Kingston, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
 Kingston | |
 Flag  Logo | |
 Location of Kingston in Roane County, Tennessee. | |
| Coordinates:35°52′51″N84°30′31″W / 35.88083°N 84.50861°W /35.88083; -84.50861[1] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Roane |
| Settled | 1792 |
| Incorporated | 1799[2] |
| Named after | Maj. Robert King, officer atFort Southwest Point[3] |
| Area | |
• Total | 8.18 sq mi (21.18 km2) |
| • Land | 7.29 sq mi (18.88 km2) |
| • Water | 0.89 sq mi (2.30 km2) |
| Elevation | 764 ft (233 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 5,953 |
| • Density | 816.6/sq mi (315.31/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 37763 |
| Area code | 865 |
| FIPS code | 47-39620[6] |
| Website | City website |
Kingston is a city in and thecounty seat[7] ofRoane County, Tennessee, United States. This city is thirty-six miles southwest ofKnoxville. As of the2020 census, Kingston had a population of 5,953.[8] It is included in theHarriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Kingston is adjacent toWatts Bar Lake.
Kingston has its roots inFort Southwest Point, which was built just south of present-day Kingston in 1792. At the time, Southwest Point was on the fringe of the legal settlement area for Euro-Americans. ACherokee village, headed by Chief Tollunteeskee, was situated just across the river, at what is nowRockwood. In 1805,Colonel Return J. Meigs, who operated out of Southwest Point, was appointed Cherokee Agent, effectively moving the agency from theTellico Blockhouse to Southwest Point. The city of Kingston was established on October 23, 1799, as part of an effort to partitionKnox County (the initial effort to form a separate county failed, but succeeded two years later).[9] Kingston was named after Major Robert King, an officer at Fort Southwest Point in the 1790s.[3]
On September 21, 1807, Kingston was Tennessee'sstate capital for one day. TheTennessee General Assembly convened in Kingston that day due to an agreement with the Cherokee, who had been told that if the Cherokee Nation ceded the land that is nowRoane County, Kingston would become the capital of Tennessee. After adjourning that day, the Assembly resumed meeting in Knoxville.[10]
At the outset of theCivil War in 1861, Kingston was selected as the site of the third session of theEast Tennessee Convention, which attempted to form a new, Union-aligned state in East Tennessee. Due to the Confederate occupation of the region, however, this third session, which was scheduled for August 1861, never took place.[11] In October 1861,William B. Carter and several co-conspirators planned theEast Tennessee bridge burnings from a command post in Kingston.[12] On November 24, 1863,Confederate Cavalry underJoseph Wheeler numbering about 500–1,000 men tried to take Kingston from theUnion in theBattle of Kingston, but they were unsuccessful.[13]
In 1955, theTennessee Valley Authority completed work on theKingston Fossil Plant, which at the time was the world's largest coal-burning power plant. The plant, which consumes roughly 14,000 short tons (13,000 t) of coal daily, can produce up to 1,456 megawatts of electricity.[14] The plant's 1,000-foot (305 m) smokestacks are a familiar sight to those driving on the Roane County stretch ofInterstate 40. On December 22, 2008, a 40-acre (0.16 km2) impoundment containing fly ash slurry from the power plantbroke, spilling more than 1 billion US gallons (3,800,000 m3) of waste into the surrounding area.
