Bean Station, Tennessee

File:Street intersection - NARA - 281459 (colorized).jpg

In 1775, pioneers Daniel Boone and William Bean observed the future site of Bean Station from the top of Clinch Mountain while on a hunting-and-surveying excursion.{{cite web |last1=Coffey |first1=Ken |title=The First Family of Tennessee |url=http://graingertnhistory.com/story_2/#more-5 |website=Grainger County Historic Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320163029/http://graingertnhistory.com/story_2/ |archive-date=March 20, 2018 |publisher=Thomas Daugherty |access-date=August 20, 2020 |date=October 19, 2012 }} During the American Revolutionary War, Bean served as a captain for the Virginia militia; in 1776, he was awarded over {{convert|3000|acre| sqmi ha}} in the German Creek valley, where he had earlier surveyed and camped with Boone. At this site, Bean later constructed a four-room cabin, which he used as both his family home and as an inn for prospective settlers, fur traders, and longhunters.{{cite book |last1=Barksdale |first1=Kevin |title=The Lost State of Franklin: America's First Secession |date=July 11, 2014 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=9780813150093 |pages=18–19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJUfBgAAQBAJ&dq=Bean+Station&pg=PA19 |access-date=December 3, 2020 |language=en |format=E-book}} The inn and its surrounding area were variously called Bean's Cabin, Bean's Crossroads, and Bean's Station. This area is believed to be the first permanently-settled European-American community in present-day Tennessee.{{cite news |last1=Clouse |first1=Allie |title=From Davy to Dolly: 225 years (and more) of Tennessee's storied history |url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/life/2021/05/27/timeline-tennessee-225-years-statehood-history-and-more/5129863001/ |access-date=June 1, 2021 |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |date=May 27, 2021}}

Following Bean's death in May 1782, his sons expanded the homestead into a frontier outpost that included the Bean family cabin, a tavern, and a blacksmith's shop they operated. The settlement was situated at the intersection of Wilderness Road, a north–south pathway constructed in the 1780s that roughly followed the present-day U.S. Route 25E; and the Great Indian Warpath, an east–west pathway that roughly followed what is now U.S. Route 11W.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Fred |title=Marking Time |date=2005 |publisher=University of Tennessee Press |isbn=9781572333307 |pages=99–101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sem9B2acPfkC |access-date=October 17, 2020 |language=en |format=Paperback}}{{cite news |last=Lane |first=Ida M. |title=Once The Teeming Crossroads Of The Wilderness, Bean Station Now Lapsed Into Village Peace |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63354143/once-the-teeming-crossroads-of-the/ |page=23 |access-date=November 7, 2020 |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |date=December 1, 1929|via=Newspapers.com}} This heavily trafficked crossroads location made Bean Station an important stopover for early American travelers. Additional taverns and inns were operating at the station by the early 1800s.{{cite web |last1=Coffey |first1=Ken |title=History of Bean Station |url=http://www.beanstationtn.com/index.php/history-home/our-history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724031354/http://www.beanstationtn.com/index.php/history-home/our-history |archive-date=July 24, 2015 |website=Town of Bean Station |access-date=July 23, 2015}} By 1821, the pathway of Wilderness Road from Cumberland Gap to Bean Station was established as the privately owned Bean Station Turnpike and received state funding due to its importance for early interstate travel in the Appalachia region.{{cite web |title=Private Acts: Highways & Roads |url=https://grainger.tngenealogy.net/private-acts-highways-roads |website=Grainger County Genealogy & History |date=May 9, 2011 |access-date=May 5, 2021}}

File:Old Bean Station Inn, now a tourist home. Reportedly, Abraham Lincoln's mother worked here as a waitress. - NARA - 281460.jpg

Throughout the 1800s, Bean Station attracted the attention of merchants and businessmen.{{cite book |last1=Ball |first1=Randy |last2=Wolfe |first2=Terry |title=Tate Springs 1898: Town of Bean Station, Tennessee |date=November 19, 2013 |page=4 |publisher=Town of Bean Station |url=https://www.blurb.com/books/4777830-tate-springs-1898-town-of-bean-station-tennessee |access-date=January 20, 2021}} In 1825, Thomas Whiteside constructed Bean Station Tavern, a large tavern with a 40-room capacity, wine cellar, and ballroom. The tavern was one of the largest of its time between New Orleans and Washington, D.C.; the tavern housed several famous guests, including U.S. Presidents Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and James K. Polk. The main portion of the tavern was destroyed in a fire on the night of December 25, 1886.{{cite book |last1=Grady |first1=Jamie |title=William Bean, Pioneer of Tennessee, and His Descendants |date=1973 |publisher=University of Wisconsin, Madison |pages=6–8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PpkxAAAAMAAJ |access-date=March 27, 2021}}

During the American 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 Army soldiers under the command of General James M. Shackelford. After two days of fighting, Union forces were forced to retreat.

