Editing Morristown, Tennessee (section)

===Mid 20th century to present day ===
[[File:Morristown, Tennessee (circa 1904-1906).jpg|thumb|Main Street (circa 1905)]]

==== American Enka and the labor movement ====
In 1944, the [[American Enka Company]], a [[Rayon|rayon fiber]] producer based out of [[Asheville, North Carolina]], began construction on a 230-acre plant in the [[Lowland, Tennessee|Lowland]] region of Morristown, beginning operations in 1947.<ref name="buerki">{{cite web |last1=Buerki |first1=Karen |title=Liberty Fibers |url=https://response.epa.gov/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=5986#:~:text=On%20April%2021%2C%202010%2C%20Region%204%20ERRB%20responded,1992%20when%20it%20was%20sold%20to%20Lenzing%20AG. |website=EPA ON-SCENE COORDINATOR (OSC) RESPONSE WEBSITE |publisher=[[Environmental Protection Agency]] |access-date=November 16, 2020}}</ref><ref name="lenzingblogspot">{{cite web |title=Lenzing - Lowland |url=https://lenzinglowland.blogspot.com/ |website=Lenzing - Lowland |access-date=November 16, 2020}}</ref>
 
In March 1950, workers at the facility walked out on [[Labor strike|strike]]. Officials from American Enka Company then advertised for replacements of the striking workers. Tensions soon built when residents of Morristown and Lowland appeared at the gates of the Enka plant to apply for the listed jobs. Violence then followed, with shots fired, cars damaged, and one adjacent house destroyed by dynamite. The then-governor of Tennessee, [[Gordon Browning]], dispatched [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] troops to restore order at the Enka factory. By the end of the strike, and following acts of violence and vandalism, its story had become national front-page news, and on-site congressional hearings regarding labor relations and the labor movement were held in Morristown, led by [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Senator [[Hubert Humphrey]].<ref name="strikeinquiry">{{cite news |title=SENATE INQUIRY SET IN TENNESSEE STRIKE |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/06/14/archives/senate-inquiry-set-in-tennessee-strike.html |access-date=November 17, 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 14, 1950}}</ref><ref name="henderson">{{cite web |last1=Henderson |first1=Cherel |title=American Enka and the Modern Labor Movement |url=https://www.easttnhistory.org/sites/default/files/traveling_enka.pdf |website=Museum of East Tennessee History |publisher=[[East Tennessee Historical Society]] |access-date=November 16, 2020}}</ref>

In 1985, the American Enka facility was acquired by [[BASF]] and continued under their operations until 1992, when it was sold to [[Lenzing AG]].<ref name="buerki"/> The plant closed in 2005, after the company that operated the plant, Liberty Fibers, filed for bankruptcy.<ref name="libertyclose"/> The plant site and its adjacent [[wastewater treatment]] plant have since been [[Municipal annexation in the United States|annexed]] into the Morristown [[city limits]].<ref name="libertyclose">{{Cite news|date=October 1, 2005|title=Liberty Fibers Corp. Closes Plant, Files For Bankruptcy Protection|work=The Greeneville Sun|url=https://www.greenevillesun.com/news/liberty-fibers-corp-closes-plant-files-for-bankruptcy-protection/article_34f9f483-3a5b-5581-82ba-058b2a40d81d.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729170303/https://www.greenevillesun.com/news/liberty-fibers-corp-closes-plant-files-for-bankruptcy-protection/article_34f9f483-3a5b-5581-82ba-058b2a40d81d.html|archive-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref>

====Industrial development====
Beginning in 1959, following then presidential candidate [[John F. Kennedy]]'s exposure to poverty in [[Appalachia]], Morristown officials began a joint effort with Tennessee [[economic development]] representatives to establish the city as a major industrial hub, and the program began with the construction and completion of the East Tennessee Valley Industrial District (ETVID) industrial park in eastern Morristown near [[Russellville, Tennessee|Russellville]].<ref name="newman">{{cite journal |last1=Newman |first1=Anne |editor1-last=Kendrick |editor1-first=Elise |title=The Recruiters and the Recruited: How One Town Filled an Industrial Park |journal=Appalachia |date=1981 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=6–19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJMHJyHZ6V8C&q=Morristown |access-date=September 14, 2020 |publisher=[[Appalachian Regional Commission]] |location=[[University of California, Berkeley]] |language=en}}</ref> In 1962, the world's largest manufacturer of chains, the [[Jeffrey Manufacturing Company]] opened a plant to manufacture its steel thimble roller chains.<ref>{{cite news |title=Big chain maker chose Morristown over fifty possible plant sites, started in February |work=Morristown Gazette Mail |date=8 July 1962|page=14}}</ref>

