Ducktown, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
 Buildings along Main Street in Ducktown | |
 Location of Ducktown in Polk County, Tennessee. | |
| Coordinates:35°2′3″N84°23′3″W / 35.03417°N 84.38417°W /35.03417; -84.38417 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Polk |
| Established | 1840s |
| Incorporated | 1951[1] |
| Named after | Cherokee village at the site prior to settlement[2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2.64 sq mi (6.84 km2) |
| • Land | 2.64 sq mi (6.84 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,732 ft (528 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 461 |
| • Density | 174.5/sq mi (67.39/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 37326 |
| Area code | 423 |
| FIPS code | 47-21740[5] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1283051[6] |
| Website | www |
Ducktown (Cherokee:ᎦᏬᏅᏱ,romanized: Gawonvyi) is a city inPolk County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 461 at the 2020 census and 475 at the 2010 census. It is included in theCleveland, Tennessee metropolitan area.
Ducktown is located in a geological region known as theCopper Basin, and was the center of a majorcopper-mining district from 1847 until 1987. The district also produced iron, sulfur and zinc as byproducts.[7] Ducktown was the birthplace of Rockabilly Hall of Famer,Stan Beaver.[citation needed]
Literary historian Ben Harris McClary suggests that a Ducktown-area farmer named William "Sut" Miller (d. 1858) was the inspiration for theGeorge Washington Harris character, Sut Lovingood.[8] Ducktown and several Ducktown-area features, such asBig Frog Mountain and theOcoee River ("Oconee"), are mentioned in the Sut Lovingood tales.[citation needed]
TheCherokee inhabited the Copper Basin as early as the late 18th century, well before the arrival of the first Euro-American settlers. Their territory extended into northern Georgia. The Cherokee village ofGawonvyi (also known as Kawana)— which means “duck place” in English[9]— is believed to have been located at the confluence of theOcoee River and Tumbling Creek. The village's name was recorded on Cherokee annuity distribution rolls as "Ducktown" in 1799. According to tradition, Ducktown was named after a Cherokee leader named Chief Duck.[10]
In 1836, the Cherokee relinquished control of the Copper Basin to the U.S. government as part of lands they ceded in Tennessee and Georgia in theTreaty of New Echota. Although the U.S. removed many of the basin's Cherokee inhabitants in the march to Indian Territory, some avoided the roundup by hiding out in the surrounding mountains. They would later help build the Old Copper Road (now part of USU.S. Route 64). In the 1840s and 1850s, Ducktown was calledHiwassee orHiawassee, after the Cherokee name for a major river in the area. This name was subsequently adopted for the city's first major mining operation.[11]
Native copper was discovered in 1843 by a prospector, presumably panning for gold.[12] The first shipment of copper ore was taken out on muleback in 1847. More than 30 mining companies were incorporated between 1852 and 1855 to mine copper at Ducktown. Development was accelerated by a road built in 1853 connecting the area withCleveland, Tennessee. The firstsmelter was built in the Ducktown district in 1854.
Mining temporarily ceased when Union troops destroyed the copperrefinery and mill atCleveland, Tennessee in 1863. It resumed in 1866, and continued until 1878, when the mines had exhausted the shallow high-grade copper ores.
By 1906, the Tennessee Copper Company had begun constructing an acid reclamation plant nearCopperhill, Tennessee[13] to recover most of thesulfur in the form ofsulfuric acid rather than releasing it to the atmosphere.Froth flotation was added in the 1920s.
Ducktown is situated at the center of the Copper Basin (sometimes called the Ducktown Basin), a broad valley located in the southernAppalachian Mountains near the intersection of Tennessee,Georgia, andNorth Carolina. The Ducktown area is part of theOcoee River watershed (which hosted theCanoe slalom events for the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta), which passes through the Copper Basin a few miles southwest of Ducktown before entering its gorge. Ducktown is centered just north of the junction of Tennessee State Route 68, which connects the city toMadisonville to the north andCopperhill to the south, andU.S. Route 64, which connects the city toCleveland (via the Ocoee River Gorge) to the west andMurphy, North Carolina to the east.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.9 square miles (4.9 km2), all land.
TheDucktown Basin Museum, located on the site of theBurra Burra Mine in Ducktown, chronicles the geology and history of the mining activities in the basin.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 221 | — | |
| 1960 | 741 | — | |
| 1970 | 562 | −24.2% | |
| 1980 | 583 | 3.7% | |
| 1990 | 421 | −27.8% | |
| 2000 | 427 | 1.4% | |
| 2010 | 475 | 11.2% | |
| 2020 | 461 | −2.9% | |
| Sources:[14][15][4] | |||
| Race | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 423 | 91.76% |
| Native American | 7 | 1.52% |
| Asian | 8 | 1.74% |
| Other/Mixed | 23 | 4.99% |
As of the2020 United States census, there were 461 people, 174 households, and 120 families residing in the city.
As of thecensus[5] of 2010, there were 475 people, 209 households, and 105 families residing in the city. The population density was 221.5 inhabitants per square mile (85.5/km2). There were 230 housing units at an average density of 119.3 per square mile (46.1/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 96.21%White, 0.21%Black or African American, 0.21% from other races, and 3.37% White andNative American.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 0.21% of the population.
There were 209 households, out of which 16.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% weremarried couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.3% were non-families. 46.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 27.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 17.3% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 21.8% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 27.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 75.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 69.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $18,125, and the median income for a family was $27,045. Males had a median income of $25,833 versus $19,688 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $12,113. About 20.4% of families and 25.9% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 30.4% of those under age 18 and 37.6% of those age 65 or over.
Municipalities and communities ofPolk County, Tennessee,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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