Editing Tracy City, Tennessee (section)

==History==
{{see also|Grundy County, Tennessee#History}}

[[File:James K. Shook School.jpg|thumb|left|Arsonists destroyed Tracy City's James K. Shook School in 1976 after this 1971 photo.<ref name="Dallas">{{cite news | url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D102E3CF259F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | title=Courthouse fire adds to county's history of arson | work=Dallas Morning News | date=May 19, 1990 | agency=Associated Press | access-date=April 10, 2012 | author=George, Dan | location=Altamont, Tennessee}}</ref>]]
In 1840 local boys digging a [[groundhog]] out of the ground discovered coal. In the early 1870s Tracy City an experimental [[blast furnace]] was built by Samuel Jones and owned by the [[Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company]]. The furnace, called "Fiery Gizzard", was built to see if local coal would be used to produce [[iron]]. The furnace made 15 tons of iron before the stovepipe fell on the third day. The former location of the furnace is marked with a historical marker.<ref name="Nostalgiaville"/> The [[coke oven]]s at Tracy City supplied railroad and industrial [[fuel]] and workers and their families moved into the area in great numbers from 1875 until 1900. By 1910 the industry faded due to problems invoked by [[Labor unions in the United States|labor unions]] and [[convict labor]].<ref name="GrundyCOHistory">{{cite web | year=2011 | title=History of Grundy County | work=Welcome to Grundy County, TN | publisher=TNGenWeb | url=http://www.tngenweb.org/grundy/#history | access-date= November 6, 2011}}</ref> Tracy City is also home to the oldest family bakery in Tennessee, [[Dutch Maid Bakery]].<ref name="Nostalgiaville"/> In 1987 the coke ovens were placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="Landmarkhunter1">{{cite web | year=2011 | title=Tracy City Coke Ovens | work=Grundy County | publisher=LandmarkHunter | url=http://landmarkhunter.com/179140-tracy-city-coke-ovens/ | access-date=November 6, 2011}}</ref> Tracy City was incorporated in 1915.<ref name="Nostalgiaville"/>

Tracy City has featured prominently in Grundy County's history of [[arson]].  Ten buildings in the business district were set alight in 1935.  The 100-year-old L&N Depot, 86-year-old James K. Shook School, various waterworks, schools, a lumber yard, and a doctor's clinic were also torched in the 20th century.<ref name="Dallas" /> This tradition has continued into the 21st century. On April 8, 2022, there was an arson attempt at the Historic Christ Church Episcopal on 10th Street in Tracy City.
<ref>{{cite web |last1=Proudfoot |first1=Claire |title=Historic church damaged by fire |url=https://www.grundycountyherald.com/news/local/historic-church-damaged-by-fire/article_412ad474-bc00-11ec-9a22-bba404229edb.html |website=www.grundycountyherald.com |publisher=The Grundy County Herald |access-date=November 22, 2022}}</ref>