After the Civil War, businessman Samuel Tate constructed Tate Springs hotel west of Bean Station. In 1876, Captain Thomas Tomlinson, a Union army veteran who served in the Battle of Bean's Station, purchased the property and converted it into a resort complex, which included a large, Victorian-style luxury hotel and mineral spring that was purported to have healing properties.{{cite news|last1=Phillips|first1=Bud|date=July 18, 2010|title=Tate Springs was once a popular health resort|work=Bristol Herald Courier|url=https://www.heraldcourier.com/news/tate-springs-was-once-a-popular-health-resort/article_ec32f446-f7aa-51bd-b932-c94a101fc6ca.html|access-date=July 2, 2020}} The resort attracted some of the wealthiest people in America{{cite web |last1=Seitz |first1=Robert |title=Tate Springs Resort and Hotel 1865-1941 |url=http://www.kingswoodhistory.net/tate.htm |website=Kingswood School History |access-date=December 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327172050/http://www.kingswoodhistory.net/tate.htm |archive-date=March 27, 2015 |url-status=dead}} but it declined during the Great Depression and closed in 1941. In 1943, the hotel site was redeveloped into a school and orphanage known as Kingswood. A fire destroyed the main hotel structure in 1963, and the only remnants of the complex were cabins, the pool bathhouse, and Tate Springs Springhouse, the last of which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.{{cite web |last1=Beasley |first1=Ellen |title=NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/eec7aecb-b038-45b6-80d3-02aaa7a1ae79/ |website=National Register of Historic Places |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=December 21, 2020 |date=January 8, 1973}} As of 2024, the Kingswood orphanage at the site of Tate Springs remains operational.

File:Peavine Railroad trestle bridge.jpg into Morristown]]

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Bean Station was a stop along the Knoxville and Bristol Railroad, which was commonly known by residents as the Peavine Railroad. The railroad was a branch line of the Southern Railway that ran from Morristown to Corryton, a bedroom community outside Knoxville.{{cite journal |last1=Faulkner |first1=Charles |title=Industrial Archaeology of the "Peavine Railroad": An Archaeological and Historical Study of an Abandoned Railroad in East Tennessee |journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly |date=1985 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=40–58 |publisher=Tennessee Historical Society|jstor=42626500 }} Construction of the railroad, which first operated between Morristown and Bean Station, was completed in 1893. The completion of the railroad influenced the formation of the Bean Station Improvement Company (BSIC), which was led by resident and former U.S. Senator John K. Shields with the intent of revitalizing the community. The BSIC laid the groundworks of a town street grid system, sold property for development, and promoted the community in widely distributed advertisements and brochures that highlighted the past, present, and future plans for the community. The company helped fund and propose plans to develop the town as an important multimodal distribution rail-and-road center, such as an extension of the Peavine Railroad across Clinch Mountain to Cumberland Gap, and northeast to Bristol. Both extension plans never came to fruition but rail access was extended west through Grainger County to Knoxville.{{cite news |last1=Hill |first1=Howard |title=The Old Peavine Railroad |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40768906 |page=6 |access-date=August 7, 2020 |work=Morristown Daily Gazette and Mail |date=January 20, 1957|via=Newspapers.com}} The popularity of Tate Springs resort located in eastern Bean Station peaked between the 1890s and 1920s when the railroad provided passenger rail connections to the site.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh11WlwYe9wC&pg=PA166 |title=Tennessee's Historic Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide |first=Carroll Van |last=West | pages=166–167 |publisher=University of Tennessee Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780870498817|via=Google Books}} The railroad ended service in 1928 and the lines were either demolished or washed out following the inundation of the Holston River by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1942.

