View source for Elizabethton, Tennessee

{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Elizabethton
|settlement_type          = [[City]]
|image_skyline            = July4thparade37643.jpg
|imagesize                = 250px
|image_caption            = Downtown Elizabethton, July 4 parade (2008)
|nickname                 = ''The City of Power''<ref name="ReferenceA">{{NRHP url|id=64500614}} "Pre-TVA Hydroelectric Development in Tennessee, 1901-1933". U.S. Department of Interior, National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet. Section E, Page 12.</ref>
|image_flag               = Flag of Elizabethton, Tennessee.png
|image_seal               = Seal of Elizabethton, Tennessee.png
|pushpin_map              = USA Tennessee#USA
|pushpin_label            = Elizabethton
|pushpin_mapsize          = 250
|pushpin_map_caption      = Map spot for Elizabethton, Tennessee
|coordinates              = {{coord|36|20|11|N|82|14|21|W|type:city_region:US-TN|display=it}}
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = {{flagu|United States}}
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Tennessee|County]]
|subdivision_name1        = {{flag|Tennessee}}
|subdivision_name2        = [[Carter County, Tennessee|Carter]]
|established_title        = Explored
|established_date         = 1759
|established_title2       = Settled
|established_date2        = 1769
|established_title3       = Founded
|established_date3        = 1799<ref name=citywebsite>[http://www.elizabethton.org/ City of Elizabethton website]. Retrieved: January 15, 2013.</ref>
|named_for                = Elizabeth MacLin Carter
|government_type          = [[Council–manager government|Council Manager]]
|leader_title             = Mayor
|leader_name              = William E. "Bill" Carter
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 25.11
|area_total_sq_mi         = 9.70
|area_land_km2            = 24.74
|area_land_sq_mi          = 9.55
|area_water_km2           = 0.38
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.15
|area_water_percent       = 
|area_urban_km2           = 
|elevation_m              = 465
|elevation_ft             = 1593
|pop_est_footnotes        = 
|population_est           = 14428
|pop_est_as_of            = 2026
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="USCensusDecennial2020CenPopScriptOnly"/>
|population_total         = 14546
|population_rank          = 
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States Census|2020]]
|population_density_km2   = 588.02
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]s
|postal_code              = 37643-37644
|area_codes                = [[Area codes 423 and 729|423 and 729]]
|website                  = {{URL|www.elizabethton.org}}
|footnotes                = {{Flagicon|Tennessee}}
|established_title4       = Incorporated:
|established_date4        = May 13, 1905<ref name=citywebsite />
|leader_title2            = Mayor Pro Tem
|leader_title3            = City Manager
|leader_name2             = Mike Simerly
|leader_name3             = Daniel Estes
|timezone                 = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|EST]]
|utc_offset               = &minus;5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = &minus;4
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 47-23500<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 1328127<ref name="GR3-u">{{cite gnis|1328127|Elizabethton|2026-02-24}}</ref>
|unit_pref = Imperial
|image_map = File:Carter County Tennessee Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Elizabethton Highlighted 4723500.svg
|map_caption = Location of Elizabethton in Carter County, Tennessee.
|area_footnotes = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/5/query?where=STATE='47'&outFields=NAME,STATE,PLACE,AREALAND,AREAWATER,LSADC,CENTLAT,CENTLON&orderByFields=PLACE&returnGeometry=false&returnTrueCurves=false&f=json|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 15, 2022}}</ref>
|population_density_sq_mi = 1522.98
}}

'''Elizabethton'''  ({{IPA-cen|ə|ˈ|l|ɪ|z|ə|b|ɛ|θ|t|ə|n}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=WJHL|title=Meet the Mayor: Elizabethton Mayor, Curt Alexander|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMf2w_eQyH0&t=16s|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202090315/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMf2w_eQyH0&t=16s|archive-date=December 2, 2023|date=July 11, 2022|access-date=December 2, 2023|website=YouTube}}</ref>) is a city in, and the [[county seat]] of [[Carter County, Tennessee]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref> Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the [[Watauga Association]], created in 1772) located west of both the [[Eastern Continental Divide]] and the original [[Thirteen Colonies]].

The city is also the historical site of the [[Transylvania Colony|Transylvania Purchase]] (1775), a major muster site during the [[Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War|American Revolutionary War]] for both the [[Battle of Musgrove Mill]] (1780) and the [[Battle of Kings Mountain]] (1780). It was within the [[secession]]ist [[North Carolina]] "[[State of Franklin]]" territory (1784–1788).

The population of Elizabethton was enumerated at 14,546 during the [[2020 United States Census|2020 census]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Elizabethton_city,_Tennessee?g=160XX00US4723500 |website=data.census.gov |access-date=2 January 2026}}</ref>

==History==

===Native American inhabitants===
The area that is now Tennessee was first settled by [[Paleo-Indians]] nearly 11,000 years ago. The names of the cultural groups that inhabited the area between first settlement and the time of European contact are unknown, but several distinct cultural phases have been named by archaeologists, including [[Archaic period in North America|Archaic]], [[Woodland period|Woodland]], and [[Mississippian culture|Mississippian]]. Chiefdoms of the Mississippian culture preceded the historic [[Muscogee]] (also known as Creek) people who inhabited the Tennessee River Valley. They were pushed out of eastern Tennessee by [[Cherokee]] migration into the river's headwaters and lower areas in the eastern part of what became the state.

When [[Conquistador|Spanish explorers]] first visited Tennessee, led by [[Hernando de Soto]] in 1539–43, it was inhabited by tribes of Muscogee and [[Yuchi]] people. Possibly because of European diseases devastating the Native tribes, which would have left a population vacuum, and also from expanding European settlement in the north, the Cherokee migrated south through the mountains from the area that is now [[Virginia]]. They occupied an area incorporating western North and South Carolina, northeastern Georgia and Alabama.

As [[European Americans|European-American]] [[settler]]s expanded through the [[Province of Carolina]], they came into armed conflict and forcibly displaced native populations over time to the south and west. The increasing European population kept up the pressure against Native Americans, who were eager for their land. In 1830, Congress passed the [[Indian Removal Act]] and the United States military enforced the removal of nearly all Muscogee and Yuchi peoples, the [[Chickasaw]], [[Choctaw]] and [[Cherokee]]. The latter were the last holdouts, but, from 1838 to 1839, nearly 17,000 Cherokee were forced to walk overland from "emigration depots" in Alabama and Eastern Tennessee, such as [[Fort Cass]], to [[Indian Territory]] west of Arkansas. (They were transported by boat across the Mississippi River.) This came to be known as the [[Trail of Tears]], an estimated 4,000 Cherokees died along the way.<ref>Satz, Ronald. ''Tennessee's Indian Peoples''. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1979. {{ISBN|978-0-87049-285-3}}</ref>

===Colonial settlement===
[[File:Wilderness road en.png|thumb|300px|left|The [[Transylvania (colony)|Transylvania Purchase]] at [[Sycamore Shoals]] in Elizabethton and the [[Wilderness Road]] into [[Kentucky]]]]
In 1769, a young [[James Robertson (explorer)|James Robertson]] accompanied explorer [[Daniel Boone]] on his third expedition to lands beyond the [[Allegheny Mountains]]. The party discovered the "Watauga Old Fields" (lands previously cultivated by generations of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]) along the [[Watauga River]] valley at present-day Elizabethton, which Robertson planted with [[maize|corn]] while Boone continued on to Kentucky. By 1769 Boone had formed an association with North Carolina promoter and judge [[Transylvania Colony|Richard Henderson]] with a goal to purchase and settle a vast tract of Cherokee lands in present-day Middle Tennessee and Kentucky, and Boone later relocated his family to the Watauga Settlement sometime during the spring of 1771.<ref>[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=B063 "Daniel Boone", ''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''. The University of Tennessee Press] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928003052/http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=B063|date=September 28, 2009}}</ref>

