Johnson City, TN Part Two

Lisa and I headed back up to Johnson City yesterday to pick up some lights for her new house. While we were there we decided since we were up in Johnson City to take advantage of some stores that we like to shop, and don't have the opportunity to, and that the guys do not like too. We even had lunch at Panera, one of my favorite places to have lunch. We did have to fight the rain and wind all day but seeing the fall foilage, even in the rain, was still beautiful and worth getting rained on to take some pictures. Now part two - Johnson City's history. William Bean, traditionally recognized as Tenneessee's first settler, built a cabin in 1769 near Johnson City's location. He was a Trans-Appalachian pioneer, longhunter (an explorer and hunter who make expeditions into the American Frontier wilderness for as long as six months). Bean was with Daniel Boone's long hunters. His cabin became a stopping point for new frontier people. In the 1780s Col.John Tipton established a farm just outside of where Johnson City is now located. In 1788 Tipton and his men had an armed engagement with the forces led by John Sevier, leader of the Franklin Nation. Johnson City was founded in 1856 by Henry Johnson as a railroad station called Johnson's Depot and became a major hub for the southeast as three railway lines crossed in the downtown area. During the American Civil War Johnson City was briefly renamed to Haynesville, honoring a Confederate general, but was changed back to Johnson City in 1870. Johnson City became a booming town with railroads and commerce until the depression of 1893 which caused many railroad failures that resulted in a financial panic. The city began to grow again in 1901 when the mountain branch of the National Home for Disabled Veteran Soldiers was built. That was followed in 1911 when the Eastern Tennessee State Normal School was built across from the Veteran's home and is now known as Eastern Tennessee State University. In the 1920s, during prohibition, Johnson City had ties to the bootlegging activity in the Appalachian Mountains and was nicknamed "Little Chicago". Gang boss, Al Capone, was a part time resident of Johnson City because of most of th bootlegging in town was his. After prohibition, Johnson City continued to grow to what it is today. One intersting municipal code that is still active in Johnson City is called the Barney Fife Ordinance that empowers the city's police force to draft into involuntary service as many town's citizens as needed to aid police.