{{multiple image

| width = 220

| image1 = View of town - NARA - 280421 cropped cleaned colorized.jpg

| alt1 = Bean Station site pre-dam

| image2 = Old Bean Station site 2021.jpg

| alt2 = Bean Station site post-dam

| direction = vertical

| footer = The original site of Bean Station was home to roughly 200 families, with an extra 200 in its surrounding area. Most of the 434 families forced out by TVA in Grainger County were from this region.

More than 50 homes, businesses, and historical sites were lost following the impoundment of the town by TVA.

}}

Initial plans for the construction of Cherokee Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) several miles downstream along the Holston River included the impounding of the site of Bean Station. In 1941, because of its historical significance, size, and potential relocation problems, officials from the TVA, the Government of Tennessee, historians, and concerned community members gathered in public forums to discuss the town's future and relocation efforts before the valley was flooded the following year.{{cite news |last1=Caruthers |first1=Amelia |title=Cherokee Lake Will Flood Site of East Tennessee Shrine, But Bean Tavern is 'Packed Away,' All Ready To Be Rebuilt |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51362199/creation-of-cherokee-lake-and-flooding/ |page=26 |access-date=November 7, 2020 |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |date=April 26, 1942|via=Newspapers.com}}

In early 1941, a commission consisting of state planning and TVA personnel hosted town-hall meetings in Bean Station to develop plans for the town to relocate as a planned village, which was similar to the 1930s planning process for Norris for the TVA's earlier Norris Project.{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Jessie |title=Tennessee Agencies Unite to Preserve Historic Bean Station |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/604623939/ |access-date=March 26, 2021 |work=Chattanooga Daily Times |date=July 13, 1941|via=Newspapers.com}} Controversy arose following failed negotiations with unwilling property owners for the relocation sites and reluctance from most residents to relocate; the community relocation project was abandoned and most citizens relocated on their own terms. Following the Cherokee Project's completion, the TVA's project report cited opposition from Bean Station residents as the project's biggest difficulty.

Of the estimated 200 families who lived at the original site of Bean Station,{{cite news |last1=Coffey |first1=Ken |title=Lost by water: Bean Station History |url=https://www.graingertoday.com/2018/05/16/lost-water-bean-station-history/ |access-date=January 20, 2021 |work=Grainger Today |date=May 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724041245/https://www.graingertoday.com/2018/05/16/lost-water-bean-station-history/ |archive-date=July 24, 2018}} nearly 150 (87.5%) were mandated to move via eminent domain.{{Cite book|last=Tennessee Valley Authority|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlbVAAAAMAAJ|title=The Cherokee Project: A Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, and Initial Operations of the Cherokee Project|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|year=1946|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=32, 249|via=Google Books}} Many houses, 20 businesses, and Clinchdale, the estate of Senator John K. Shields,{{cite news |last1=Robinson|first1=Bonnie |title=Historic Bean Station, Oldest House in This Section, Fine Homes, and Other Landmarks Will Disappear in Cherokee Dam Lake |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=38876634 |page=26 |access-date=November 7, 2020 |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |date=April 26, 1942|via=Newspapers.com}} were demolished or moved, and at least one historical structure had to be relocated. Bean Station Tavern was deconstructed but after the relocation project was canceled, the parts remained in long-term storage.{{cite book |last1=Howes |first1=Robert |url=https://www.sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/bibliography-tennessee-local-history-sources-grainger-county |title=The Bean Station Tavern Restoration Project |date=January 1, 1944 |publisher=Tennessee Valley Authority, Department of Regional Studies |location=Knoxville |access-date=August 20, 2020}}