After the [[Battle of Alamance]] in 1771, many North Carolinians refused to take the new oath of allegiance to the Royal Crown and withdrew from the province. Instead of taking their new oath of allegiance, James Robertson led a group of some twelve or thirteen families involved with the [[Regulator movement]] from near where present-day [[Raleigh, North Carolina]], now stands. In 1772, Robertson and the pioneers who had settled in Northeast Tennessee (along the Watauga River, the [[Doe River]], the [[Holston River]], and the [[Nolichucky River]]) met at [[Sycamore Shoals]] to establish an independent regional government known as the [[Watauga Association]].<ref>{{cite web |title="Watauga Petition". Ensor Family Pages. |url=http://www.tcarden.com/tree/ensor/Watag.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609232139/http://www.tcarden.com/tree/ensor/Watag.html |archive-date=June 9, 2009 |access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref>

[[John Sevier]], the future first governor of the State of Tennessee, first visited the Holston settlement and surrounding areas in present-day northeast Tennessee during 1771, bringing items to trade with settlers from his merchandising business in [[Middletown, Virginia]]. Sevier later returned to the area in 1772, where he witnessed a horse race at "the Watauga Old Fields, on Doe River; near its junction with the Watauga."<ref>''King's Mountain and Its Heroes: History of the Battle King's Mountain October 7, 1780, and the Events Which Led to It'', by Lyman C. Draper, 1881. Reprinted, The Overmountain Press, 1996. p.419.</ref>

However, in 1772, surveyors placed the land officially within the domain of the [[Cherokee]] tribe, who required negotiation of a lease with the settlers. Tragedy struck as the lease was being celebrated, when a Cherokee warrior was murdered by a white man. James Robertson's skillful diplomacy made peace with the irate [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], who threatened to expel the settlers by force if necessary.

All of present-day Tennessee was once recognized as one single North Carolina county: [[Washington County, North Carolina]]. Created in 1777 from the western areas of [[Burke County, North Carolina|Burke]] and [[Wilkes County, North Carolina|Wilkes]] counties in North Carolina, Washington County had as its precursor the Washington District of 1775–76, which was the first political entity named for the [[George Washington|Commander-in-Chief of American forces]] in the Revolution.<ref name="jcedb.org">{{cite web |title=Lost Counties of Tennessee |url=http://www.jcedb.org/history/lostco.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115114140/http://www.jcedb.org/history/lostco.php |archive-date=January 15, 2011 |access-date=December 2, 2009}} "Lost Counties of Tennessee.</ref>

===American Revolutionary War===

====Transylvania Purchase at Sycamore Shoals====

[[File:George Caleb Bingham - Daniel Boone escorting settlers through the Cumberland Gap.jpg|thumb|240px|left|''Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap'' ([[George Caleb Bingham]], oil on canvas, 1851–52)]]
Elizabethton (at [[Sycamore Shoals]]) was the [[Fort Watauga]] site of the [[Transylvania Colony|Transylvania Purchase]]. In March 1775, land speculator and North Carolina judge [[Richard Henderson (jurist)|Richard Henderson]] met with more than 1,200 [[Cherokee]]s at Sycamore Shoals, including Cherokee leaders such as [[Attacullaculla]], [[Oconostota]], and [[Dragging Canoe]]. In the [[Treaty of Sycamore Shoals]] (also known as the Treaty of Watauga), Henderson purchased all the land lying between the [[Cumberland River]], the [[Cumberland Mountains]], and the [[Kentucky River]], and situated south of the [[Ohio River]]. The land thus delineated, 20 million acres (81,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), encompassed an area half as large as the present state of Kentucky. Henderson's purchase was in violation of North Carolina and Virginia law, as well as the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]], which prohibited private purchase of American Indian land. Henderson may have mistakenly believed that a newer British legal opinion had made such land purchases legal.

Before the Sycamore Shoals treaty, Henderson had hired [[Daniel Boone]], an experienced hunter who had explored Kentucky, to travel to the Cherokee towns and inform them of the upcoming negotiations. Afterwards, Boone was hired to blaze what became known as the [[Wilderness Road]], which went through the [[Cumberland Gap]] and into central Kentucky. Along with a party of about thirty workers, Boone marked a path to the [[Kentucky River]], where he established [[Boonesborough, Kentucky|Boonesborough]] (near present-day [[Lexington, Kentucky]]), which was intended to be the capital of Transylvania. Other settlements, notably [[Harrodsburg, Kentucky|Harrodsburg]], were also established at this time. Many of these settlers had come to Kentucky on their own initiative, and did not recognize Transylvania's authority. A Daniel Boone Trail historical marker is found just outside the downtown Elizabethton business district.

====July 1776 Dragging Canoe Attacks====

Early during the [[Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War|American Revolutionary War]], Fort Watauga at [[Sycamore Shoals]] was attacked in 1776 by [[Dragging Canoe]] and his warring faction of Cherokees opposed to the Transylvania Purchase (warring Cherokees also referred to by settlers as the [[Chickamauga Cherokee|Chickamauga]]), Cols. John Sevier and James Robertson are named as being among the defenders of the stockade fort along the Watauga River.

====Wataugans' Settlement of Middle Tennessee====

During the spring of 1779, James Robertson and a small group of Watauga settlers, acting upon the survey of Henderson's Transylvania Purchase, traveled west overland to select a site for a new settlement along the Cumberland River known as the  [[French Lick]] (at present day [[Nashville]]). Later that same year, Robertson would return to the French Lick with a group of men to construct temporary shelters for their friends and relatives from the Watauga Settlement, who would eventually arrive at their new French Lick settlement on Christmas Day and drive their cattle across a frozen Cumberland River. A fort built by James Robertson and other settlers from the Watauga Settlement atop a bluff along the Cumberland River was named Fort Nashborough in honor of Francis Nash, who had fought alongside Robertson during the 1771 Battle of Alamance.

====Overmountain Men Muster for the Battle of Kings Mountain====

The Overmountain Men serving under Col. [[Isaac Shelby]] (who years earlier had worked as a surveyor for the Transylvania Company) and other patriot forces engaged and defeated a larger force of British Loyalists on August 19, 1780, at the [[Battle of Musgrove Mill]] near present-day [[Clinton, South Carolina]]. Fort Watauga later served as the September 26, 1780,<ref name="autogenerated2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070103184907/http://www.nps.gov/archive/ovvi/tn/travelog.htm U.S. National Park Service.]</ref> staging area for a much larger contingent of some 1,100 [[Overmountain Men]] who were preparing to trek over the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]] at [[Roan Mountain (Roan Highlands)|Roan Mountain]] to engage, and subsequently defeat, the British Army [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] forces at the [[Battle of Kings Mountain]] in rural [[York County, South Carolina]], {{convert|9|mi|0}} south of the present-day town of [[Kings Mountain, North Carolina]].

Prior to the [[American Revolutionary War]] very little [[gunpowder]] had been made in the colonies, and most was imported from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]].<ref name="brown">Brown, ''The Big Bang: A History of Explosives'', p?</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2010}} In October 1777, the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] banned the importation of gunpowder into the American colonies. In preparation for the overmountain march, five hundred pounds of [[black powder]] was manufactured for the Overmountain Men by Mary Patton and her husband at their Gap Creek powder mill. The Overmountain Men stored the Patton black powder on the rainy first night of their march in a dry cave known as the Shelving Rock that is located near [[Roan Mountain State Park]] at present-day [[Roan Mountain, Tennessee]].<ref name="autogenerated2" /> During January 1781, the Overmountain Men also fought the British at the [[Battle of Cowpens]] in South Carolina.

