Tennesse Tri-Cities Mountain Communities and Homes

The Melody of Tennessee’s Tri-Cities

History, Music and Roaring Engines

Visit East Tennessee’s Tri-Cities and you always come away with your ears full of hilarious stories. Great country music. Tales of America’s First Frontier. And, on certain days, the thunder of high-powered racing engines. This isn’t just Anyplace USA but a proud land of American ideals, the kind our forefathers used to build a country.

Talk about an area that has it all. That’s Tennessee’s triad – Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol. East Tennessee is famous for many things: It’s the birthplace of country music. Home to some of the best-preserved historical structures in the United States. And for the roar of high-powered racing engines at Bristol Motor Speedway.

There are many faces, too, in its business arena.

“There’s a major medical industry here,” says Gary M. Mabrey, president and CEO of the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce, “with 50,000 jobs, a college of medicine, a new college of pharmacy, a college of allied health, and a college of public health, all under the umbrella of East Tennessee State University.

“Then, of course, we have a major Veterans Administration Hospital, which is a regional facility. It serves veterans not only from Tennessee, but from surrounding states as well.”

One of the main thrusts of the area’s commercial enterprises is the presence of the Eastman Corporation in Kingsport, which manufactures plastics, fibers and chemicals, and currently employs 10,000 workers. Also of note is the former Kingsport Press, which was among the biggest producers of Bibles in the nation, and has been owned since the 1990s by Quebecor World, Inc. one of the largest bookmaking companies in the world. The facility employs approximately 4,000 people, according to state statistics.

In addition to other attractions, the Tri-Cities area was the original American frontier, a major jumping-off place for pioneers going west. The land is filled with historic homes and inns, some dating back to the 1700s.

On the property of the ancient Netherland Inn overlooking the Holston River at Kingsport was King’s Port, from which the city got its name. Owner William King brought huge amounts of salt down from the mines in Saltville, Va. and shipped them on rafts and flatboats from his port to markets south and west of Kingsport. In addition, immigrants heading for the Southern and Southwestern states, and those going westward to find their fortunes, built huge flatboats at Netherland Inn for the downriver trip that could take them all the way to the Gulf of Mexico via the Holston, Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers.

Located on the old Stage Road that ran through the Cumberland Gap into the nation’s Midwestern area, Kingsport served as a stopover for weary stage riders.

Not far away is the Exchange Place, an 1800s farm – still working – that was also a relay station on the stage route. Several original buildings stand there and, along with the Netherland Inn, are a magnet for tourists. Exchange Place got its name for three reasons: This was the spot where folks exchanged their money since each state printed its own cash; where stage coaches exchanged teams of horses; and where the original owner exchanged land with a Virginian and moved there.

Bristol has its own, different draws.

Perhaps the greatest in East Tennessee is the Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR’s fastest half-mile track.

Built in 1960 and opened in 1961, it has been the site of NASCAR racing ever since. On race days, fans clog the roads and the track’s seating capacity, which now accommodates 160,000 people, many more than the giant-sized University of Tennessee football stadium that holds in excess of 100,000. A drag racing track also operates there.

Bristol is also the birthplace of coun-try music.

“The first recordings of country music were made here in 1927,” says Beth Stockner, communications and events coordinator of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce. “They were done by a gentleman named Ralph Peer for Victor Recording and Talking Machines Company.” This was the time that Jimmie Rodgers, known as The Father of Country Music, and the Carter Family were recorded.

Rodgers and a country band rode the train to Bristol from Asheville where he worked on the railroad. The night before their recording session, they fought over the group’s billing and ended up recording separately, Rodgers as a solo artist and the others as a band.

Altogether Peer made 76 records by 19 artists on that trip, which was 80 years ago this year. A celebration of that event is being planned for autumn.

In all of East Tennessee, visitors can find the entertainment to their liking, excellent shopping, magnificent sightseeing and ever-present history.

Music abounds in the three major cities of the Tri-Cities area. Summers are filled with street concerts of all types, with country and bluegrass leading the way.

Bristol in particular has a full summer schedule.

“We have street music three nights a week,” says Stockner, “and every night, there’s music to entertain residents and visitors in the city.” Much of that music is live in restaurants.

Another entertainment jewel is Bristol’s Paramount Theater, a 1930s art deco theater that presents stage productions -– plays, ballet, concerts, country music, Broadway shows and country concerts tied in with the Birthplace of Country Music theme. There are also guided tours of downtown loft apartments conducted by the city’s Main Street Program, along State Street, the dividing line between the Tennessee and Virginia halves of the city.

Higher education and sports also flourish around the Tri-Cities.

Johnson City is home of the growing East Tennessee State University, which also has satellite programs in both Bristol and Kingsport, and to Milligan College and smaller colleges in Kingsport and Bristol.

