LaFollette, TN

LaFollette, viewed from an overlook along the Cumberland Trail

LaFollette is a city in Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 7,926 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the LaFollette, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Campbell County, and is a component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette Combined Statistical Area. While the city's official spelling is one word ("LaFollette")— after its founders, Harvey Marion LaFollette and his younger brother Grant LaFollette— several federal agencies spell the city's name with two words ("La Follette").

History

Harvey and Grant LaFollette purchased 37,000 acres (150 km2) at Big Creek Gap, where the present community lies, around 1890. They founded the LaFollette Coal, Iron, and Railway Company in order to exploit mineral resources they had observed. Although the business failed during the 1920's, the community continued to grow. The City of LaFollette was incorporated in 1897.

Notable People from LaFollette

Adele Arakawa, television news anchor

Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong, musician

The Isaacs, a southern gospel/bluegrass family singing group

Geography

The city is situated in Powell Valley, where the Appalachian Ridge-and-Valley province gives way to the Cumberland Plateau region. Cumberland Mountain, a 50-mile (80 km) ridge stretching from Cumberland Gap in the east to Bruce Gap on the west, rises north of LaFollette. Norris Lake dominates the area to the south. Jacksboro lies adjacent to LaFollette to the southwest. A leg of the Cumberland Trail is accessible off Tennessee Avenue at the north end of LaFollette.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.9 square miles (13 km2), all land. The elevation varies around the city, around 1,150 feet (350 m) in the valley areas to 1,500 feet (460 m) on ridge tops. The average elevation is around 1,300 feet (400 m).

U.S. Route 25W and state routes 9 and 63 run concurrently through the community.Interstate 75 is located to the west.

External Links

LaFollette Press newspaper

"The Tennessee Jamboree: Local Radio, the Barn Dance, and Cultural Life in Appalachian

Source: Internet