====John Carter, Landon Carter, and the Carter Mansion====

Landon Carter was the son of early Carter County settler John Carter. John Carter's circa 1780 white frame home, known as the Carter Mansion, now serves as a tourist attraction and is part of [[Sycamore Shoals State Park]], although it is not at the park's main location. The oldest frame house in Tennessee, this former frontier plantation home is located on Broad Street Extension on the eastern side of town above the banks of the Watauga River. The property also contains a small Carter family cemetery. A landscape painting of a Virginia plantation that was discovered beneath layers of ancient paint covering the wall surface above a fireplace mantle suggests that John Carter may have been an illegitimate son of the wealthy Virginia plantation owner [[Robert Carter I|Robert "King" Carter]]<ref>{{cite web |title=State of Tennessee |url=http://www.state.tn.us/environment/tn_consv/archive/cartermansion.pdf |access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref> and half-brother to Virginia plantation owner [[Landon Carter]].

===Tiptonville and the Battle of Franklin feud===

[[File:Samuel Tipton headstone Elizabethton.jpg|thumb|240px|Gravestone of Samuel Tipton, "Founder of Elizabethton", located at the Green Hill Cemetery (West Mill Street). Tipton donated the land for the town that would initially be known as Tiptonville within the [[State of Franklin]], and later as Elizabethton after Tennessee was admitted into the United States of America.]]Carter County was previously named "Wayne County" while briefly within the defeated State of Franklin (along with present-day [[Johnson County, Tennessee]], 1784–88).<ref name="jcedb.org" /> Samuel Tipton (1752−1833), a son of frontiersman and later State of Franklin independence opponent Colonel [[John Tipton (Tennessee frontiersman)|John Tipton]], had deeded the land on which the town Tiptonville was established on the banks of the Doe River near its confluence with the Watauga River then within Wayne County.<ref>[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2A8X_SAMUAL_TIPTON Historical marker in downtown Elizabethton]. Accessed: January 26, 2013.</ref>

The February 1788 [[State of Franklin#Battle of Franklin|Battle of Franklin]] was fought between those aligned with Col. John Tipton and loyal to the area remaining within the authority of the State of North Carolina and the United States and the opposition aligned with Col. John Sevier who were seeking [[secession]] from the State of North Carolina as an independent [[State of Franklin]] under Spanish rule. The Battle of Franklin took place on a farm owned by Col. John Tipton (now known as the [[Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site]]) within the southern section of present-day [[Johnson City, Tennessee]].

Col. John Tipton would also later help to lead the effort of having Tennessee be admitted as the sixteenth state into the United States of America during 1796.<ref>[http://www.tipton-haynes.org/ Tipton-Haynes Historic Area - Home".]</ref>

Following the 1796 admittance of the State of Tennessee into the United States of America, Wayne County was renamed named as Carter County by the losers of the Battle of Franklin in honor of Landon Carter, who served both as Chairman of the Court of the Watauga Settlement (as defined by the articles of the Watauga Petition) and as [[State of Franklin|Speaker of the defunct State of Franklin Senate]].

Previously named "Tiptonville" in honor of Samuel Tipton while within the State of Franklin, the town was as the county seat of the newly minted Tennessee county of Carter was, likewise, renamed as "Elizabethton" by Landon Carter and David McNabb (who were members of a state committee to officially name the area that was appointed by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1796 to locate and name the county seat of Carter County) after their wives, Elizabeth MacLin Carter and Elizabeth McNabb.

The gravesite of Samuel Tipton, "Founder of Elizabethton", is located at the Green Hill Cemetery, found on the crest of West Mill Street and overlooking [[northeast by north]] toward the historic site of Fort Caswell (this location as recorded in the unpublished John Sevier notes of Wisconsin historian [[Lyman C. Draper]], and now more popularly known as Fort Watauga) <ref>Compton, Brian Patrick, "Revised History of Fort Watauga." (2005). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1103. Pages 25-26. http://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1103</ref> and the Watauga River.

===American Civil War===
[[File:SPCarter.jpg|right|thumb|120px|[[Samuel P. Carter|Rear Admiral/<br />Brevet Major General<br />Samuel P. Carter]]]]
On the recommendation of Military Governor of Tennessee [[Andrew Johnson]], U.S. naval officer [[Samuel P. Carter|Samuel Powhattan (S.P.) Carter]] was promoted to the [[Brevet (military)|brevet rank]] of [[brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] and assigned by U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] to engage [[United States Cavalry|cavalry]] based in Kentucky against [[East Tennessee bridge burnings|Confederate-held railroad lines and bridges]] in East Tennessee during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

In early 1861, after receiving a letter from Carter assuring his loyalty to the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] should a civil war break out, Tennessee Governor Andrew Johnson used his influence in the [[United States Department of War]] for Carter to organize and train [[militia]] within East Tennessee. After leading successful cavalry operations at the [[Battle of Mill Springs]] on January 19, 1862, Carter accepted a commission as [[Brigadier General]] of volunteers in May and later continued leading operations at the Battle of [[Cumberland Gap]] in June as well as raids against Holston, Carter's Station, and Jonesville in December, in support of General [[William S. Rosecrans]]' [[Battle of Murfreesboro|attack on Murfreesboro]].

Carter's younger brother, William B. Carter (1820−1902), planned and coordinated the so-called [[East Tennessee bridge burnings]] in 1861. On the night of November 8 of that year, Carter's pro-Union conspirators destroyed five railroad bridges across [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]]-occupied East Tennessee. Daniel Stover, a son-in-law of Andrew Johnson who lived near Elizabethton in the Siam community, led the party that destroyed the bridge at Union Depot (modern [[Bluff City, Tennessee|Bluff City]]). Confederate authorities placed much of East Tennessee under [[martial law]] as a result of the bridge-burning incident.

In July 1863, Carter was placed in command of the [[XXIII Corps (Union Army)|XXIII Corps]] cavalry division and would continue campaigning across Tennessee throughout the year. By 1865, Carter was in North Carolina and commanding the left wing of the Union forces at the [[Battle of Kingston]]. He was promoted to [[brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Major General]] of Volunteers, briefly commanding the XXIII Corps before being mustered out of volunteer service in January 1866.

While Carter was serving in the Union Army, the [[U.S. Navy]] promoted him to [[lieutenant commander]] in 1863, then to [[commander]] in 1865. A Tennessee Historical Marker located on West Elk Avenue in front of the S.P. Carter Mansion in downtown Elizabethton commemorates his life and naval career.

The Veterans' Monument in downtown Elizabethton was originally constructed and dedicated in 1912 to "the memory of the old soldiers of Carter County since the days of the [[American Revolution|Revolution]]."<ref>Merritt, Frank. Later history of Carter County, 1865-1980. Elizabethton, Carter County Homecoming '86 Heritage Project, 1986.</ref> It is in the form of an [[obelisk]], constructed primarily from river rock collected from the nearby Doe River, guarded by two short Civil War field cannon.

===Railroad history===
During the early 20th century, Elizabethton became a rail hub, served by three different railroad companies.

Beginning in the 1880s, the [[narrow-gauge]] engine known as the "Tweetsie" ran on the [[East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad]] (ET&WNC) from [[Johnson City, Tennessee|Johnson City]], passing through Elizabethton before climbing into the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]], eventually connecting to [[Boone, North Carolina]], in 1916.