And soon, officials believe, the public will discover the Gray Fossil Site, which will be the largest of
the nation’s fossil digs leading back to Mesozoic times, millions of years ago.

“The location is about five miles from Johnson City,” says Gary Mabrey. “The fossil museum is scheduled to open this summer, and it’s going to be a monumental magnet for visitors who like anything about dinosaurs and the early ages of the earth.”

Barbara Kite of the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce notes that the site is only a mile and a half off I-26 between Kingsport and Johnson City.

“East Tennessee State University is conducting the dig, which has been going on three or four years,” she says. “The pit is several hundred feet deep, and of the 40-some fossil sites in the United States, this is the largest.”

There are also major historic landmarks in the Kingsport area. Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone and John Sevier wandered the woods here, and it was through the Kingsport area and Cumberland Gap that Boone blazed the trail that gave access to Kentucky. These and a myriad of other historic attractions make the East Tennessee area blossom with visitors.

Today new residents are moving into this dynamic area, and construction of high-end communities is cranking up.

Mabrey notes that real estate sales are growing by leaps and bounds.

“One of the major factors in relocating here,” he says, “is that we’re very affordable. We don’t have a state income tax, our property taxes are among the lowest within a hundred miles of here, and at the same time, the array of services that the government and businesses provide is exemplary.”

East Tennessee is proud to say that the first American frontier was here.

“It started here well over two hundred years ago,” Mabrey concludes, “and now the new frontier is starting here as well.

“The independent spirit of the State of Franklin is still alive and well. A lot of the culture of our forefathers, a lot of that distinctiveness about the people and the heritage that we’ve passed on is very much alive and well, too.”

As new residents continue to discover the Tri-City area, developers and contractors are expanding the housing options with a variety of new private communities and sites.

One location that will encompass 200 homes, under way on the Virginia side of Bristol, is the Grande Harbor development in which lots will sell in the range of $79,000 to $369,000, and homes from $400,000 to $1.5 million. For information, call 276-669-7121.

In a secluded valley near Johnson City, a development is taking shape that will include seven different luxury communities on Highland Ridge. Homes will be built both in the valley and on the mountainsides, including The Gates at Highland Ridge that will encompass 86 homes priced in the $500,000 to $800,000 range. The gated community is virtually sold out, according to Dan Eldridge of the management firm.

Other sections include The Villas, 18 patio homes priced from $400,000 to $500,000; The Falls, 21 homes at $450,000 to $500,000; The Crescent, 21 homes at $100,000; The Glen, 11 homes at $700,000; The Grove, 23 homes at $800,000 to $1 million and The Reserve, 13 homes at $800,000. Amenities include a community center, two community pools, tennis courts, playgrounds, exercise facilities, two miles of walking trails, five lakes, waterfalls and beautiful views. Contact RE/MAX Realtors at 423-282-0432.

On Boone Lake near Jonesborough, The Groves offers 20 luxury lakefront homes priced from $251,900 to $269,900. Contact 423-426-2167. –BT

Though close enough to be considered  a  cousin to the Tennessee triad, nearby Jonesborough has gained fame on it own. In fact, some say the city could be considered the featured attraction of the entire area.

Founded in 1779, Jonesborough was the first town built in what is now the State of Tennessee. Five years later, delegates met there on December 14, 1784 and approved the founding of the new State of Franklin. But when Congress failed to recognize Franklin, the region reverted to North Carolina until it became the separate state of Tennessee in 1788.

Be that as it may, Jonesborough’s citizens were smart. They have preserved the downtown just as it was when the town was built. Today all storefronts on the main street must, by law, retain the same storefront when the building is refurbished.

What Jonesborough is most noted for, however, is storytelling.

The city is the site of the annual National Storytelling Festival, which will hold its 35th event October 5-7 this year. A world-renowned celebration that attracts people from all over the states and some foreign countries, it will be held at the International Storytelling Center and include special events in addition to favorite performers.

Jimmy Neil Smith, president and CEO of the International Storytelling Center, is the man behind this event.

In 1972 while Smith was driving journalism students to Johnson City, country comedian Jerry Clower came on the car radio telling whoppers. And an idea was born: to bring people like Clower to Jonesborough. Then, with the town’s approval, Smith launched the first storytelling festival in October of that same year. Sixty people showed up. The event grew so quickly that other storytelling venues had to be found.

Elizabeth Berry, tourism coordinator for the Jonesborough Visitor’s Center, recalls one location as the Jonesborough cemetery, where storytellers entertained crowds of people standing or sitting on hay bales, blankets and in the beds of pickup trucks.

Last October, 10,000 people attended.

“When you think about it,” Smith says, “everybody is a storyteller. Some are performing storytellers and others are not.” Over the years, Smith’s idea has spread to around 300 such festivals in the United States and in several foreign lands.

By Bob Terrell
Originally published in the Spring 2007 issue of Mountain Homes magaznie