Maryville, Tennessee
Motto: "People are the Key"
Maryville is the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. The city is located 20 miles (32 km) south of Knoxville. Maryville's population was 27,258 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Maryville has received a number of accolades for its quality of life. The cable channel A&E named the city to its list of "Top Ten Cities to Have It All". Maryville is a short distance from popular tourist destinations such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Dollywood, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge.
Geography
Maryville lies in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Chilhowee Mountain, the outermost ridge of the Western Smokies, rises prominently to the south. Chilhowee's eastern flank— known locally as "The Three Sisters"— is visible from almost anywhere in the city, and dominates the southern horizon along US-321 between Maryville and Walland. Maryville is bordered on the north by Maryville's twin city, Alcoa. A number of small suburbs— including Wildwood, Ellejoy, and Clover Hill— surround Maryville to the east and west.
Major Streets
Broadway, the main street of the downtown area, is an alignment of U.S. Route 411 and partly of U.S. Route 129. It continues to Sevierville to the east and Monroe County to the west.
Lamar Alexander Parkway, an alignment of U.S. Route 321, continues to Lenoir City to the west and Townsend and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the east.
Maryville-Alcoa Bypass, an alignment of U.S. Route 129 and part of the primary route between Maryville and Knoxville
Montvale Road (State Route 336)
Morganton Road, which runs parallel to US-411, connects Maryville to Greenback and the old Morganton area to west.
Cusick Street crosses Broadway at the center of the downtown area. It extends north through Alcoa toward Louisville.
Washington Street (State Route 35)
Parks
Greenbelt Park
Maryville Alcoa Greenway
Bicentennial Park (Greenbelt)
Amerine Park
Eagleton Park
Everett Park
John Sevier Park
Pearson Springs Park
Sandy Springs Park
Bicentennial Greenbelt Park sign
Climate
Average temperatures in July range from 69 degrees low to 87 degrees high. Average temperatures in January range from 29 degrees low to 46 degrees high. Most of the year is very pleasant with mild temperatures.
History
Monument marking the spring that once supplied water to Fort Craig
When the first Euro-American explorers arrived in the area, they found the Great Indian Warpath, which ran along the route where the modern US-411 has been built. It was long used by the indigenous peoples of the area. A historic Cherokee village known as Elajay was situated at the confluence of Ellejoy Creek (named after the village) and Little River. Its site was near the modern Heritage High School. Ensign Henry Timberlake passed through the village in 1762 while returning from his expedition to the Overhill villages to the west. He reported that it had been abandoned.
In 1785, Revolutionary War veteran John Craig built a wooden palisade enclosing cabins at what is known as Fort Craig (or Craig's Station) at present-day Maryville. Such stations were built throughout the frontier to defend settlers against attacks from the Cherokee. "On April 11, 1793, when settlers believed Indian attacks were imminent, 280 men, women, and children gathered in small huts at John Craig's station on Nine Mile Creek."
Craig donated 50 acres (200,000 m²) next to his fort for the founding of a new town. Incorporated as a city on July 11, 1795, the settlement was named in honor of Mary Grainger Blount, wife of the territorial governor William Blount. Blount County was named after him.
The family of Sam Houston moved to Maryville from Virginia in 1808, when Houston was 15. His older brothers put him to work as a clerk in a store they established in town, but he ran away. Houston lived for a few years with the Cherokee at Hiwassee Island, on the Hiwassee River, where he became fluent in their language and appreciative of their culture. After his return to Maryville about 1811, Houston started a one-room schoolhouse. He signed up for the army during the War of 1812 and rose rapidly in rank, beginning his military and political career. The schoolhouse still stands just off US-411 near the community of Wildwood.
Sam Houston Schoolhouse in Maryville
Maryville was a center of abolitionist activity throughout the early 19th-century; it was generated mostly by the Society of Friends, which had a relatively large presence in Blount County. They were supported by anti-slavery advocates such as Isaac L. Anderson, the founder of Maryville College.
When Tennessee voted on the Ordinance of Secession in 1861, only 24% of Blount Countians voted in favor of seceding from the Union.
