Community Guide - Greenback
Knoxville, Tennessee - Real Estate Guide

Everything you need within walking distance in Greenback

Nestled in a wide spot in Loudon County, the town of Greenback is a trip back in time to when you knew your neighbor and there wasn't a fast-food restaurant on every corner.

Surrounded by farmland, this town with a population of 1,000 centers its daily life around less than a mile of the main street. With the schools, library, post office, museum, drug store and community center all within walking distance of each other, it's easy to interact with members of the community on a daily basis.

And for Greenback residents the center of town is the Greenback Drug Store.

"It's the heartbeat of the town," said longtime Greenback resident Bob Anderson, sitting at the drugstore counter for lunch. No one can deny that at lunchtime it starts to bustle a little more and conversations buzz about the weather, a new baby born, or stories of the "good old days."


Greenback's heritage is a topic of conversation more these days since the Greenback Museum opened at the beginning of the year.

The first choice of the museum committee, chaired by Betty Carroll, was the historic train depot located across the street from the drug store. But the building was unavailable so they turned to the beauty salon building next to the drug store.

It required a lot of renovation because the roof had fallen in, according to Greenback mayor Tom Peeler.

The museum is filled with artifacts donated by the people of Greenback including yearbooks from the high school, items from the beauty shop, historical records, family photos and farm equipment.

Peeler said the collection comes together to reflect the small town heritage where people are willing to out of their way for each other and stay true to the land.

"It's a heritage that we are proud of," Peeler said. "We're inviting everyone to come see it — whether they have a Greenback connection or not."

And he said the people of Greenback are glad to share the story of the town's beginning. It's a story that hasn't changed much over the years.

More than a hundred years ago, the area that is now Greenback was becoming crowded, and postal authorities decided it was time to build a post office there.

They tried out several names for the postal branch, but wanted something that was not duplicated in any other community. Officials submitted the name of a political party whose unusual platform was attracting attention.

The Greenbacks, who supported paper currency over gold, had elected a local person to the Legislature.

The party is now long dead, but the town of Greenback lives on.
Farming was the central way of life among Greenback residents at the turn of the century. The community is in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains and is centrally located between Lenoir City and Maryville.

Land was and is good for cultivating, and the residents stick closely to that heritage.

"We will always be people of the land," Peeler said. "You'll see the farm store, but not a Wal-Mart."

Loudon county
• Population: (2000 Census): 39,068
• Founded: May 27, 1870, from parts of Blount, Monroe and Roane counties.

Originally named Christiana County. Quickly changed to Loudon after Fort Loudoun, the 18th century British fort built during the French and Indian War that was named for John Campbell, the fourth Earl of Loudoun.

• County seat: Loudon, population 4,476. Originally called Blairsville but was changed to Loudon in 1872. It was a busy river port and transportation point in the 19th century.

Other cities
• Lenoir City - Population 6,891, created as a planned community by the Lenoir City Co. in 1890. Incorporated in 1907. Named after Gen. William Ballard Lenoir.

• Greenback - P opulation 973, original site of the city was in a field owned by Robert Thompson and J.B. Hall. A thriving railroad town, its name comes from a political party called the Greenbacks.

• Philadelphia - P opulation 556, created in 1821, but not incorporated until 1968. Located on the Hiwassee Railroad between Knoxville and Chattanooga, it was envisioned as a major commercial center.

• Attractions: Fort Loudoun; Fort Loudoun Dam; Lenoir Museum, Lenoir City