Harriman is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, primarily in Roane County, with a small extension into Morgan County.[3] It is the principal city of and is included in the Harriman Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Roane County and is a component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN Combined Statistical Area. The population of Harriman was 6,744 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Harriman is located at 35°55′43″N 84°33′21″W / 35.92861°N 84.55583°W / 35.92861; -84.55583 (35.928585, -84.555700)[4].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.2 square miles (26.5 km²), of which 10.0 square miles (26.0 km²) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) (1.86%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 6,744 people, 2,907 households, and 1,802 families residing in the city. The population density was 671.5 people per square mile (259.3/km²). There were 3,309 housing units at an average density of 329.5/sq mi (127.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.11% White, 7.43% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 1.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.76% of the population.
There were 2,907 households out of which 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $23,736, and the median income for a family was $31,190. Males had a median income of $26,616 versus $20,278 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,763. About 18.6% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over.
History
Harriman was founded in the late 19th century by activists in the Temperance movement who advocated abstinence from alcoholic beverages. General Clinton B. Fisk, the 1888 presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party, was among its founders.[5]
The city is named for Walter Harriman, a governor of New Hampshire whose son, Walter C. Harriman, was managing director of the East Tennessee Land Company. As a Colonel (later General) in the Union Army during the Civil War, he had traveled on foot through the area with his 11th New Hampshire Regiment and camped for several days on the Emory River near the future site of the city.[6]
Harriman's founders established the American Temperance University here to promote this social doctrine; its 1905 building is one of the city's main historic landmarks.
The city thrived and grew from its founding into the 1920s until the combination of the stock market crash and a devastating flood of the Emory River, both in 1929, wiped out much of the city's industry. A paper mill and two hosiery mills provided the largest share of jobs in the city through the rest of the twentieth century, with the paper mill (a Mead Corporation property) and the hosiery companies (Harriman Hosiery, formerly a Burlington Corp. plant, and independent Roane Hosiery) operating into the 1980s.
The city got a boost in the 1940s and 1950s from heavy automobile traffic on US 27, which forms the town's main street and was a primary artery connecting the Great Lakes region with Florida before I-75 was completed. The routing of Interstate 40 along Harriman's western edge connected the community more closely with Knoxville but never produced the kind of modern industrial development inside the town that community leaders expected.
The city, still quaint but clearly different now from its economic heyday, shows considerable evidence of being a "planned community". Its streets are basically in a grid pattern, unusual for mountain towns of the area, and are wider than would normally be expected as well. There remains a considerable number of homes displaying Victorian architecture as well -- many of which have been either painstakingly maintained or lovingly restored. The Temperance heritage was slow to depart. There was no liquor store in Harriman until 1992.
Education
The main campus of Roane State Community College is located just outside Harriman city limits. K-12 public schools are operated by the Roane County school system.
References
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