In 1927, the {{convert|9|mi|km|adj=on}} portion of the ET&WNC railroad from Johnson City to Elizabethton was converted to [[standard gauge]] in order to more efficiently serve the NARC and Bemberg Rayon Plants.

The narrow-gauge portion of the ET&WNC ceased operations in 1950 and was subsequently abandoned, though the standard-gauge portion of the line from Johnson City to Elizabethton continued to operate until 2003 as the [[East Tennessee Railway]]. The railroad's dormant track was removed to create a new rail-to-trail, the [[Tweetsie Trail]] in 2014.

One of the ET&WNC's narrow-gauge [[steam locomotive]]s (Engine #12) is still in existence, operating at the "[[Tweetsie Railroad]]" [[theme park]] at nearby [[Blowing Rock, North Carolina]].

The [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] operated a [[branch line]] into Elizabethton until the flood of 1940. It connected with the ET&WNC at a small [[railroad yard]] near the confluence of the [[Watauga River]] and the [[Doe River]].<ref>http://www.johnsonsdepot.com/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051026071304/http://johnsonsdepot.com/|date=October 26, 2005}} Johnson's Depot - The Online History of Johnson City, Tennessee</ref>

In the 1910s and 1920s, another small railroad, the [[Laurel Fork Railway]], operated out of Elizabethton paralleling the ET&WNC and Doe River to [[Hampton, Tennessee|Hampton]], where the line split off and ran to a [[sawmill]] near present-day [[Watauga Lake]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Waskiewicz |first=Fred |title=Logging Along The Laurel Fork |url=http://www.tehcc.org/lfrr.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513145939/http://www.tehcc.org/lfrr.htm |archive-date=May 13, 2008 |access-date=July 10, 2007}}</ref>

===North American Rayon Corp., American Bemberg Corp., and the 1929 Rayon Plants strikes===
{{anchor|North American Rayon Corporation}}<!-- [[North American Rayon Corporation]] redirects here. -->
Beginning in the late 1920s, German and Dutch business investors established two major [[rayon]] manufacturing plants (Bemberg and the North American Rayon Corporation) in Elizabethton along the banks of the Watauga River, producing rayon material for both U.S. domestic and export markets.

The Rayon factories were controlled by the German-Dutch [[Algemene Kunstzijde Unie]] (AKU).<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=Harold |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gArOx8n77JIC&pg=PA104 |title=The Nazi Dictatorship and the Deutsche Bank |date=September 13, 2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83874-0 |page=104 |access-date=September 15, 2015}}</ref>
During [[World War II]] the U.S. government seized managerial control of these critical rayon plants in Elizabethton. A post-war hiring apex of the Elizabethton rayon industry occurred in 1949 when over 6,100 employees were working at both of the Elizabethton rayon mills.<ref>{{cite web |title=North American Rayon Corporation and American Bemberg Corporation - Entries - Tennessee Encyclopedia |url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1005 |access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref>

A specialized fiber utilized by [[NASA]] within the [[Space Shuttle]] program was manufactured at the Elizabethton plants during the 1980s, and after many years of a declining U.S. rayon market and increased foreign competition following the [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]] and [[North American Free Trade Agreement]], the remaining rayon mill (owned by the North American Rayon Corporation) closed down during the late 1990s after a fire burned down most of the factory buildings.

===The City of Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority===
Elizabethton was first served by relatively inexpensive [[hydroelectric]] power during the early 1910s, leading to the popular "The City of Power" moniker.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The Horseshoe section of the Watauga River (within the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] reservation behind the TVA [[Wilbur Dam]]) is the site of the first hydroelectric dam constructed in Tennessee (beginning in 1909), going online with power production and distribution in 1912.

[[File:HerbertClarkHoover.jpg|left|thumb|120px|U.S. President<br />Herbert C. Hoover]]
The 1928 [[U.S. Republican Party|Republican]] U.S. presidential candidate [[Herbert Hoover|Herbert C. Hoover]] made his only southern campaign stop at Elizabethton and delivered his nationally broadcast October 6, 1928, election "[[stump speech (politics)|stump speech]]" before 50,000 people gathered at the base of Lynn Mountain in Harmon Field (now at the mini-park and the Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce building location on U.S. 321) during Elizabethton's Second Annual Industrial Celebration.<ref name="Dixie 1979">"Hoover Day in Dixie: Elizabethton's Second Annual Industrial Celebration October 6th, 1928". Dan W. Crowe, 1979.</ref>

During the Elizabethton speech, Hoover "...alluded to a matter of growing concern, the status of the Federal Government's involvement in the [hydrogeneration] production of [electric] power, specifically the [[Muscle Shoals]] (Alabama) issue: "There are local instances where the Government must enter the business field as a by-product to some great major purpose such as an improvement in navigation, flood control, irrigation, scientific research or national defense."<ref name="Dixie 1979" />

It was the succession of Republican presidents in the White House at the time leading up to the [[Great Depression]]—first [[President of the United States|President]] [[Calvin Coolidge|Coolidge]] in 1928, followed by President Hoover later in 1931—choosing to veto the federal legislation passed by the [[U.S. Congress]] that would have created a water power development agency of the federal government.

It was U.S. Senator [[George William Norris|George W. Norris]] of Nebraska who sponsored the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] Act of 1933, water power development legislation which was finally enacted during the administration of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] that created the Tennessee Valley Authority. Norris was later an important proponent of the [[Rural Electrification Act]] of 1936.

Following the end of [[World War II]], the TVA [[Watauga Lake|Watauga Dam and Reservoir]] were completed {{convert|3|mi|0}} upstream of the Wilbur Dam in 1948.<ref name="tva.gov" />

The TVA Wilbur Dam has four hydroelectric generating turbines with a production capacity of 10,700 kilowatts of electricity<ref>[http://www.elizabethton.org/about/h_places.html#carter_mansion Elizabethton.org. History – Historic Places.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070627182341/http://www.elizabethton.org/about/h_places.html|date=June 27, 2007}}</ref> while the TVA Watauga hydroelectric facility upstream has two generating units with a net dependable capacity (the amount of power a hydrogenerating impounded reservoir can produce on an average day, minus the electricity used by the dam itself) of 66 megawatts.<ref name="tva.gov2" />

===U.S. Bicentennial – Overmountain Victory Trail===
Hikers, military reenactors, and scouts have followed segments of the famous Overmountain Victory Trail, and in 1975, three Elizabethton [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]] were among those who completed the re-enactment of the overmountain route (approximately {{convert|214|mi|km}} in one direction) by hiking from Elizabethton at Sycamore Shoals to the [[Kings Mountain National Military Park]].

''Liberty: The Saga of Sycamore Shoals'' (formerly known as ''[[The Wataugans]]'')<ref>{{cite web |title=State of Tennessee |url=http://www.state.tn.us/environment/ |access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref> is the official outdoor historical drama of the state of Tennessee. It is presented by the Watauga Historical Association and the Sycamore Shoals Historic Area in Elizabethton every July on the last three Thursday–Friday–Saturday weekends of the month. Employing a mixed cast of volunteer professional and amateur local actors and re-enactors engaged through an open casting call, ''Liberty: The Saga of Sycamore Shoals'' depicts the early history of the area that is now Northeast Tennessee.