By 1978, the {{convert|375|acre|km2}} ETVID industrial park had reached its estimated capacity, prompting city officials to develop a second industrial park.<ref name="newman"/> After acquiring a {{convert|670|acre|km2}} site in western Morristown near [[Morristown Regional Airport]] in the same year, city officials developed the site into the Morristown Airport Industrial District (MAID) industrial park in 1981.<ref name="newman"/> Five months after the park's completion, two companies opened facilities at the MAID.<ref name="newman"/> As overall economic prosperity continued to make gains in Morristown, city officials and development representatives have cited Morristown's industrial development initiative as an example of [[economic growth]]:<ref name="newman"/>

In the 1990s, the City of Morristown acquired over {{convert|900|acre|km2}} near [[Interstate 81 in Tennessee|Interstate 81]] exit 8 for its third industrial park, the East Tennessee Progress Center (ETPC).<ref name="etpc">{{cite web |title=Hamblen County - East Tennessee Progress Center |url=https://www.tn.gov/rural/resources/best-practices/site-development/hamblen-county---east-tennessee-progress-center.html |website=[[Tennessee|State of Tennessee]] |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> Initial site development such as roadway and utility upgrades were completed in 2001.<ref name="etpc"/> Several large manufacturers opened facilities at the site, but further infrastructure upgrades, grading work, and property acquisition was done on the site throughout the 2000s and 2010s.<ref name="etpc"/><ref name="etpcgrant"/>

Following the [[2007-2012 global economic crisis]], Morristown saw the loss of one of its largest employers, Berkline, which closed after filing for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] in 2011.<ref name="suddenexit">{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Larry |title=Sudden exit for Berkline |url=https://www.furnituretoday.com/business-news/sudden-exit-for-berkline/ |access-date=October 1, 2020 |work=[[FurnitureToday]] |date=May 2, 2011}}</ref> The furniture manufacturer, which relocated to the city in 1937, eliminated 602 jobs and ended an era of Morristown being known as a predominately furniture manufacturing hub:<ref name="marcum closing">{{cite news |last1=Marcum |first1=Ed |title=Furniture maker Berkline closing Morristown operation |url=http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/furniture-maker-berkline-closing-morristown-operation-ep-405343135-357963621.html |access-date=October 1, 2020 |work=[[Knoxville News Sentinel]] |date=March 30, 2011}}</ref>

{{Blockquote
|text="For two or three generations, Morristown has been considered a furniture town, and this is the last of the major furniture operations here."
|author=Hamblen County Mayor Bill Brittain
|title="Furniture maker Berkline closing Morristown operation"
|source=''[[Knoxville News Sentinel]]'' (2011)
}}

In 2018, [[Belgium|Belgian]] bus manufacturer [[Van Hool]] announced the construction of a {{convert|500,000|sqft|m2}} facility at the ETPC (East Tennessee Progress Center), <ref name="etpc"/> one of the largest industrial development projects in the history of Morristown.<ref name="commissionerrolfe">{{cite web |title=Governor Haslam, Commissioner Rolfe announce Van Hool NV to establish first US manufacturing facility in Morristown |url=https://tnecd.com/news/governor-haslam-commissioner-rolfe-announce-van-hool-nv-to-establish-first-us-manufacturing-facility-in-morristown/ |website=Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development |publisher=[[Tennessee|State of Tennessee]] |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name="howington">{{cite news |last1=Howington |first1=Glenna |title=Anatomy of A Deal: Meet the Van Hools |url=https://www.citizentribune.com/special_sections/progress_edition_2019/anatomy-of-a-deal-meet-the-van-hools/article_8aa97afa-56fb-11e9-8e3a-8365a6f5ce48.html |access-date=September 14, 2020 |work=Citizen Tribune |date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> The project expects to create an estimated 650 jobs, over $47 million in private investment and an influx of interest of further [[industrial development]] in the Morristown area.<ref name="etpc"/><ref name="vanhool">{{cite web |title=Van Hool builds bus factory in Morristown, Tennessee, US |url=https://www.vanhool.be/en/news/van-hool-builds-bus-factory-in-morristown-tennessee-us |website=[[Van Hool]] |access-date=September 14, 2020 |date=April 12, 2018 }}</ref>

