Morganton, Tennessee
Encyclopedia
Morganton was a community once located in Loudon County, Tennessee
, in the southeastern United States
. Although now submerged by Tellico Lake
, during its heyday in the 19th century Morganton thrived as a flatboat
port and regional business center. An important ferry
operated at Morganton for nearly 170 years.
Due largely to the decline in river trade that occurred in the mid-19th century with the construction of railroads in East Tennessee, Morganton was mostly deserted by the time the Tennessee Valley Authority
started buying up property for the construction of Tellico Dam
in the late 1960s. Today, the Morganton Cemetery, which overlooks the now-flooded townsite, is all that remains of the former town. A road and TWRA
boat ramp are named for Morganton.
rises in the Appalachian Mountains
of Georgia
and meanders its way through southwestern North Carolina
before entering Tennessee, where it flows for roughly 54 miles (86.9 km) before emptying into the Tennessee River
near Lenoir City
. The completion of Tellico Dam at the river's mouth in 1979 created a lake that spans the lower 33 miles (53.1 km) of the river. Morganton was located 13.7 miles (22 km) above the mouth of the Little Tennessee at the river's confluence with Bakers Creek, which flows westward from Maryville.
The Morganton site is visible from the junction of East Coast Tellico Parkway and Morganton Road, just west of Greenback
. The area is under the management of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The Morganton area was part of the lands ceded by the Cherokee
with the signing of the First Treaty of Tellico in 1798. The first Euro-American settlers had arrived at the mouth of Bakers Creek in 1796, however, when the land was still claimed by the Cherokee. Several major villages of the Overhill Cherokee
were located upstream from the Morganton site (the village of Mialoquo
was situated just around Wears Bend, on the opposite side of the river), although most of these villages had either been destroyed or were in decline by the late 1790s. Ethnologist James Mooney
recorded a Cherokee legend regarding curiously-blazed trees on the banks "opposite Morganton" that supposedly marked the location of hidden mines.
By 1799 a grist mill
had been established along Bakers Creek by Hugh and Charles Kelso. The following year, Captain Robert Wear (1781-1846) arrived in the area, establishing a plantation near the mouth of the river and a ferry near the mouth of Bakers Creek. In 1801, an inspection port was established near the ferry, and the small community that developed in its vicinity became known as "Portville." The community of Portville incorporated in 1813 after the Kelso brothers donated land for the formation of a town square. The community chose the name "Morganton" after Gideon Morgan (1751-1830), a Revolutionary War
veteran and prominent local merchant.
By the 1830s, Morganton had grown to become the main shipping hub and business center in the Little Tennessee region. Flatboats carried local products such as whiskey and hemp
to trade throughout the Tennessee Valley— and sometimes as far away as New Orleans
— for products such as clothing, salt, and spices. By 1832, the town had its own doctor, hatter's shop, hemp factory, wagon factory, cabinet shop, distillery, and silversmith. A steamboat
line connecting Morganton and Knoxville began operating in 1831.
, Confederate
General James Longstreet
hoped to cross the Little Tennessee at Morganton en route from Chattanooga
to Knoxville
to dislodge the troops under the command of Ambrose Burnside
, who had occupied Knoxville earlier in the year. Longstreet later recalled:
As Longstreet lacked the materials to construct a pontoon bridge
, however, he was forced to cross the Tennessee River at Loudon
, and approach from the west. That same year, however, Union
General William T. Sherman crossed the Little Tennessee at Morganton en route to Chattanooga. Sherman tore down several of the town's houses to construct a pontoon bridge.
After the Civil War, railroads slowly replaced riverboats as the preferred mode of shipping and transportation. When the L&N Railroad laid tracks through nearby Greenback
in the late 19th century, Morganton slowly declined. In 1947, a bridge near Niles Ferry became toll-free, putting most of the ferries along the Little Tennessee River out of business. The Morganton Ferry was the last to go, folding in 1961.
, University of Tennessee archaeologists conducted a test survey of the Morganton townsite. Several early American artifacts were located, some dating to as early as 1762, as well as several projectile points. The artifacts were similar to those uncovered at the nearby Tellico Blockhouse
site, which had been excavated around the same time.
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, in the southeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Although now submerged by Tellico Lake
Tellico Reservoir
Tellico Reservoir, also known as Tellico Lake, is a reservoir in Tennessee, created by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1979 upon the completion of Tellico Dam. The dam impounds the Little Tennessee River and the lower Tellico River...
, during its heyday in the 19th century Morganton thrived as a flatboat
Flatboat
Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with (mostlyNOTE: "(parenthesized)" wordings in the quote below are notes added to...
port and regional business center. An important ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
operated at Morganton for nearly 170 years.
Due largely to the decline in river trade that occurred in the mid-19th century with the construction of railroads in East Tennessee, Morganton was mostly deserted by the time the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
started buying up property for the construction of Tellico Dam
Tellico Dam
Tellico Dam is a dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in Loudon County, Tennessee on the Little Tennessee River just above the main stem of the Tennessee River. It impounds the Tellico Reservoir....
in the late 1960s. Today, the Morganton Cemetery, which overlooks the now-flooded townsite, is all that remains of the former town. A road and TWRA
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is an independent state agency of the state of Tennessee with the mission of managing the state's fish and wildlife and their habitats, as well as responsibility for all wildlife-related law enforcement activities...
boat ramp are named for Morganton.