Although staunchly pro-Union throughout the Civil War, Maryville was not liberated by federal troops until May 1864. In August of that year, a Confederate cavalry raid, under the command of General Joseph Wheeler, attacked the courthouse where the Union troops had taken shelter. To try to dislodge the federal soldiers, Confederates set fire to several buildings, including a store where the city's records were being kept. Polly Tool, an African-American slave, rescued most of the records. She was honored by a statue in the Blount County courthouse. In 1869, Maryville elected W.B. Scott, the second African-American mayor in U.S. history.
In the 1970's, after several department stores and other retailers moved from the downtown area to Alcoa's Midland shopping center, the city spent $10 million on a renewal project called "Now Town." Traffic was re-routed, facades were placed on old buildings, slums were cleared, and the Bicentennial Greenbelt Park was created. The project failed to attract business back to the downtown locations; instead retailers moved to the new Foothills Mall a few years later. The downtown area remained in decline until the 2000s (decade), when the city agreed to reverse many of the "Now Town" changes.
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander was born in Maryville in 1940. Alexander served as Governor of Tennessee from 1979–1987 and Secretary of Education (1991–1993) under the first President George H. W. Bush. He ran unsuccessful campaigns for president in 1996 and 2000, both times announcing his candidacy for the Republican Party from his hometown of Maryville. In 2002, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, succeeding Fred Thompson.
Economy
Top Employers
According to Maryville's 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the area were:
# Employer # of Employees
1 Denso 2,700
2 Clayton Homes 2,542
3 Blount Memorial Hospital 2,256
4 Blount County Schools 1,500
5 Alcoa, Inc. 1,242
6 Ruby Tuesday 1,218
7 Blount County 660
8 Maryville City Schools 630
9 Marriott Business Services 600
10 Walmart 559
11 IJ Company 483
12 Newell Rubbermaid 350
13 City of Maryville 308
14 Rockford Manufacturing 300
15 Standard Aero, Inc. 270
16 City of Alcoa 257
17 Maryville College 254
18 U.S. Food Service 253
19 Alcoa City Schools 208
Education
Clover Hill Mill
City
Maryville City Schools operates public schools.
Coulter Grove Intermediate School (Finished)
Foothills Elementary School
Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning (Officially Closed)
John Sevier Elementary School
Maryville High School
Maryville Intermediate School
Maryville Middle School
Sam Houston Elementary School
Private/Parochial
Maryville Christian School
Apostolic Christian Academy
Maryville College
Maryville is home to Maryville College, a private four-year liberal arts college. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment. The college is one of the fifty oldest colleges in the United States and the twelfth oldest institution in the South. It is associated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). It enrolls about 1,103 students. Maryville College's mascot is the Scots. The sports teams compete in NCAA Division III athletics in the Great South Athletic Conference and the USA South Athletic Conference.
Other Colleges
Satellite campus of Pellissippi State Community College
Notable People
Lamar Alexander - Senior U.S. Senator from Tennessee; former Governor of Tennessee, Secretary of Education and Republican presidential candidate
Isaac L. Anderson - Founder of Maryville College
Albert Brigance - author and special education resource specialist
Charles W. Cansler - educator and civil rights advocate
Mike Cross - musician
David L. Eubanks - Christian preacher and president of Johnson Bible College
Phillip Fulmer - former Tennessee Volunteers football coach (1992–2008)
Jack Greene - Country music singer, famous for his #1 hit, "There Goes My Everything".
George Washington Harris - humorist; lived near what is now Wildwood, c. 1839–1843
Sam Houston - Texas revolutionary, politician and governor of Tennessee and Texas; lived in Maryville intermittently c. 1808—1813
Lee Humphrey - college basketball player
Melanie Hutsell - television and movie actress
Roy Kramer - former commissioner of the Southeastern Conference
Mike Matzek - All-American Gymnast
Nathan Nicholson - lead singer of British band, The Boxer Rebellion
External Links
Clover Hill Mill
City of Maryville
Maryville City Schools
Maryville College website.
Sam Houston - Chronology
"Meet Lamar"
Source: Internet