Based on a bill introduced by North Carolina Congressman James T. Broyhill before the final NPS report was issued, Congress passed an amendment to Section 5(a) of the National Trails System Act to establish the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]], recognizing the historical significance of the frontier patriots marching over the [[Appalachian Mountains]] to fight the British Loyalists at the [[Battle of King's Mountain]], signed the bill (P.L. 96 344) into law on September 8, 1980, designating the historical overmountain route as the [[Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail]], the first [[National Historic Trail]] established within the eastern United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/ovvi/index.htm |access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref><ref>http://www.ovta.org/ Home Page</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tennessee State Parks |url=http://tn.gov/environment/parks/SycamoreShoals/index.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923015240/http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/SycamoreShoals/index.shtml |archive-date=September 23, 2013 |access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref>

===Elizabethton Airport Plane Incident===
On June 4, 2023, a plane that took off from the Elizabethton airport was the cause of an airspace emergency over Washington, DC, after the pilot lost consciousness and the plane flew into restricted airspace. The plane crashed in the St Mary's Wilderness in Virginia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2023 |title=Fighter jets scrambled near D.C. to check off-course private plane that ultimately crashed |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sonic-boom-department-defense-aircraft-jars-residents-dmv-area-dod-con-rcna87651 |access-date=June 13, 2023 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The four aboard, including the pilot, were killed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Sophia |date=June 5, 2023 |title=4 dead in Virginia plane crash linked to sonic boom scare across DC area |url=https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/4-dead-in-virginia-plane-crash-linked-to-sonic-boom-scare-across-dc-area/3360954/ |access-date=June 13, 2023 |website=NBC4 Washington |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Geography==

===Northeast Tennessee location===
Elizabethton is located within the "[[Tri-Cities (Tennessee–Virginia)|Tri-Cities]]" area (encompassed by [[Bristol, Tennessee|Bristol]], [[Johnson City, Tennessee|Johnson City]], and [[Kingsport, Tennessee|Kingsport]]) of northeast Tennessee.<ref>[https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer-tbl?city=Elizabethton&state=&zip=37643 U.S. Gazetteer]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

Time offset from [[Coordinated Universal Time]] (UTC): [[UTC-5]] ([[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Time]]).

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|25.6|sqkm|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|25.2|sqkm|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|0.4|sqkm|order=flip|1}}, or 1.62%, is water.

The elevation at [[Elizabethton Municipal Airport]] is {{convert|1593|ft|m}} ASL (the highest point of elevation in Carter County is at [[Roan Mountain (Roan Highlands)|Roan Mountain]] with an elevation of {{convert|6285|ft|m}} ASL), and the airport is located on the eastern side of the city along State Highway 91 Stoney Creek Exit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elizabethtonairport.com/ContentPages/Layout.htm |title= Untitled Document|website=www.elizabethtonairport.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109081555/http://www.elizabethtonairport.com/ContentPages/Layout.htm |archive-date=January 9, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tn.gov/environment/parks/RoanMtn/index.shtml|title=Tennessee State Parks|access-date=December 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906000158/http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/RoanMtn/index.shtml|archive-date=September 6, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Elizabethton is also connected to larger commercial, shuttle, and cargo flights out of [[Tri-Cities Regional Airport]] northwest of Johnson City.

Lynn Mountain reaches {{convert|2060|ft|m}} ASL at the summit (36.350°N, 82.191°W) and is located directly across the [[U.S. Highway 19E]] from the downtown Elizabethton business district.

Elizabethton is bordered on the west by [[Johnson City, Tennessee|Johnson City]].

===Water resources and renewable energy===

====Spring Water====
While most of the Tennessee public water-supply systems withdrawing spring water for their supplies are found in East Tennessee, the Elizabethton municipal water system during 2010 extracted and distributed 5.39 Mgal/d of clean spring water from three springs owned by the city --- a unique local supply of flowing spring water that greatly exceeds the volume of spring water extracted and distributed than any other local water resource system across the entire state of Tennessee.<ref>https://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri034264/PDF/PublicSupply.pdf "Public Water-Supply Systems And Associated Water Use in Tennessee, 2000. USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4264."</ref>

====Doe River====
[[File:The City of Power 37643.jpg|left|thumb|180px|"The City of Power" electric sign that was erected over the old Elk Avenue Bridge (circa 1912–1913).<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

The [[Doe River]] forms in [[Carter County, Tennessee]], near the [[North Carolina]] line, just south of [[Roan Mountain State Park]]. The river initially flows north and is first paralleled by State Route 143; at the community of [[Roan Mountain, Tennessee]], it then turns west and is at this point paralleled by [[U.S. Route 19E]]. The Doe River flows to the east of Fork Mountain; the [[Little Doe River]] flows by Fork Mountain to the west.

Below the confluence of the Doe River and the Little Doe River at [[Hampton, Tennessee|Hampton]], the Doe River then travels roughly in a northern downstream direction through the Valley Forge community, and is rejoined by U.S. Route 19E. Pushing through a mountain gap just north of Hampton, the volume of the river is amplified by the waters flowing from McCathern Spring.

[[File:Broad Street Bridge 37643.jpg|right|thumb|180px|Broad Street Bridge]]
Further downstream, the Doe River flows by the East Side neighborhood parallel with [[Tennessee State Route 67]] and then underneath the historic [[Elizabethton Covered Bridge]], built in 1882 and located within the Elizabethton downtown business district. Connecting 3rd Street and Hattie Avenue, the covered bridge is adjacent to a city park and spans the Doe River. The covered bridge, although now closed to motor traffic, is still open for bicycles and pedestrians.

Most of Elizabethton's downtown is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] for its historical and architectural merits. The Elizabethton Historic District contains a variety of properties ranging in age from the late 18th century through the 1930s. The Elizabethton Covered Bridge is an important focal point and a well-known landmark in the state. In addition to the covered bridge, the downtown historic district contains the 1928 Elk Avenue concrete arch bridge, and just a little further downstream on the Doe River, Tennessee State Route 67 passes another similar concrete arch bridge locally known as the Broad Street Bridge. The bridge was declared structurally unsafe after being damaged by [[Hurricane Helene]] and took nine months to repair following this due to the construction crews wanting to keep the historic look.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/live-tdot-reopens-broad-street-bridge-in-elizabethton/|title=TDOT reopens Broad Street Bridge in Elizabethton|website=WJHL.com|date=July 2, 2025|last1=Lee|first1=Murry|last2=Diamond|first2=Sara|accessdate=April 11, 2026}}</ref>

Elizabethton celebrates in the downtown business area for one week each June with the Elizabethton Covered Bridge Days featuring country and gospel music performances, activities for children, Elk Avenue car club show, and many food and crafts vendors.

====Watauga River====
[[File:WataugaTheBigHole.jpg|thumb|left|[[Raft guide]] plunging whitewater rafters downstream through "The Big Hole" in the [[Bee Cliff Rapids]]]]

Two [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] (TVA) reservoirs in Carter County—impounded behind the [[Watauga Dam]] (forming [[Watauga Lake]])<ref name="tva.gov2"/> and the immediately downstream [[Wilbur Dam]]<ref name="tva.gov">[http://www.tva.gov/sites/wilbur.htm Tennessee Valley Authority – Wilbur Reservoir.]</ref>—are located southeast and upstream of Elizabethton on the [[Watauga River]]. The [[Appalachian Trail]] crosses the Watauga River and the TVA reservation in Carter County to the southeast of Elizabethton.<ref name="tva.gov2">{{cite web|url=http://www.tva.gov/sites/watauga.htm|title=TVA – Watauga|publisher=Tennessee Valley Authority|access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref><ref name="tva.gov"/>

The Watauga River flows westward past Elizabethton, which lies on the south bank of the Watauga and along either side of its principal tributary, the Doe River. The downtown business district is located approximately one-quarter mile upstream of the [[confluence]] of the Doe River and the Watauga River. The Doe River flows underneath the historic [[covered bridge|wooden covered bridge]] that is located within the Elizabethton downtown business district.

