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History

Loudon County was established in 1870 out of three surrounding counties including Roane, Monroe and Blount. Lenoir City was brought into existence largely due to the General William B. Lenoir family. General William B. Lenoir was a native of North Carolina who had served in the Battle of Kings Mountain. His service in this battle brought him a share of 5,000 acres of land in Lenoir City. He later deeded the land to his son, Major William B. Lenoir who moved into the area in 1810. Major Lenoir had a thriving plantation by 1821 known for its cattle and hog production. A successful cotton and flour mill were also attributed to Major Lenoir’s successes. When Major Lenoir died in 1852, four of his sons formed William Lenoir & Sons and controlled 2,700 acres of his land. This land was later sold to the Lenoir City Company which developed the town. Lenoir City was incorporated in 1907. (1) After the Civil War the Lenoir family greatly helped with the rebuilding effort in the Lenoir City area. The Lenoir City Company brought in new industries including the Bass Foundry and Machine Shop. This was an organization that eventually built cars for the Southern Railroad Company under the Lenoir Car Works. In 1906, Charles H. Bacon established Loudon County’s first significant industry, a hosiery mill. Lenoir City Police Department was headquartered at the site where the hosiery mill was previously located from 2009-2013. (1)

Pictured below is an early picture of the Lenoir City Police Department personnel from circa 1954.

Circa 1954 – Standing Left to Right: Chief Jack Lee, “Shorty” Wilkerson, Gene Blankenship, Graves, Jess Buttram

Today the Lenoir City Police Department serves an estimated population of 8,600 according to population estimates from 2010 by the United States Census Bureau. We also serve approximately 300 businesses in Lenoir City. The majority of the businesses being retail trade, healthcare services, and accommodation and food services trade. This data was extracted from the 2002 Economic Census Data. Since 2002, Lenoir City has experienced significant retail and commercial growth.(2) We only expect the growth to continue with the Creekwood and TownCreek retail/commercial development sites currently under construction.

Citations

(1) Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002, http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=L054

(2)United States Census Bureau, 2010, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/47/4741760.html

Circa 1958 - Standing Left to Right: “Shorty” Wilkerson, Kenneth Wheeler, Virgil Allen, Floyd Ivy, Otis Brewer, Jess Buttram