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Knoxville Iron Company

United States historic place

The Knoxville Iron Company was an iron production and coal mining company that operated primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, and its vicinity, in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The company was Knoxville's first major post-Civil War manufacturing firm, and played a key role in bringing heavy industry and railroad facilities to the city.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

  • HeadquartersKnoxville1

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Foundry-knoxville-tn1
Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

The Knoxville Iron Company was an iron production and coal mining company that operated primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, and its vicinity, in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The company was Knoxville's first major post-Civil War manufacturing firm, and played a key role in bringing heavy industry and railroad facilities to the city. The company was also the first to conduct major coal mining operations in the lucrative coalfields of western Anderson County, and helped establish one of Knoxville's first residential neighborhoods, Mechanicsville, in the late 1860s.2

How it started

Early history

During the Civil War, Confederate forces moved a small iron foundry from Loudon to Knoxville, but were unable to produce any iron, due in part to their lack of understanding of iron working processes. When Union forces occupied Knoxville in late 1863, Hiram Sanborn Chamberlain, a Union officer from Ohio, and S.T. Atkins, a local manufacturer, managed to get the foundry in working order. Chamberlain remained in Knoxville after the war, and he and Atkins continued operating the foundry.

Noting the largely untouched ore deposits in the hills around Knoxville, Chamberlain decided to develop a large-scale iron works in the city. He recruited Welsh-born ironmasters Joseph, David, and William Richards, who in turn brought in other Welsh immigrants skilled in iron production. Chamberlain managed to secure $150,000 in initial capital, much of it supplied by wealthy Anderson County farmer J. S. Ross. The Knoxville Iron Company was formally organized on February 1, 1868.

Expansion, 1870-1900

To provide fuel for its foundry, Knoxville Iron began mining coal in the Coal Creek Valley of eastern Anderson County, shortly after the area acquired railroad access in 1866. The company expanded its Knoxville mill in the 1870s, most notably with the addition of a nail factory in 1875. By 1895, Knoxville Iron's mill was producing over 15,000 tons of iron per year, and employed over 200 workers. The company's products included bar iron, railroad spikes, channel iron, and track rails for use in mines. The company was also a major producer of coal, which it mined at its Coal Creek mines.

Along with Welsh immigrants, the company employed a large number of African American laborers. To house its workforce, the company expanded McGhee's Addition, a neighborhood just west of its mill. McGhee's Addition subsequently became known as "Mechanicsville," the word "mechanic" during this period referring to skilled factory workers. The company also opened a subsidiary, Harriman Rolling Mills, in Harriman, Tennessee, which by 1900 had become that city's largest employer.

From Wikipedia’s article on Knoxville Iron Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Sources

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