Kingsport: City of Industry

Kingsport is a prime example of a community born out of a vision to create a planned model city of industry and an ideal community. In the early 20th century, Kingsport was ripe with opportunity and potential. Its advantageous location on the railroad, proximity to a wealth of raw natural resources, hearty labor supply, and unmatched community spirit laid the foundation for Kingsport to become one of the leading industrial centers of the New South. This book explores many of Kingsport's diverse industries, from the Corning Glass Works that manufactured Pyrex to the Holston Ordnance Works that produced RDX (the world's most powerful explosive until the atom bomb) to Tennessee Eastman and its role in managing Clinton Engineering Works in Oak Ridge during World War II. Other local companies include General Shale, Kingsport Press, Borden Mills, Holliston Mills, Foremost Dairies, Blue Ridge Glass, PET Dairy, and Dixie Maid Bakery.