The town is situated at the confluence of theClinch,Emory, andTennessee rivers. These confluences are now part of Watts Bar Lake, a reservoir created by the impoundment of the Tennessee byWatts Bar Dam several miles to the southwest.[15][16]
Kingston is located near the junction ofU.S. Route 70, which connects Kingston withKnoxville to the east andNashville to the west, andState Route 58, which connects Kingston withOak Ridge to the northeast andChattanooga to the south.Interstate 40 passes through Kingston, running roughly parallel to U.S. 70.[15][16]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.8 square miles (20.3 km2), of which 7.1 square miles (18.4 km2) is land and 0.73 square miles (1.9 km2), or 9.56%, is water.[17]
| Climate data for Kingston, Tennessee, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 2000–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 74 (23) | 81 (27) | 86 (30) | 89 (32) | 94 (34) | 104 (40) | 106 (41) | 102 (39) | 99 (37) | 95 (35) | 84 (29) | 75 (24) | 106 (41) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 65.6 (18.7) | 70.4 (21.3) | 79.1 (26.2) | 85.1 (29.5) | 89.1 (31.7) | 94.4 (34.7) | 95.4 (35.2) | 94.5 (34.7) | 92.0 (33.3) | 85.1 (29.5) | 74.1 (23.4) | 67.5 (19.7) | 96.9 (36.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 46.3 (7.9) | 51.2 (10.7) | 60.5 (15.8) | 70.4 (21.3) | 78.1 (25.6) | 85.0 (29.4) | 87.7 (30.9) | 87.1 (30.6) | 82.1 (27.8) | 71.6 (22.0) | 58.8 (14.9) | 49.0 (9.4) | 69.0 (20.5) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 37.1 (2.8) | 40.8 (4.9) | 48.9 (9.4) | 58.0 (14.4) | 66.9 (19.4) | 74.6 (23.7) | 77.8 (25.4) | 77.0 (25.0) | 71.5 (21.9) | 59.9 (15.5) | 48.1 (8.9) | 40.3 (4.6) | 58.4 (14.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 27.9 (−2.3) | 30.4 (−0.9) | 37.2 (2.9) | 45.6 (7.6) | 55.7 (13.2) | 64.2 (17.9) | 68.0 (20.0) | 66.8 (19.3) | 61.0 (16.1) | 48.2 (9.0) | 37.4 (3.0) | 31.6 (−0.2) | 47.8 (8.8) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 11.9 (−11.2) | 17.4 (−8.1) | 22.6 (−5.2) | 31.9 (−0.1) | 40.2 (4.6) | 54.6 (12.6) | 59.7 (15.4) | 59.5 (15.3) | 49.8 (9.9) | 33.9 (1.1) | 23.7 (−4.6) | 19.5 (−6.9) | 10.4 (−12.0) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 0 (−18) | 3 (−16) | 15 (−9) | 25 (−4) | 32 (0) | 47 (8) | 54 (12) | 53 (12) | 40 (4) | 29 (−2) | 16 (−9) | 3 (−16) | 0 (−18) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 5.46 (139) | 5.95 (151) | 5.37 (136) | 5.46 (139) | 4.66 (118) | 4.72 (120) | 5.21 (132) | 3.90 (99) | 4.27 (108) | 3.22 (82) | 4.54 (115) | 6.05 (154) | 58.81 (1,493) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 1.1 (2.8) | 0.6 (1.5) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.25) | 1.8 (4.55) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 10.1 | 10.2 | 10.7 | 9.9 | 9.8 | 11.3 | 11.0 | 8.8 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 10.4 | 115.4 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| Source 1: NOAA[18] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service (mean maxima/minima 2006–2020)[19] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 386 | — | |
| 1860 | 307 | −20.5% | |
| 1870 | 739 | 140.7% | |
| 1880 | 858 | 16.1% | |
| 1900 | 548 | — | |
| 1910 | 824 | 50.4% | |
| 1920 | 516 | −37.4% | |
| 1930 | 827 | 60.3% | |
| 1940 | 880 | 6.4% | |
| 1950 | 1,627 | 84.9% | |
| 1960 | 2,010 | 23.5% | |
| 1970 | 4,142 | 106.1% | |
| 1980 | 4,441 | 7.2% | |
| 1990 | 4,552 | 2.5% | |
| 2000 | 5,264 | 15.6% | |
| 2010 | 5,934 | 12.7% | |
| 2020 | 5,953 | 0.3% | |
| Sources:[20][21][5] | |||
As of the2020 census, Kingston had a population of 5,953, 2,561 households, and 1,335 families residing in the city.[22]
The median age was 45.9 years, 19.0% of residents were under the age of 18, and 24.9% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 85.1 males age 18 and over.[22]
96.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.7% lived in rural areas.[23]
Of the 2,561 households in Kingston, 25.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.3% were married-couple households, 17.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[22]
There were 2,775 housing units, of which 7.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.1%.[22]
| Race | Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| White | 5,350 | 89.9% |
| Black or African American | 203 | 3.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 18 | 0.3% |
| Asian | 56 | 0.9% |
| Native Hawaiian andOther Pacific Islander | 2 | 0.0% |
| Some other race | 45 | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 279 | 4.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) | 132 | 2.2% |
As of thecensus[6] of 2000, there was a population of 5,264, with 2,263 households and 1,532 families residing in the city. The population density was 803.7 inhabitants per square mile (310.3/km2). There were 2,478 housing units at an average density of 378.4 per square mile (146.1/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 93.75%White, 3.55%African American, 0.23%Native American, 0.49%Asian, 0.06%Pacific Islander, 0.23% fromother races, and 1.69% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 0.97% of the population.
There were 2,263 households, out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% weremarried couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% 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 2.77.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.5% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,071, and the median income for a family was $44,979. Males had a median income of $40,186 versus $22,971 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $20,301. About 6.0% of families and 10.0% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.
Roane County News
Media related toKingston, Tennessee at Wikimedia CommonsMunicipalities and communities ofRoane 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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