-Bennett Excel

Former school for African Americans Douglass High School in Kingsport was one of the largest African American high schools in the region when it closed for desegregation in 1966. The school's former building on East Walnut Avenue (now East Sevier Avenue) was a historic Rosenwald School, built in 1929–30 with a combination of funds from the city, private citizens and the Rosenwald Fund. Although during the years of segregation the Douglass Tigers football team was not allowed to play white teams, the Tigers won a Tennessee state football championship a state basketball championship in 1946, and a state basketball championship in 1948. The present building, built in 1951 at 301 Louis Street, is now the V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex, named for Douglass' former principal.

Media: Print • Kingsport Times-News • Daily News (defunct)

Media: Television • WKPT-TV (COZI TV 19) • WAPK-CD (MeTV 36)

Kingsport shares a television market with Johnson City and Bristol, VA. WCYB-TV (NBC; THE CW on DT2) in Bristol, WEMT-TV (FOX) in Greeneville, WETP-TV (PBS) in Sneedville and WJHL-TV (CBS; ABC on DT2 aka ABC Tri-Cities) in Johnson City.

Media: Radio • WKPT • WHGG; FM radio • WTFM • WRZK • WCQR • WKOS • WCSK.

Medical Two hospitals operated by Ballad Health are located in Kingsport: Holston Valley Medical Center, and Indian Path Community Hospital.

Police Kingsport Police Department is the municipal law enforcement agency for the City of Kingsport. As of 2021, the KPD consisted of 120 sworn officer positions, plus about 40 full-time support staff, including records, jail, maintenance and dispatch.