Editing Mascot, Tennessee (section)

==History==
The Mascot community was first reported to be established around 1796, when settler John Erwin purchased 150 acres of land by the United States government, but the expansion of the community would not occur until the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref name="necounty"/>

Early 19th century settlement in the Mascot area may have centered on a ford across the [[Holston River]] which was known as Saylor's Ford. In 1838, Dr. George Arnold, a physician and planter, constructed a [[Georgian architecture|Georgian-style]] house known as "[[Chesterfield House, Knoxville, Tennessee|Chesterfield]]" along Old Rutledge Pike in what is now northern Mascot. The house is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>Gail Hammerquist, {{NRHP url|id=77001276|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory Form for Chesterfield}}, January 1977.</ref> In 1884 a railroad line was constructed through the area and a post office was established under the name "Meek," apparently the surname of a local family.<ref name="matheny"/> Knoxville's Daily Sentinel listed Mascot as the name of the new railroad station between McMillians and Strawberry Plains, near the resort [[Lea Springs]] in 1887.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mascot |work=The Daily Sentinel |date=August 3, 1887 |pages=4}}</ref>

[[File:Knoxville, Tenn., vicinity. Bridge at Strawberry Plains, 20 miles northeast of Knoxville; camera on tripod at right LOC 6056602079.jpg|thumb|180px|left|A fort at Mascot as seen from a rail trestle in [[Strawberry Plains, Tennessee|Strawberry Plains]], 1864]]

The Mascot community was formed in the early 20th century as a company town centered on the mine.<ref name="norris">{{cite book |last1=Norris |first1=James |title=A History of the American Zinc Company |date=1968 |publisher=[[Wisconsin Historical Society]] |isbn=9780870200625 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1JkvAQAAIAAJ |access-date=January 13, 2021}}</ref> The Holston Zinc Company established a mine locally in 1906, but some mining may have occurred earlier. The "Mascot" name is recorded from as early as 1904. Reports suggest the name came from an acronym for the Mining and Smelting Company of Tennessee, which once operated the mines in Mascot.<ref name="matheny">{{cite news |last1=Matheny |first1=Jim |title=Why do they call it that? Mascot in northeast Knox County |url=http://www.wbir.com/dontmiss/138426/207/Why-do-they-call-it-that--Mascot |access-date=January 13, 2021 |work=[[WBIR-TV]] |date=October 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205212358/http://www.wbir.com/dontmiss/138426/207/Why-do-they-call-it-that--Mascot#selection-1227.0-1227.57 |archive-date=February 5, 2013}}</ref>