Farragut History

The Town of Farragut was incorporated in 1980, but has a much longer history.

In the early 1800s, the area known as Concord was situated on the north bank of the Tennessee River. This sparsely populated area consisted mostly of large farms in the general vicinity of Campbell's Station, the nearest trade and transportation center west of Knoxville. In the 1850s, landowner James Rodgers divided his land into 55 lots and put them up for sale. At this point, the town of Concord was created.

Concord had always had access to shipping via the river, but with the arrival of the railroad in the late 1850s, the town began rapid growth. The availability of transportation by river and rail, along with the local major intersection of the Concord Road and the Kingston Road (now Kingston Pike), made the area strategically important to the Union defense of Knoxville during the Civil War. The Battle of Campbell's Station was fought at this location in November, 1863.

After the war, Concord became a center for the marble industry. Marble was quarried in several locations in the area, with Concord becoming the processing and shipping center for the local businesses. This growth led to Concord becoming the largest town in Knox County, with the exception of Knoxville. It had become the local transportation hub for marble, lumber and locally-grown produce.

This growth continued until the Depression. The accompanying decline in the marble industry hit the area hard, and this economic hardship was compounded by the TVA's construction of the Fort Loudon Dam, which put as much as 30% of the town underwater. Although the railroads were moved to dry land, they no longer carried passengers. The redefined shoreline of Ft. Loudon Lake, highway construction and the accompanying move of freight to the roadways eliminated Concord's advantage as a hub of river and rail shipping.

Concord remained in the doldrums until the 1970s, when it began to develop as a true suburb of a growing Knoxville. In January 1980, the town of Farragut was incorporated, taking its name from Admiral David Farragut, a native of the area. Through carefully managed growth and development, the town has become a center of upscale business and residential life.