Large Cities In Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville: insurance, home, employment)

[Onni]

The three biggest cities in Tennessee are Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville . How come the three cites got so very big in the state of Tennessee?

[Barking Spider]

If you build it, they will come.

[Jumeby]

They are the bug lights for the rest of Tennessee.

[eastmemphisguy]

Memphis got to be a large city based on trade going up and down the Mississippi River. Cotton am
nd hard wood were the primary commodities that drove growth 100 years ago. Today, we are a logistics town as the home of FedEx and with several major railroads.

[An Einnseanair]

What eastmemphis guy said about Memphis. The city started purely about trade along and crossing the river.

Nashville grew because it somehow became the center of the growing Country Music scene, along with being the state capitol.

Knoxville is a sleeping tech giant near the super-secret Oak Ridge National Lab, along with tons of tourists drawn to all the local lakes and the Smoky Mountains.

[jabogitlu]

Re: Knoxville... Not to mention the 27,000 students who attend UTK, many of whom are not from the Knoxville area, and a decent percentage of whom aren't even from Tennessee.


A lot of Tennessee cities' history is intertwined with transportation, just like cities all over the world. Johnson City started out as a depot around the intersection of what came to be 3 different important rail lines.

[Hey_Hey]

I would argue that Nashville grew for many reasons other than music. Way back in the day grew because it was a trading center located on the Cumberland River. In the early 1900s it grew because it was an insurance and publishing giant. Beginning in the mid-1900s it became the center for country music in the US and has since expanded into many other genres of music. More importantly it became the center of US corporate healthcare administration. In terms of the effect on the overall size of Nashville, the healthcare side is probably the most important piece. I don't have numbers but I would venture to guess that employment and wealth generation from healthcare is larger than that found in the music industry in Nashville. In terms of cultural impact, tourism, and marketing, music is more important, but for the average Nashvillian the healthcare companies based in Nashville seem to provide a much larger influence on their day-to-day lives because that's who pays the bills (directly or indirectly).

Of course even that is overly simplistic in terms of accounting for all the growth. Manufacturing has played a hugely important role, especially in the southeast portion of the metro. Tourism is now playing an important role. Corporate relocations across all sectors is also a huge chunk of the economy as well. Companies like Nissan, LYFT, Warby Parker, UBS, and Hardee's have all relocated to Nashville recently and are all in different sectors. Supply chain and logistics seems to be taking hold in the eastern portion of the metro providing growth to Mt Juliet and Lebanon, and higher education has always provided a huge boost to he economy with numerous major and small colleges (MTSU, Vandy, Belmont, TSU, Fisk, Lipscomb, Trevecca, Cumberland, and some I'm forgetting).

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Onni

The three biggest cities in Tennessee are Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville . How come the three cites got so very big in the state of Tennessee?

Knoxville was also more pro Union during the Civil War and that also impacts it's influence on the State. A nice city, but vastly different than either Memphis or Nashville. Nashville is a nice city as well, but very busy and crowded, while Knoxville is far less so and a bit more laid back.I would not live in or near Memphis.

[BlueRedTide]

Knoxville because it's the Oldest, and was THE major city in the State near State's founding and the capital years before Nashville, Was a Major Trading post for the Mountain region and the Center of East Tennessee and therefore really all of Tennessee at this time since Most of Tennessee's population was concentrated in the East at the time. So Knoxville was the Center of this. However Knoxville's Advantage as a Mountain Trading Post started to become a hindrance as Tennessee's (And the U.S's) population started to migrate west to the Mississippi River, Texas and California, as Traveling and Trading over Mountains was not the Easiest or Most Convenient thing to do in the early 1800's

Nashville made more sense from a commercial standpoint, was on a river and Not isolated and surrounded by Mountains, Business grew and Nashville become a focal point for trade and commerce and eventually eclipsed Knoxville and the capital was moved to Nashville, in addition to it's more central location within the state. The Combination of Jobs Trade and Commerce along the Cumberland River and State Gov't and boom Nashville becomes large

Again Westward expansion led to even a more promising location, The Mississippi River, fertile delta soil, Cotton, and a link between the U.S East of the MS River and the US. West of the MS river, Steep Bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River providing a Flood Free Location on a otherwise flood prone area and boom, Memphis was born, initially become a trading and commercial juggernaut off the back of Massive Cotton/Slave Trade (Largest Cotton Market in the World back then) Railroads And it's location on the Largest River, Eventually Eclipsing Nashville to become By Far the Largest City in Tennessee. The Largest City in Tennessee the entire 20th Century.

So Basically Nashville Eclipsed Knoxville,Memphis Eclipsed Nashville, Now Nashville is about to eclipse Memphis

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Hey_Hey

I would argue that Nashville grew for many reasons other than music. Way back in the day grew because it was a trading center located on the Cumberland River. In the early 1900s it grew because it was an insurance and publishing giant. Beginning in the mid-1900s it became the center for country music in the US and has since expanded into many other genres of music. More importantly it became the center of US corporate healthcare administration. In terms of the effect on the overall size of Nashville, the healthcare side is probably the most important piece. I don't have numbers but I would venture to guess that employment and wealth generation from healthcare is larger than that found in the music industry in Nashville. In terms of cultural impact, tourism, and marketing, music is more important, but for the average Nashvillian the healthcare companies based in Nashville seem to provide a much larger influence on their day-to-day lives because that's who pays the bills (directly or indirectly).

Of course even that is overly simplistic in terms of accounting for all the growth. Manufacturing has played a hugely important role, especially in the southeast portion of the metro. Tourism is now playing an important role. Corporate relocations across all sectors is also a huge chunk of the economy as well. Companies like Nissan, LYFT, Warby Parker, UBS, and Hardee's have all relocated to Nashville recently and are all in different sectors. Supply chain and logistics seems to be taking hold in the eastern portion of the metro providing growth to Mt Juliet and Lebanon, and higher education has always provided a huge boost to he economy with numerous major and small colleges (MTSU, Vandy, Belmont, TSU, Fisk, Lipscomb, Trevecca, Cumberland, and some I'm forgetting).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashvi...#Top_employers

By the way, one quibble. I don't think that Nashville is the insurance giant that you think it is, then or now. That moniker goes to Hartford, Connecticut and that isn't a recent event. But other cities would also employ more in the industry than Nashville.