====Downtown emergence and the "Skymart" project====
{{See also|Morristown Main Street Historic District}}

By 1833, Morristown had its first post office and store located along Main Street.<ref name="registrationform"/> Fourteen years later, [[Railway|railroad lines]] were built, stimulating further commercial growth until the beginning of the [[American Civil War]].<ref name="registrationform"/> Morristown's Main Street district, measuring approximately {{convert|1|sqmi|km2}}, arose from the intersection of two railroad lines, gradually turning Morristown into wholesale/retail hub after the end of the Civil War.<ref name="registrationform"/>

At the start of the 20th century, new buildings were erected in the downtown area, including the Henry Street Post Office, the First National Bank Building, and the Princess Theater. The Princess Theater was the first theater in Morristown and showcased touring musical acts, ministerial shows, pageants, films, and special [[Grand Ole Opry]] performances. Following the opening of theaters in neighboring shopping complexes, the Princess Theater closed in 1982, and  was demolished in 1995.<ref name="registrationform"/>

Following the 1950s, the downtown district saw losses in revenue, as a suburban shopping mall on the city's west side jeopardized businesses downtown. The city developed a plan to modernize Main Street by creating an "overhead sidewalk" as part of the nationwide push for [[urban renewal]] projects, enabling businesses to form on the second floor of existing buildings while serving as a canopy for passage below. Building owners spent nearly $2 million ($16 million today) upgrading their properties and linking them to ramps, while the government contributed over $5 million to build the elevated walkways.<ref name="registrationform"/> The underground channel for Turkey Creek was also enlarged and rerouted. In 1962, Turkey Creek, which bisects the street, flooded and damaged the downtown commercial district. The project was completed in 1967, becoming the first second-story sidewalk system in an American city.<ref name="nytmart">{{cite news |title=Second-Story Sidewalks Are Built in Tennessee City; Downtown Skymart in Morristown Held First in Nation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/05/21/archives/secondstory-sidewalks-are-built-in-tennessee-city-downtown-skymart.html |access-date=January 1, 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 21, 1967}}</ref> Over time, the Skymart has served as little more than a remnant of the idealism of 1960s urban renewal projects. Despite the aftermath of the project, the overhead sidewalks still stand in the downtown area.<ref name="summary">{{cite web|title=Morristown Main Street Historic District|url= https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000120.htm|access-date=November 1, 2018|website=NPS.gov}}</ref><ref name="visit">{{cite web |title=History and Heritage |url=https://www.visitmorristowntn.com/history-heritage |website=Visit Morristown, Tennessee |access-date=July 23, 2020}}</ref>

Morristown is embarking on a resurrection of the Skymart, eyeing the structure as a key [[redevelopment]] tool for turning downtown into a social and commercial hub. It has been made a key element in a greenway master plan along Turkey Creek, with plans to connect downtown Morristown to Cherokee Park and [[Cherokee Lake]].<ref name="tcgreeenway">{{cite web |title=Turkey Creek Greenway |url=https://www.mymorristown.com/departments/community_development/special_projects/turkey_creek_greenway.php |website=City of Morristown |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name="greeenwayrelocate">{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Robert |title=Greenway path relocation resulted in contract extension |url=https://www.citizentribune.com/news/local/greenway-path-relocation-resulted-in-contract-extension/article_1ff83128-4cbb-11e9-ac91-0323d987a580.html |access-date=September 17, 2020 |work=Citizen Tribune |date=March 22, 2019}}</ref> In an effort to renew public interest, city officials, the Crossroads Downtown Partnership, and the Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce hold events in the city's downtown or the "Skymart District" throughout the year, mainly during the warmer months of May to September.<ref>{{cite web|title=Our Story {{!}} Historic Downtown Morristown, TN - Timeless Shopping. Dining. & Entertainment.|url=https://downtownmorristown.city/historic-downtown-morristown-tn/|website=downtownmorristown.city|access-date=February 6, 2018}}</ref>