Editing Jefferson City, Tennessee (section)

==History==
Heading southwest along the [[Holston River]] from [[Virginia]], Adam and Elizabeth Peck arrived on the banks of Mossy Creek in 1788, soon settling the area with a fort, a house of worship, and a [[gristmill]].<ref name="guidebook">{{cite book |last1=Gass |first1=Linda |author-link=Linda Gass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PoHhBAAAQBAJ |title=Jefferson City |last2=Lang |first2=Albert |date=2014 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=9781467112604 |language=en |format=Paperback}}</ref>
It is suggested that the original name of the city, Mossy Creek, originated due to the first settlers' description of the 'vivid' green [[moss]] developed around a creek near the settlement.<ref>{{cite web |title=City History |url=http://www.jeffcitytn.com/ |website=jeffcitytn.com |access-date=June 25, 2020}}</ref> By 1797, Mossy Creek had around 75 to 100 families with a four-mile-radius of the city.

Around the beginnings of the [[American Civil War]] in September 1861, [[Union Army of Tennessee|Union Army]] General [[Ambrose Burnside]] liberated the city from the [[Confederate States Army|Confederacy]], but was attacked in an unsuccessful siege by Confederate General [[James Longstreet]]. Several skirmishes took place around Mossy Creek, most notably the [[Battle of Mossy Creek]] on December 19, 1863.<ref name="guidebook"/>

In the later 19th century, two communities formed around Mossy Creek, Frame Addition and Carsonville. In 1890, the historically segregated African American school of [[Nelson Merry College]] was founded in Mossy Creek.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Booker |first=Robert J. |date=June 28, 2023 |title=Nelson Merry School founded to educate Black students post-Civil War |url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/robert-booker/2023/06/28/opinion-nelson-merry-school-educated-black-students-post-civil-war/70357236007/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=[[Knoxville News Sentinel]] |language=en-US |oclc=12008657}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Nelson Merry College, Jefferson City, Tennessee, 1890-1965 |url=https://www.lostcolleges.com/new-nelson-merry-college |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=lost-colleges |language=en}}</ref> In 1901, Mossy Creek merged with the two communities, incorporating as Jefferson City.<ref name="guidebook"/>

In 1940, the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] (TVA) began purchasing property in Jefferson City for the construction of [[Cherokee Dam]] and the impounding of the Holston River for [[Cherokee Lake]]. Many residents reluctantly gave up their farms and homes for the promise of [[flood control]] and electricity offered by the TVA. Construction brought many new residents to the city, and Cherokee Lake made Jefferson City a popular recreational hub for locals and tourists alike.<ref name="guidebook"/>

In the late 20th century, Jefferson City became industrialized with the [[Zinc mining in the United States|zinc mining industry]] after geologists discovered valuable zinc ore deposits around the city earlier in the century.<ref name="encyclopedia">{{cite web |last1=Muncy |first1=Estle |title=Jefferson County |url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/jefferson-county/ |website=[[Tennessee Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Tennessee Historical Society]] |access-date=August 19, 2020 |date=October 8, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="guidebook"/>

Since 2010, [[redevelopment]] and revitalization efforts have been underway in the downtown district of Jefferson City. The Mossy Creek Foundation, a [[501(c)(3) organization]], was established in 2012 to advance these efforts, receiving funding a for a public park with a mock [[train depot]] pavilion on the original site of the Mossy Creek station, and [[facade]] grants for existing structures downtown.<ref name="mctimeline">{{cite web |title=Timeline |url=http://www.mossycreekfoundation.org/timeline |website=Mossy Creek Foundation |access-date=November 8, 2020}}</ref>