The city of Elizabethton was at one time promoted as "The City of Power", as the town is located just southeast of the Wilbur Dam hydrogeneration site spanning the Watauga River. Construction of Wilbur Dam first began during 1909, and two hydroelectric generating units were online with power production at Wilbur Dam when it was completed in 1912.<ref name="tva.gov" /> A third generating unit was added to Wilbur Dam in 1926, and a fourth hydrogeneration unit was added to Wilbur Dam after the Tennessee Valley Authority acquired the power production facility in 1945.<ref name="tva.gov" />

The [[Bee Cliff (Tennessee)|Bee Cliff Rapids]]—a popular summer destination on the Watauga River for [[rafting|whitewater rafters]] during the summer months—are located southeast of Elizabethton and downstream of the TVA Wilbur Dam.

The Watauga River downstream of the western side of Elizabethton has one of the only two sections of trophy trout streams in Tennessee.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}

===Holston Mountain communication towers===
[[File:blueHole.jpg|right|thumb|180px|The main waterfall at Blue Hole Falls northeast of Elizabethton on Holston Mountain]]Elizabethton lies within a river valley basin mostly surrounded by mountain ridges and significant hills, such as [[Holston Mountain]], the southern end of which lies just to the northeast. Panhandle Road is located off State Highway 91 in Carter County and ascends Holston Mountain for {{convert|3|mi|0}} from the eastern side and ends {{convert|4|mi|0}} along the ridge southwest of Holston High Point. During periods of heavy snow and ice, the [[National Forest Service]] closes Panhandle Road.

Located near the [[Cherokee National Forest]] boundary and to the left of Panhandle Road is a parking area and foot trail that leads down the slope to the Blue Hole Falls (approximately {{convert|45|ft|m}} high). The last {{convert|3|mi|0}} of Panhandle Road are filled with washouts, steep drop-offs, and no turnarounds. Vehicle travel on this last section is at the driver's risk.

[[File:Holston High Point.jpg|left|thumb|180px|Holston High Point as seen from Holston High Knob]]
Early broadcasters in the 1950s and 1960s quickly realized Holston Mountain would be a prime radio-television transmission location because it is the highest visible point that faces most of the major cities in [[East Tennessee|Northeast Tennessee]]. As a result, the Holston Mountain ridge is the transmitter site for three television stations in the [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee]] Television [[Designated Market Area]]. The broadcasting antenna for [[WCYB-TV]], Channel 5, [[Bristol, Virginia]], is on Rye Patch Knob, with the top of the antenna {{convert|341|ft}} above ground, {{convert|2431|ft}} above the surrounding valley floor, and {{convert|4533|ft}} above sea level. The single tower the antenna sits on is the highest and tallest man-made structure on the mountain. The television towers for [[WJHL|WJHL-TV]], Channel 11, [[Johnson City, Tennessee|Johnson City]], and [[WKPT-TV]], Channel 19, [[Kingsport, Tennessee|Kingsport]], are standing side by side in a common broadcasting antenna farm on the southwest slope of Holston High Point, {{convert|1|mi}} southwest of Rye Patch Knob. The antenna for [[WJHL-TV]] stands {{convert|200|ft}} above ground, {{convert|2319|ft}} above the surrounding valley floor, and {{convert|4370|ft}} above sea level. The antenna for [[WKPT-TV]] next door stands {{convert|193|ft}} above ground, also {{convert|2319|ft}} above the valley floor, and {{convert|4366|ft}} above sea level. The stations' digital antennas are also on their respective towers.

Holston Mountain is also the transmitting site for three FM Class C radio stations: [[WTFM|WTFM-FM 98.5]], Kingsport, Tennessee; [[WXBQ|WXBQ-FM 96.9]], Bristol, Virginia, and [[WETS|WETS-FM]] 89.5, Johnson City, Tennessee. All three antennas and the backup antennas are located at the antenna farm on the southwest slope of Holston High Point. Also located on the ridge are the antenna for one FM Class C1 radio station, [[WHCB|WHCB-FM 91.5]], Bristol, Tennessee, located at Rye Patch Knob; one FM Class C2 antenna for radio station [[WCQR|WCQR-FM 88.3]], Kingsport, Tennessee, and one FM Class D antenna for radio station [[W214AP|W214AP-FM 90.7]], Johnson City, Tennessee, both transmitting from the antenna farm on the southwest slope of Holston High Point. Various U.S. federal, Tennessee state, Sullivan, Washington and Carter County governmental agencies, along with utility [[microwave relay]] stations, also transmit base-to-mobile communications from the Holston High Point antenna farm and Rye Patch Knob.

The [[FAA|Federal Aviation Administration]] maintains a navigational beacon at the Holston Mountain summit.

[[East Tennessee PBS]] (or "ETPtv"), while not having a television repeater station serving the immediate area, broadcasts programming on two different over-the-air digital channels that can be received and viewed at higher hilltop elevations in Elizabethton. In early 2009, ETPtv became one of the first stations in East Tennessee to broadcast a digital high definition signal 24 hours a day.

===Climate===
{{Weather box
|location = Elizabethton, Tennessee (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1895–present)
|single line = Y
|Jan record high F = 78
|Feb record high F = 82
|Mar record high F = 84
|Apr record high F = 93
|May record high F = 97
|Jun record high F = 102
|Jul record high F = 105
|Aug record high F = 99
|Sep record high F = 98
|Oct record high F = 92
|Nov record high F = 87
|Dec record high F = 80
|year record high F = 105
|Jan high F = 46.2
|Feb high F = 50.4
|Mar high F = 58.9
|Apr high F = 69.0
|May high F = 76.6
|Jun high F = 82.9
|Jul high F = 85.5
|Aug high F = 85.0
|Sep high F = 80.1
|Oct high F = 70.0
|Nov high F = 58.5
|Dec high F = 49.5
|year high F = 67.7
|Jan mean F = 35.9
|Feb mean F = 39.2
|Mar mean F = 46.6
|Apr mean F = 55.5
|May mean F = 64.2
|Jun mean F = 71.2
|Jul mean F = 74.5
|Aug mean F = 73.7
|Sep mean F = 67.9
|Oct mean F = 57.0
|Nov mean F = 45.9
|Dec mean F = 39.2
|year mean F = 55.9
|Jan low F = 25.5
|Feb low F = 28.1
|Mar low F = 34.2
|Apr low F = 41.9
|May low F = 51.8
|Jun low F = 59.6
|Jul low F = 63.5
|Aug low F = 62.3
|Sep low F = 55.6
|Oct low F = 44.0
|Nov low F = 33.3
|Dec low F = 28.8
|year low F = 44.1
|Jan record low F = −21
|Feb record low F = −17
|Mar record low F = −2
|Apr record low F = 20
|May record low F = 28
|Jun record low F = 39
|Jul record low F = 46
|Aug record low F = 43
|Sep record low F = 31
|Oct record low F = 22
|Nov record low F = 10
|Dec record low F = −12
|year record low F = -21
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 3.78
|Feb precipitation inch = 3.76
|Mar precipitation inch = 3.97
|Apr precipitation inch = 3.81
|May precipitation inch = 4.43
|Jun precipitation inch = 5.16
|Jul precipitation inch = 5.86
|Aug precipitation inch = 4.20
|Sep precipitation inch = 3.00
|Oct precipitation inch = 2.80
|Nov precipitation inch = 3.36
|Dec precipitation inch = 3.90
|year precipitation inch = 48.03
|Jan snow inch = 1.9
|Feb snow inch = 2.1
|Mar snow inch = 0.1
|Apr snow inch = 0.0
|May snow inch = 0.0
|Jun snow inch = 0.0
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.0
|Oct snow inch = 0.0
|Nov snow inch = 0.1
|Dec snow inch = 1.8
|year snow inch = 6.0
|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 12.5
|Feb precipitation days = 12.2
|Mar precipitation days = 13.1
|Apr precipitation days = 11.9
|May precipitation days = 12.7
|Jun precipitation days = 13.4
|Jul precipitation days = 13.5
|Aug precipitation days = 11.6
|Sep precipitation days = 9.0
|Oct precipitation days = 8.9
|Nov precipitation days = 10.2
|Dec precipitation days = 12.8
|year precipitation days = 141.8
|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 1.2
|Feb snow days = 1.2
|Mar snow days = 0.4
|Apr snow days = 0.0
|May snow days = 0.0
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.0
|Oct snow days = 0.0
|Nov snow days = 0.3
|Dec snow days = 1.2
|year snow days = 4.3
| source 1 = [[NOAA]]<ref name=nws>{{cite web
| url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mrx
| title = NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = May 28, 2021
| archive-date = November 16, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181116080734/http://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mrx
| url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref name=NCEI>
{{cite web
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00402806&format=pdf
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
| title = Station: Elizabethton, TN
| work = U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020)
| access-date = May 28, 2021}}</ref>
}}

