Claiborne County was established on Oct. 29, 1801, and from its beginning agriculture has been a major part of the county’s economy.
Of the approximately 442 square miles that makes up the county, 432 square miles is land. In the early years of the county the majority of the land was used for agricultural purposes. Over the years, however, farming has seen a decline.
The railroad played a big part in establishing local businesses and tobacco warehouses. When the railroad line was built from Knoxville through Cumberland Gap in the late 1880s, it bypassed the town of Tazewell.
It is uncertain whether the railroad was unable to obtain right of way, or whether the decision was made because of topography, but the railroad depot was built about two miles to the west of Tazewell.
A new community sprang up around the depot, called Cowan City on old survey maps. The town was incorporated as New Tazewell in the 1920s, but the charter was voted down about fifteen years later. It was reincorporated in 1954. The town of New Tazewell was soon a thriving commercial location.
Entrepreneur John L. Buis built a two-story brick building across from the train depot where he opened the Cherokee Hotel. The building also housed the first post office and a general store, and was served by a livery stable just down the street. Buis also bought farms in the area and opened a cannery in Tazewell where he produced canned goods to ship north by railroad.
Burley tobacco production in the area provided a cash crop, and warehouses were built in the town for tobacco auctions in the late fall and early winter. Tobacco buyers came in by train and stayed at the hotel, with easy access to the warehouses by walking or by horse and buggy from the livery stable.
Different types of agriculture played a large role in the county, but tobacco eventually surpassed the rest because of the money that could be made.
Early records from the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service in Claiborne County show the agent in 1918 tried to enroll boys in a corn project that would “have each and every boy grow a pure variety of corn.” There were 46 boys enrolled in that project.
There were 21 boys enrolled that year in a pig project that included both fattening and breeding demonstration.
In the annual report from that year, the agent, F.G. Vickers, stated there was a shortage of farm labor and over half of the women in the county did farm work.
In a horticulture demonstration that same year, W.L. Chittum of Tazewell grew tomatoes. In his remarks, Vickers said, “Mr. Chittum made more tomatoes on his three-eighths of an acre than his neighbor made on an acre and a half. He is going to put in a demonstration of three acres next year he says. The farmers have formed the habit of putting their tomatoes on the thinnest ground they have, and about half cultivating them. It will take several demonstrations like Mr. Chittum’s to convince them that tomatoes will make large yields on good land well cultivated, and that heavy applications of commercial fertilizer will pay.”
By 1923, P.M. Franklin was the county agent and he reported in his annual summary that “the tobacco crop has been increased from ten acres to at least 130 acres in the county, this acreage is made up of more than 100 different patches.”
Claiborne County has followed the tobacco trend both statewide and nationally, for the most part. Tobacco as an agricultural commodity peaked in the United States in 1963 at 2.34 billion pounds, according to the United States Department of Agriculture National Agriculture Statistics Service (USDA-NASS). Since 1975 production has been slowing.
In 2004, the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act was signed into law. The law deregulated the industry, changing the way tobacco is produced and sold. The legislation ended a 65-year federal relationship with farmers and eliminated price supports. The long-time practice of farmers with tobacco-growing allotments leasing out land to smaller growers was effectively stopped.
As the smoke cleared, many small-time growers quit as the price for burley dropped.
“There was no longer a quota system in place and no longer a support price associated with different grades of tobacco,” said Robert Ellis, director of the University of Tennessee Research and Education Center at Greeneville, in a 2010 interview in the Knoxville News Sentinel. “There are less tobacco growers than there were before. Fewer growers have increased their acreage.”
The “tobacco buyout” didn’t shut down the agricultural economy of Claiborne County, but it presented new challenges as farmers had to turn to other means of making income.
Agriculture is considered part of the county’s industrial climate. By 2013, the total market value of agricultural products in Claiborne County was $13,059,000, according to a report from the Claiborne County Industrial Development Board. Of this amount, sales of cattle and calves exceeded $9,403,000 with other livestock sales of $2,068,000. Other farm product sales amounted to $1,588,000. The estimated impact on the local economy is $57,355,000.
As of 2013 there were 231 farms in Claiborne County with a total of 724 farm workers. Of these, 51 farms grow tobacco on a total of 297 acres with sales of $868,000. The remaining farms are beef cattle, dairy, poultry and other agricultural commodities.
Marisa Anders may be reached at 423-254-5588 or on Twitter @newsgirl88. Some information for this story provided by the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service in Claiborne County and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