Geographical setting
The Little Tennessee RiverLittle Tennessee River
The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River, approximately 135 miles long, in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.-Geography:...
rises in the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and meanders its way through southwestern North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
before entering Tennessee, where it flows for roughly 54 miles (86.9 km) before emptying into the Tennessee River
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
near Lenoir City
Lenoir City, Tennessee
Lenoir City is a city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 8,642 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area....
. The completion of Tellico Dam at the river's mouth in 1979 created a lake that spans the lower 33 miles (53.1 km) of the river. Morganton was located 13.7 miles (22 km) above the mouth of the Little Tennessee at the river's confluence with Bakers Creek, which flows westward from Maryville.
The Morganton site is visible from the junction of East Coast Tellico Parkway and Morganton Road, just west of Greenback
Greenback, Tennessee
Greenback is a city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was at 1,064, according to the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Greenback is located at...
. The area is under the management of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Early history, 1800-1860
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
with the signing of the First Treaty of Tellico in 1798. The first Euro-American settlers had arrived at the mouth of Bakers Creek in 1796, however, when the land was still claimed by the Cherokee. Several major villages of the Overhill Cherokee
Overhill Cherokee
The term Overhill Cherokee refers to the former Cherokee settlements located in what is now Tennessee in the southeastern United States. The name was given by 18th century European traders and explorers who had to cross the Appalachian Mountains to reach these settlements when traveling from...
were located upstream from the Morganton site (the village of Mialoquo
Mialoquo
Mialoquo is a prehistoric and historic Native American site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The site saw significant periods of occupation during the Mississippian period and later as a Cherokee refugee village...
was situated just around Wears Bend, on the opposite side of the river), although most of these villages had either been destroyed or were in decline by the late 1790s. Ethnologist James Mooney
James Mooney
James Mooney was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. He did major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as those on the Great Plains...
recorded a Cherokee legend regarding curiously-blazed trees on the banks "opposite Morganton" that supposedly marked the location of hidden mines.
By 1799 a grist mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
had been established along Bakers Creek by Hugh and Charles Kelso. The following year, Captain Robert Wear (1781-1846) arrived in the area, establishing a plantation near the mouth of the river and a ferry near the mouth of Bakers Creek. In 1801, an inspection port was established near the ferry, and the small community that developed in its vicinity became known as "Portville." The community of Portville incorporated in 1813 after the Kelso brothers donated land for the formation of a town square. The community chose the name "Morganton" after Gideon Morgan (1751-1830), a Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
veteran and prominent local merchant.
By the 1830s, Morganton had grown to become the main shipping hub and business center in the Little Tennessee region. Flatboats carried local products such as whiskey and hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
to trade throughout the Tennessee Valley— and sometimes as far away as New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
— for products such as clothing, salt, and spices. By 1832, the town had its own doctor, hatter's shop, hemp factory, wagon factory, cabinet shop, distillery, and silversmith. A steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
line connecting Morganton and Knoxville began operating in 1831.
Decline, 1861-1967
In late 1863, at the height of the U.S. Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
General James Longstreet
James Longstreet
James Longstreet was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the...
hoped to cross the Little Tennessee at Morganton en route from Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
to Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
to dislodge the troops under the command of Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator...
, who had occupied Knoxville earlier in the year. Longstreet later recalled:
Had the means been at hand for making proper moves I should have marched for the rear of Knoxville via Morganton and Marysville...
As Longstreet lacked the materials to construct a pontoon bridge
Pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...
, however, he was forced to cross the Tennessee River at Loudon
Loudon, Tennessee
Loudon is a city in and the county seat of Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 4,476 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is located in eastern Tennessee, southwest of Knoxville, on the Tennessee River...
, and approach from the west. That same year, however, Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
General William T. Sherman crossed the Little Tennessee at Morganton en route to Chattanooga. Sherman tore down several of the town's houses to construct a pontoon bridge.
After the Civil War, railroads slowly replaced riverboats as the preferred mode of shipping and transportation. When the L&N Railroad laid tracks through nearby Greenback
Greenback, Tennessee
Greenback is a city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was at 1,064, according to the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Greenback is located at...
in the late 19th century, Morganton slowly declined. In 1947, a bridge near Niles Ferry became toll-free, putting most of the ferries along the Little Tennessee River out of business. The Morganton Ferry was the last to go, folding in 1961.
Archaeological survey, 1978
In 1968, the Tennessee Valley Authority reported 18 houses, a store, and a church at Morganton, all of which were to be torn down in anticipation of the construction of Tellico Dam. In 1978, as the Tellico Dam project was stalled by litigationSnail darter controversy
The snail darter controversy involved the delay of the construction of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River in 1973. On August 12, 1973, University of Tennessee biologist and professor David Etnier discovered the snail darter in the Little Tennessee River while doing research related to a...
, University of Tennessee archaeologists conducted a test survey of the Morganton townsite. Several early American artifacts were located, some dating to as early as 1762, as well as several projectile points. The artifacts were similar to those uncovered at the nearby Tellico Blockhouse
Tellico Blockhouse
The Tellico Blockhouse was an early American outpost located along the Little Tennessee River in Vonore, Monroe County, Tennessee. Completed in 1794, the blockhouse operated until 1807 with the purpose of keeping the peace between nearby Overhill Cherokee towns and early Euro-American settlers in...
site, which had been excavated around the same time.