===Connection with Interstate Highway System===
The closest Interstate Highway is [[Interstate 26|I-26]] in Johnson City. To reach Elizabethton, drivers take Exit 24 and head east {{convert|8|mi|0}} on [[U.S. Route 321]] and [[Tennessee State Route 67]].

==Demographics==
[[File:ElizabethtonCoveredBridge2.jpg|right|thumb|180px|The 1882 completion of the [[Elizabethton Covered Bridge]], spanning {{convert|154|ft|m}} across the Doe River, soon led to the early local descriptions of "Old Town" (east with Main Street and the courthouse) and "New Town" (west of the Doe River) sections in Elizabethton.]]
{{US Census population
| 1850 = 373
| 1860 = 360
| 1870 = 321
| 1880 = 362
| 1890 = 734
| 1910 = 2478
| 1920 = 2749
| 1930 = 8093
| 1940 = 8516
| 1950 = 10754
| 1960 = 10896
| 1970 = 12269
| 1980 = 12431
| 1990 = 11931
| 2000 = 13372
| 2010 = 14176
| 2020 = 14546
| estyear = 2025
| estimate = 14350
| estref = <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2020-2025/cities/totals/SUB-IP-EST2025-POP-47.xlsxOrigin= |title=2025 City and town population estimates: Tennessee|website=U.S. Census Bureau |date=May 14, 2026 |access-date=May 22, 2025}}</ref> {{decrease}}
| footnote = Sources:<ref name="GR9">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=March 4, 2012|title=Census of Population and Housing: Decennial Censuses}}</ref><ref name=CensusPopEst>{{cite web|title=Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2012/SUB-EST2012.html|work=Population Estimates|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=December 11, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611010502/http://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2012/SUB-EST2012.html|archive-date=June 11, 2013}}</ref><ref name="USCensusDecennial2020CenPopScriptOnly">{{cite web|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=P1_001N%2CNAME&for=place%3A%2A&in=state%3A47|title=Census Population API|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 15, 2022}}</ref>
| align = right
| align-fn = center
}}

===2020 census===
As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], Elizabethton had a population of 14,546, 6,001 households, and 3,301 families; the median age was 40.7 years, 19.1% of residents were under 18, 21.6% were 65 or older, and for every 100 females there were 86.1 males (83.4 per 100 females age 18 and over).<ref name="Census2020DP">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dp?get=NAME%2CDP1_0021P%2CDP1_0024P%2CDP1_0025C%2CDP1_0049C%2CDP1_0045C%2CDP1_0069C%2CDP1_0073C%2CDP1_0125P%2CDP1_0126P%2CDP1_0129P%2CDP1_0133P%2CDP1_0137P%2CDP1_0138P%2CDP1_0139P%2CDP1_0141P%2CDP1_0142P%2CDP1_0143P%2CDP1_0145P%2CDP1_0146P%2CDP1_0147C%2CDP1_0148C%2CDP1_0149C%2CDP1_0156C%2CDP1_0157C%2CDP1_0158C%2CDP1_0159P%2CDP1_0160P&for=place%3A23500&in=state%3A47|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=February 5, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref>

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.<ref name="Census2020DHC">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dhc?get=NAME%2CP2_002N%2CP2_003N&for=place%3A23500&in=state%3A47|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2023|access-date=February 5, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref>

There were 6,001 households in Elizabethton, of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 37.4% were married-couple households, 19.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 36.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present; 35.9% of households consisted of individuals and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.<ref name="Census2020DP"/>

There were 6,659 housing units, of which 9.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%.<ref name="Census2020DP"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census<ref name="Census2020PL">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=NAME%2CP1_001N%2CP1_003N%2CP1_004N%2CP1_005N%2CP1_006N%2CP1_007N%2CP1_008N%2CP1_009N%2CP2_001N%2CP2_002N%2CH1_001N%2CH1_002N&for=place%3A23500&in=state%3A47|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=February 5, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref>
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| [[White Americans|White]] || 13,184 || 90.6%
|-
| [[African Americans|Black or African American]] || 367 || 2.5%
|-
| [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian and Alaska Native]] || 39 || 0.3%
|-
| [[Asian Americans|Asian]] || 101 || 0.7%
|-
| [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] and [[Pacific Islander|Other Pacific Islander]] || 2 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 149 || 1.0%
|-
| [[Multiracial Americans|Two or more races]] || 704 || 4.8%
|-
| ''[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (of any race)'' || 392 || 2.7%
|}

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]] of 2000,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=2000 U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|website=census.gov|access-date=January 19, 2018}}</ref> there was a population of 13,372, with 5,454 households and 3,512 families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was {{convert|1,459.3|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people&nbsp;|people}}. There were 5,964 housing units at an average density of {{convert|650.9|/mi2|/km2}}. The racial makeup of the city was 95.30% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 2.47% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.16% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.55% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.01% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.49% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.02% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.18% of the population.

There were 5,454 households, out of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.6% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,909, and the median income for a family was $33,333. Males had a median income of $26,890 versus $20,190 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $14,578. About 15.2% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 29.8% of those under age 18 and 16.1% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
===Colleges===
Satellite campuses of [[Northeast State Community College]] and [[Tennessee College of Applied Technology]] are located in the eastern part of the city.

[[Milligan University]] and [[Emmanuel Christian Seminary]] are located in the southwestern part of the city.

===K–12===
Public schools in Elizabethton are operated by Elizabethton City Schools.
* [[Elizabethton High School]]
* T.A. Dugger Jr. High School
* East Side Elementary School
* Harold McCormick Elementary School
* West Side Elementary School

==Recreation==
[[Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area]] is located in the city and consists of three separate areas; the main and Sabine Hill portions on the west side of the city and [[Carter Mansion (Elizabethton, Tennessee)|Elizabethton]] in the east side of the city.

