Bean Station, Tennessee

Bean Station was settled as a frontier outpost established in the late 1780s by the sons of William Bean, one of the earliest settlers in Tennessee. The land had likely been observed by Bean while on a long hunting excursion with Daniel Boone years prior. The outpost was situated at the intersection of the Old Wilderness Road, a north–south pathway that roughly followed what is present-day U.S. Route 25E, and the Old Stage Road, an east–west pathway that roughly followed what is now U.S. Route 11W. This heavily trafficked crossroads location made Bean Station an important stopover for early travelers, with taverns and inns were operating at the station by the early 1800s.[7]

Bean Station in 1938, before the impounding of the Holston River

During the Civil War, the Battle of Bean's Station took place in the westernmost area of the community on December 14, 1863. Confederate Army General, James Longstreet, attempted to capture Bean Station en route to Rogersville after failing to drive Union forces out of Knoxville. Bean Station was held by a contingent of Union soldiers under the command of General James M. Shackelford. After two days of gruesome fighting, Union forces were forced to retreat.[7]

In the post-Civil War era, a businessman named Samuel Tate constructed a large Victorian-style luxury hotel just west of Bean Station that became the main focus of a resort known as Tate Springs. Around the late 1870s, the hotel was purchased by Captain Thomas Tomlinson, who would transform the property into a vast resort that advertised the supposed healing powers of its mineral spring’s water. During its heyday, the resort complex included over three-dozen buildings, a 100-acre (40 ha) park, and an 18-hole golf course. The resort had attracted some of the wealthiest people in America during this time. The resort declined during the Great Depression, and the hotel and most of its outbuildings have since been demolished after a major fire damaged the main hotel structure. The Tate Springs Springhouse and its elaborate Victorian gazebo still stand just off U.S. Route 11W near Bean Station Elementary School.[7]

The construction of Cherokee Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority several miles downstream along the Holston River in the early 1940s had drastically altered the city's layout. Many citizens were relocated and many houses and other structures were demolished or moved. A large portion of the community was impounded, and at least one historical structure had to be relocated.[7]

On May 13, 1972, 14 people were killed in a head-on collision between a Greyhound bus and a tractor-trailer on U.S. Route 11W near Bean Station.[8]

Bean Station was incorporated into a city in November 1996.

Since 1996, the city hosts an annual harvest festival in its downtown district celebrating the area's agricultural, and craftsmanship scenes.[9] The festival attracts hundreds of festival-goers and tourists alike every third weekend in October.

On May 23, 2013, an ex-police officer for the city shot four execution-style in a massacre in a pharmacy in downtown Bean Station, killing two. The following day, a vigil was held for the two victims with an estimated attendance of 300 individuals.[10]

Southeastern Provisions slaughterhouse in Bean Station

On April 5, 2018, Southeastern Provisions, a cattle slaughterhouse and meat-packing facility in Bean Station, was raided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).[11][12] 11 workers were arrested and 86 more were detained, all of whom were suspected of residing in the United States unlawfully.[11] At the time, the raid was reportedly the largest workplace raid in United States history.[12]

In the immediate aftermath of the immigration raid, over 500 Hispanic students in neighboring Morristown, had skipped the following school day after the raid in fear of being deported along with several arrested at Southeastern Provisions. Many churches and non-profit organizations in the Morristown-Hamblen area had planned together activities for those who had family or friends involved in the raid.[13] An estimated crowd of 300 individuals led a protest against ICE and the Trump administration, which had then recently planned the raids of workplaces across the United States.[14]

In September 2018, James Brantley, the owner of Southeastern Provisions, was found guilty of multiple state and federal crimes, including tax evasion, wire fraud, employing immigrants not authorized to work in the US, and many other workplace violations, and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and was forced to pay over 1.3 million dollars to the IRS, and 1.42 million in restitution.[15][16][17]

In 2019, many of the workers that had been detained and later released had filed a lawsuit against ICE with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Immigration Law Center on their behalf.[18]

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As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 2,826 people, 1,149 households, and 827 families residing in the city.

96.8% were White, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.1% Asian and 0.7% of two or more races. 2.3% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.88. 25% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 13.9% were female householders with no husband present. 28% of households were non-families. The median age of residents in city was 47.8. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18, and 16.2% were age 65 years or older.

72% of the city’s population commute outside of Grainger County for work.[22] The average commute time for Bean Station residents is 24 minutes.[23]

Bean Station uses the mayor-aldermen system, which was established in 1996 when the city was incorporated. It is governed locally by a five-member Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

The citizens elect the mayor and four aldermen to four-year terms. The board elects a vice mayor from among the four aldermen.

Bean Station is represented in the 35th District of the Tennessee House of Representatives by Jerry Sexton, a Republican.[33]

It is represented in the 8th District of the Tennessee Senate by Frank Niceley, also a Republican.[34]

Bean Station is represented in the United States House of Representatives by Republican Tim Burchett of the 2nd congressional district.[35]

• Grainger Today

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