Editing Lenoir City, Tennessee (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Business section - NARA - 281362.jpg|right|240px|thumb|Lenoir City in 1940]]

Beginning in the 1930s during the [[Great Depression]], a series of federal government projects provided a needed boost to Lenoir City's economy and invested in regional infrastructure. The [[Tennessee Valley Authority]]'s construction of [[Fort Loudoun Dam]] and reservoir, which began in 1940, provided hundreds of locals with jobs. It also resulted in numerous road improvements and generation of hydropower for electrification of the region.

In the 1950s and 1960s, construction associated with the [[Interstate Highway System]] resulted in building [[Interstate 75|I-75]] and [[Interstate 40|I-40]]—two trans-national highways that intersect just northeast of Lenoir City. [[U.S. Route 321|U.S. Highway 321]] was built through Lenoir City in the 1980s primarily to provide greater access to the [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]], some {{convert|40|mi|km}} southeast.

In April 1985, Alice Clayton was elected Lenoir City's first woman city council member. Clayton came in second in the election and served a four-year term. Clayton was appointed by Mayor Charles Eblen as the street commissioner and served on the planning commission, the finance committee and the celebration committee for Homecoming '86, a celebration of Tennessee's 100th anniversary.

On February 21, 1993, an [[Fujita scale|F-3]] tornado touched down in eastern Roane County (just west of town) and tracked east-southeast directly toward the city. The tornado devastated parts of the city. Parts of downtown, as well as the area near A Street and 5th Avenue, were destroyed. The Lenoir City High School/Middle School property suffered major damage (it was redeveloped as River Oaks Place). The tornado continued east-southeastward, going through the town of Friendsville before lifting in western Maryville. One person died in Lenoir City, and 55 people were injured.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://innovation.srh.noaa.gov/tors/index.php?cw=mrx |title=NWS Morristown Forecast Area Tornado Database |access-date=February 1, 2017 |archive-date=February 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207175438/http://innovation.srh.noaa.gov/tors/index.php?cw=mrx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In March 1998, a historic landmark, the William B. Lenoir Hotel, the block of Broadway (US 11) between A and B streets, was destroyed by a massive fire. The entire block was lost as it had been built with a common attic and basement, meaning there were no firewalls between buildings. Wilburn's Barbershop, the Lenoir City Public Library, a Mexican grocery, offices for ''TV Readers'' magazine and Habitat for Humanity, a school photography company and photo finishing lab, and several apartments, were all destroyed by the blaze.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19990307&id=12seAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cMkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2895,824695&hl=en|title=Times Daily—Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}</ref> This block was redeveloped for Roane State Community College, Tennessee Career Center, and a new Lenoir City Public Library.