Johnson City TN: Railroad Boomtown
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Johnson City Envisioned as a Boomtown
With the East Tennessee & Virginia and the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroads already completed and being operated, Johnson City was already growing and thriving in the 1880s. With the end of the Civil War and reconstruction underway, investment and speculation was booming in the south.
In 1885 as planning for the 3Cs began, and in 1886 as it was incorporated and as it worked to solicit investors, much was said and promised about what the 3Cs could do for Johnson City’s future.
Investors, the townspeople, and the press were talking about the unlimited potential for Johnson City to be ‘the Pittsburgh of the South,’ or the ‘Next Birmingham.’
During the late 1880s, Johnson City did become a Boomtown for a short time. But after the Panic of 1893 and some additional downturns in industries, a true ‘railroad boomtown’ status was never achieved. However, the city has always been an important rail hub. Johnson City’s growth into the largest city in the region was eventually due to other factors such as the success of East Tennessee State University and the development of the city into a regional medical center.
The city’s early newspaper, the Comet said it best in 1909……that they had told many stories about the railroad and Johnson City as a boomtown, ‘some of them were not considered to be true.’ But with the successful completion of the Clinchfield Railroad, ‘we simply got our dates mixed up and missed the time by only 23 years.’
More Rails Across the Appalachians information will be added to this page and website in the days ahead. Please let me know if you have any questions, see any edits that should be made, or have any content you are willing to share. Would enjoy hearing from you if you have similar interests in Appalachian Railroads, the 3Cs, the region, or model railroading.
Temporary Links for Information
For More Information – Sources and Resources
The following are wonderful resources for those interested in Appalachian Railroads. They also serve as sources of information for Appalachian-Railroads.org
- Association/Archives: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Norfolk & Western Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Southern Railway Historical Association
- Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
- Book: Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
- Book: Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi: The Southern Railway
- Book: Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield’ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield’
- Book: Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City’
- Book: Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter’
- Book: King: ‘Clinchfield Country’
- Book: Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color’
- Book: Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’
- Book: Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century’
- Book: Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine’
- Book: Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains’
- Book: Wolfe: Southern Railway Appalachia Division
- Magazine: ‘Trains‘
- Magazine: ‘Classic Trains‘
- Website: Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website: HawkinsRails.net
- Website: StateOfFranklin.net which hosts Johnson’s Depot
- Website: RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin
- Website: SteamLocomotive.com
- Website: WvncRails.org – North Carolina and West Virginia Railroads
- Video: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1
- Video: Ken Marsh on railroads and region’s history Video #2:
- Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘
- Articles: ‘Johnson City Comet‘
- Article: Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
- Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps and track charts
Contact Us
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the railroads or model railroading.
3Cs Websites
Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org
Contact Us
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the railroads or model railroading.