The City of Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department manages:
* Harmon Park – 1.9 acres
* Cat Island Park – 12.5 acres
* Covered Bridge Park – 2.25 acres
* Edward's Island Park – 3.2 acres
* Walter Curtis Memorial Park – 1.6 acres
* Douglas Park – 3.7 acres
* Carmen Dugger Sports Complex – 9.8 acres
* Kiwanis Park – 3.1 acres
* Riverside Park – 6.8 acres
* Lions Field – 12 acres
* Race Street Park – 1.3 acres
* Mill Race Park – 0.5 acres
* Dixon Street Park – 1.4 acres
* Elizabethton Linear Path (Greenway) – 6 miles long

==Tweetsie Trail==
The [[Tweetsie Trail]] is a rails-to-trails project traversing former ET&WNC railroad right-of-way between Johnson City and Elizabethton that provides opportunities for walking, hiking, running, biking, and [[Electric bicycle|eBiking]] over a relatively minor grades, including a mostly natural setting found between the bridges over Buffalo Creek in western Elizabethton and the Legion Street trailhead in Johnson City.

The cost of constructing the newly resurfaced, 10-mile compacted [[Gravel|crushed stone gravel]] Tweetsie Trail rails-to-trails project was financed with private and local government contributions.

Section I between Johnson City and Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton was completed in the summer of 2014 and opened on August 30 with the inaugural Tweetsie Trail Trek.

Section II of the trail begins at Sycamore Shoals State Park, proceeds to downtown Elizabethton and continues to the end of the line, near the Betsytowne Shopping Center. Section II opened during August 2015, making a total length of 10 miles. The Carter County Commission has discussed plans to further extend the trail into [[Roan Mountain, Tennessee]], which is scheduled for completion in 2025.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/tweetsie-trail-extension-to-be-completed-by-2025-officials-say/amp/ | title=Tweetsie Trail extension to be completed by 2025, officials say | date=April 22, 2023 }}</ref>

==Sports==
Several [[Minor League Baseball]] teams have been based in Elizabethton. [[Professional baseball]] was first played in the city by the [[Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox]] in the [[Appalachian League]] in 1937.<ref name=BRcity>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?city=Elizabethton&state=TN&country=US|title=Elizabethton, Tennessee Encyclopedia|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=May 29, 2020}}</ref> They remained in the league through 1942 and won the [[List of Appalachian League champions|Appalachian League championship]] in 1939 and 1941.<ref name=BRcity/><ref name=SC1939league>{{cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-APPY1/y-1939|title=1939 Appalachian League Standings|work=Stats Crew|access-date=August 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name=SC1941league>{{cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-APPY1/y-1941|title=1941 Appalachian League Standings|work=Stats Crew|access-date=August 3, 2020}}</ref> Subsequent entries in the league were the [[Elizabethton Betsy Cubs]] (1945–1948), [[Elizabethton Betsy Local]] (1949–1950), [[Elizabethton Phils]] (1951), and [[Elizabethton Twins]] (1974–2020).<ref name=BRcity/> The Twins won the league championship 12&nbsp;times, more than any other team in the circuit's history.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://milb.bamcontent.com/documents/5/2/2/313373522/2020_Appalachian_League_Media_Guide.pdf |title=2020 Appalachian League Media Guide |website=Appalachian League |publisher=Minor League Baseball |access-date=May 29, 2020 |page=29 }}</ref> In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a [[Collegiate summer baseball|collegiate summer baseball league]], and the Twins were replaced by the [[Elizabethton River Riders]], a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshman and sophomores.<ref>{{cite web|title=MLB, USA Baseball Announce New Format for Appalachian League|url=https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-usa-baseball-announce-new-format-for-appalachian-league|website=Major League Baseball|date=September 29, 2020|access-date=September 29, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Avento|first=Joe|url=https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/sports/river-riders-new-appy-league-team-in-elizabethton/article_0e801432-6646-11eb-be72-4b6b598c9928.html|title=River Riders New Appy League Team in Elizabethton|work=Johnson City Press|date=February 3, 2021|access-date=February 4, 2021}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[Paul Edward Anderson]] – Olympic gold medalist in [[Olympic weightlifting|weightlifting]]
* [[Margaret Bowen]] – led the March 12, 1929, walkout of 523 female co-workers at American Glanzstoff, beginning the 1929 labor strikes<ref>http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1277 "Elizabethton Rayon Plants Strikes, 1929".</ref>
* [[William Gannaway Brownlow]] – governor of Tennessee, U.S. senator, Methodist minister, and publisher of the ''[[Brownlow's Whig|Whig]]'' newspaper
* [[Evan Carter]] – [[Major League Baseball]] outfielder, 2023 World Series Winner with the Texas Rangers
* [[Samuel P. Carter]] – U.S. Army general and U.S. Navy admiral
* [[Charles Davis (defensive back)|Charles Davis]] – University of Tennessee football player and Fox Sports analyst
* [[Landon Carter Haynes]] – Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Confederate senator, lawyer, Methodist minister, and editor of the ''Tennessee Sentinel''
* [[Frank Knight]] – [[University of Chicago]] economist, cofounder of the [[Chicago School of Economics]], alumnus of Elizabethton's [[Milligan College]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chicagobooth.edu/assests/stigler/37.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2019-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202722/http://www.chicagobooth.edu/assests/stigler/37.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Alec McLean]] – Olympic [[Rowing (sport)|rower]]
* [[Thomas Amos Rogers Nelson]] – early Elizabethton attorney and member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
* [[Dayton E. Phillips]] – jurist and member of the U.S. House of Representatives
* [[Jeff Reed (baseball)|Jeff Reed]] – [[Major League Baseball]] catcher
* [[Joseph Marcus Ritchie]] – organist, composer, and conductor
* [[Alfred A. Taylor]] – governor of Tennessee and congressman
* [[Robert Love Taylor]] – governor of Tennessee and U.S. senator from Tennessee
* [[Kent Williams (politician)|Kent Williams]] – Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives
* [[Jason Witten]] – [[National Football League]] tight end

==See also==
===Places===
{{div col|content=
* [[Appalachian Development Highway System]]
* [[Corridor B]]
* [[Iron Mountains]]
* [[Joe O'Brien Field]]
* [[Tennessee's 1st congressional district]]
* [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee]]
}}

===People===
{{div col|content=
* [[William Blount]]
* [[Daniel Ellis (Unionist)]]
* [[Nathaniel Edwin Harris]]
* [[Daniel Morgan]]
* [[John Sevier]]
* [[Nancy Ward]]
* [[ Jason Witten]]
* [[ Evan Carter]]

}}

===Events===
* Treaty of Dumplin Creek (1785-1786; State of Franklin negotiated this treaty with the Cherokees - not recognized by the State of North Carolina.)
* [[Treaty of Hopewell|Treaty of Hopewell (1785-1786)]]
* [[Treaty of Holston|Treaty of Holston (1791)]]
* [[Cherokee–American wars]]
* [[Textile workers strike (1934)]]

===Other===
* [[Scottish Indian trade]]

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Elizabethton, Tennessee|<br />Elizabethton, Tennessee}} * [http://www.elizabethton.org City of Elizabethton official website]
* [http://www.cartercountyhistory.com Carter County History.com]

{{Carter County, Tennessee}}
{{Tennessee county seats}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Elizabethton, Tennessee| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Carter County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Cities in Tennessee]]
[[Category:County seats in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Early American land companies]]
[[Category:Johnson City metropolitan area, Tennessee]]
[[Category:North Carolina in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Tennessee in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1769]]
[[Category:State of Franklin]]
[[Category:1769 establishments in the British Empire]]
[[Category:Tennessee populated places on the Watauga River]]