Planning kicks off for county

Planning kicks off for county's 150th

Jonathan Herrmann news-herald.net

The Loudon County Historical Society is already planning to celebrate the county’s 150th anniversary.

Loudon was founded in 1870 from portions of Monroe, Blount and Roane counties, with June 2020 marking 150 years since the formation became official.

“It’s a milestone. It’s important for us to remember our history and our heritage,” Ruth McQueen, chairwoman for Loudon County Visitors Bureau heritage and history committee, said. “It helps us as we move forward to be more successful as a county. It is a milestone for us to celebrate. I think history is a part of our heritage, it’s a part of our culture, it’s a part of our educational system.”

Bo Carey, historical society member, led a recent meeting where visitors tossed out possible ideas ranging from a commemorative ornament to digging up a time capsule buried on the courthouse lawn in 1970.

“It was placed there 50 years ago at our 100th anniversary celebration and I think some of the high school students did it,” Carey said. “So it was placed there in 1970 in June. In 2020, next year, in June we intend to pull that capsule out and hopefully replace it with some other artifacts or things. Obviously, the county has to authorize that.”

John Cardwell noted that a list of who contributed to the capsule is kept at the register of deeds office. “It might be good to find those people and invite them back to look at their items that are in there,” he said.

Kelly Littleton-Brewster, county commissioner, suggested an idea triggered by research into Johnson City’s 150th birthday.

“One of the things Johnson City did that I thought was very interesting is they broke their months down,” she said. “February was educational month and they let the educational system take control of that month, doing something to celebrate the history.”

No matter the approach, all were in favor of getting as many people and organizations involved as possible.

“We definitely want to involve a lot of people,” Carey said. “When we did the 100th, the businessmen grew beards to take you back to 1870. They all wore little funny bowties like was supposedly 1870-type guard. But anybody who wants to be involved in the historical process, the celebration process, bringing old family members back to Loudon County to celebrate our community, we would urge them to do that.”

The idea of getting each city — Lenoir City, Loudon, Greenback and Philadelphia — involved in some way was brought up.

One key as planning expands in the months to come will be asking the county to take the lead.

“I think one of the next steps is for these representatives from some of the groups to visit with county elected officials,” McQueen said. “I think the county mayor, (Rollen ‘Buddy’) Bradshaw, and the county commission would be the perfect group to take leadership and see that all these things work together and you don’t have all these things going in different directions.”

McQueen believes there is plenty to celebrate no matter what the final plan is — churches, schools, businesses, industry, history, families and even historic cemeteries.

“After all these years I think that’s certainly something to celebrate,” she said. “... As tragic as the fire at the courthouse was, maybe this it the perfect time for us to renew our history and our background as we look forward to dealing with the aftermath of the fire and what to do next.”

Those wishing to share ideas or learn more can contact Carey at Greer’s Home Furnishing in downtown Loudon at 865-458-2046.