University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-1995 Capitalism, regional development, and place formation: $ban analysis of the upper Tennessee River Valley, 1860-1900 John Edward Benhart University of Tennessee Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation Benhart, John Edward, "Capitalism, regional development, and place formation: $ban analysis of the upper Tennessee River Valley, 1860-1900. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1995. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/6103 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by John Edward Benhart entitled "Capitalism, regional development, and place formation: $ban analysis of the upper Tennessee River Valley, 1860-1900." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geography. Thomas L. Bell, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by John Edward Benhart,Jr. entitled •capitalism, Regional Development, and Place Formation: An Analysis of the Upper Tennessee River Valley, 1860-1900." I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geography. Dr. Thomas L. Bell Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School CAPITALISM, REGIONAL DEVELOPMEN'l', AND PLACE FORMATION: AN ANALYSIS OF THE UPPER TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY, 1860-1900 A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville John Edward Benhart, Jr. August 1995 Copyright@ John Edward Benhart, Jr., 1995 All Rights Reserved DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents Jack and Pat Benhart, my brother and sister, Bobby and Cristen, and my wife, Jacque Benhart who have always believed in me and provided support, encouragement, and love when they were most needed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are a number of people I would like to recognize for their assistance in the completion of this work. The employees of the Roane County Heritage Commission, especially Jere Hall and Sarge, made it possible for me to find company records, literature, pictures and other primary material. The volunteers at the Commission have developed an excellent local historical collection, without which this dissertation would have been impossible. Important material was also found at several university and public libraries. In Knoxville, the staff at the University of Tennessee Special Collections and the Mcclung Historical Collection assisted in my sometimes aimless search for letters, documents and records. At the Tennessee State Archives in Nashville, I was aided by several able and courteous staffpersons, who were particularly helpful in locating Sanborn maps. At Virginia Tech's Newman Library, employees helped me find the material I needed, and even stayed overtime as I pored over thousands of pages East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railway records. During the course of the my dissertation research, I have been fortunate in the opportunity to work with an outstanding supervisory committee. Dr. Thomas L. Bell, my committee chair, helped me formulate the project and has been a sounding board and able advisor throughout my iv graduate career at the University of Tennessee. I am grateful for all of the time and effort he has put into reading my work and helping me become a better writer and researcher. Dr. Ronald Foresta began reading drafts of my dissertation in the spring of 1994, and over the past year has provided invaluable counsel on how to make the study more focused and coherent. His dedication to this project and sound advice are sincerely appreciated. Dr. Bruce Ralston helped me understand how geographic information systems could be applied to a variety of applications in geography. It was through his courses that I obtained the skills to use GIS to analyze urbanization patterns in 1892 Harriman, Tennessee. Finally, Dr. Michael McDonald of the Department of History sparked my interest in regional history at a time when I had many ideas, but little direction. It was in his regional history seminar course that I recognized that the Upper Tennessee River Valley could be the case study I was looking for. My family has always been the source of my strength and inspiration, and to them I owe the largest debt of gratitude. My parents, Jack and Pat Benhart, and my sister Cristen, have always made me feel that I could achieve anything, and have always provided support through success and failure. Their love and words of encouragement at the right times have always been a boost for me, and made me believe that things would work out for the best. My wife Jacque is the light of my life, and has always supported me V in anything I have done. Jacque and I were married before I finished my masters program at the University of Miami, and two weeks later we moved to Knoxville where I was beginning doctoral work. We have never had much time to catch our breaths, or to think about what other directions we might have gone in. From the first day we moved to Knoxville, Jacque worked night and day to help me achieve this goal, and has never questioned my ability to succeed or my motivation. This dissertation is as much her's as it is mine. ABSTRACT The full importance of investment and capital as a driving force in American life and the development of landscapes is only beginning to be understood by mainstream American geography. The regional approach, important in testing theories and uncovering linkages in life processes has the potential to contribute to the understanding of how capitalism shapes landscapes. It is perhaps in the formation of regional economies and landscapes that capitalism most thoroughly influences the worlds in which people live; it determines their housing, their jobs, their environs. This dissertation examines the impact of different phases of capitalism on the Upper Tennessee River Valley; present-day Roane and Loudon Counties, Tennessee. The Upper Tennessee River Valley in 1995 is in many ways a fairly ordinary rural area, similar to many locales in the Great Valley of the eastern United States: the region is not in the immediate hinterland of any major metropolitan area; agriculture and small-scale industry are predominant; employment opportunities are limited. Yet, if we take a look at the region's history, the period between the close of the Civil War and the turn-of-the-century emerges as one of interest and importance. It was during this time that factory-scale industrial production began in the region, vii and that its present-day central places -- Rockwood, Harriman, and Lenoir City -- were established. The story of the Upper Tennessee River Valley reveals much about late nineteenth and early twentieth century America, and especially about how regions and cities develop during different phases of capitalism. Most of the capital for regional development during the study period came from outside of the region. Northern businessmen and financiers were drawn to the Upper Tennessee River Valley by natural resources, a positive investment environment, and key development proponents. As the brand of capitalism practiced in the region became more advanced during the latter 19th century, its effects became more pervasive. Industrial capitalists had access to limited amounts of capital, and were content with establishing communities to shelter workers needed for production. Corporate capitalism was characterized by comprehensive development projects designed to accrue profit from a multitude of activities. Thus, the urbanization process was more thoroughly planned, administered, and orchestrated during this phase. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION. • . • . • • • . • • • • • . • . • • • • . • 1 Economic Transformation and Phases of Capitalism... • • • • • • • • • . • . 4 Capitalist Systems and Place Making •••••. 10 The Study Area . ......................... 1 7 The Transformation of a Region •••....•... 21 A Conceptual Context For Understanding Regional Transformation and Place Formation .......................... 23 Spatial Themes in Regional Transformation and the Creation of Urban-Industrial Places •.••••...•.•..••.• 26 I. THE PRE-INDUSTRIAL UPPER TENNESSEE RIVER V~LEY .........•...........•...•....••.. 3 6 Before the Settlers .•...•.••..••....••... 36 European Settlement of the Tennessee Valley . ........................ 39 The Development of a Regional Economy in the Upper Tennessee River Valley ..•... 44 The Civil War in the Upper Tennessee River Valley ...•...•......•.•.• 55 II. RECONSTRUCTION AND