{{Further|1972 Bean Station bus-truck collision|U.S. Route 11W#Bloody 11W}}

File:11wbeanstationbuscrash.jpg

Following the 1942 inundation of the original site of Bean Station and the failed relocation plans, Bean Station unofficially shifted to the relocated intersection of US 25E and US 11W near the Grainger-Hawkins County border.{{cite book |title=Grainger County, 1796-1976: The Only Tennessee County Named for a Woman |date=1976 |publisher=Grainger County Bicentennial Committee |url=https://www.sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/bibliography-tennessee-local-history-sources-grainger-county |access-date=February 20, 2021 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521045326/https://www.sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/bibliography-tennessee-local-history-sources-grainger-county|archive-date=May 21, 2015}} During the mid-20th century, Bean Station saw a renewed growth in population and economic progress. The community's access to the road network via US 11W and US 25E facilitated the nationwide trucking industry, and new truck stops and motels serving truckers were built.{{cite news |last=Rankin |first=Joe |title=They're Waiting For The Trucks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63352894/theyre-waiting-for-the-trucks/ |page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63352782/bean-station/ 10] |access-date=October 29, 2020 |work=Kingsport Times-News |date=July 17, 1977|via=Newspapers.com}} During early planning for the nationwide freeway network that became the Interstate Highway System, the corridor that became Interstate 81 (I-81) was planned to follow US 11W between Knoxville and Bristol through Bean Station. By the 1940s, plans for the route had its alignment shifted south of Morristown.{{cite web |last=Weingroff |first=Richard F. |title=Designating the Urban Interstates |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/fairbank.cfm |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |access-date=August 5, 2018}}{{cite map |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_2,_1947_big_text.jpg |title=National System of Interstate Highways |author=Public Roads Administration |scale=Scale not given |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Public Roads Administration |date=August 2, 1947 |access-date=September 4, 2010 |via=Wikimedia Commons }} Farmers in the town and surrounding area opposed the route through Bean Station, and roadway planners and engineers were also reportedly swooned{{clarify|reason=What does "swooned" mean in this context?|date=March 2024}} by officials in Greene and Hamblen counties.

In 1961, following efforts led by a Morristown historical group, the TVA proposed a {{convert|50|acre|adj=on}} historical park near the western interchange between US 11W and US 25E, and plans to rebuild the Bean Station Tavern on-site.{{cite news |date=March 19, 1961 |title=Restore Bean Station Tavern, Create Park, Morristown Asks |page=4 |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63354308/restore-bean-station-tavern-create/ |access-date=October 29, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} These plans were scrapped when it was discovered the lengthy storage period had caused the original tavern materials to deteriorate beyond repair, and the TVA-owned land reserved for the park was used for a public baseball park on behalf of Grainger County officials. As the region's economy began to diversify, manufacturing overtook agriculture as the area's main source of income. By the mid 20th century, development along Highways 25E and 11W, and the construction of manufacturing facilities increased,{{cite book |title=SR-32, US-25E, Appalachian Corridor S, Grainger County Environmental Impact Statement · Volume 1 |date=1981 |publisher=United States Federal Highway Administration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKU1AQAAMAAJ |access-date=February 20, 2021}} and in 1964, the community attempted to incorporate into a city.{{cite news |title=Voters Reject Incorporation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63353920/voters-reject-incorporation/ |page=13 |access-date=October 29, 2020 |work=The Knoxville Journal |date=June 11, 1964}} Residents rejected incorporartion in a referendum by a margin of 153 votes to 94. In 1967, residents organized and chartered the Bean Station Volunteer Fire Department, and in 1975, the Bean Station Volunteer Rescue Squad was established.

File:Bean Station 1978.jpg

In 1977, residents of Bean Station again petitioned to incorporate into a city, whose new boundaries would include portions of the neighboring community Mooresburg across the Hawkins County line. The proposal was rejected in a 291-to-160 vote.{{cite news |title=Bean Station Plan Fails |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63353333/bean-station-plan-fails/|page=8 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |work=Kingsport Times-News |date=September 19, 1977|via=Newspapers.com}} In the mid-1990s, rumors portions of southern Bean Station may be annexed into Morristown spread throughout the community, leading residents to petition a third incorporation election in 1994.{{cite news |last1=Downing |first1=Shirley |title=Towns |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/774687787/?terms=Bean%20Station%20Morristown%20Annex&match=1 |access-date=June 4, 2023 |work=The Commercial Appeal |date=September 21, 1997}}{{cite book |last1=Grainger County Heritage Book Committee |title=Grainger County, Tennessee and Its People 1796-1998 |date=January 1, 1999 |publisher=Walsworth Publishing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rHbtgAACAAJ |access-date=August 7, 2020}} In 1996, the town's residents voted to incorporate Bean Station into a city with a population of 2,171.{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Bean Station |url=http://beanstationtn.com/pages/history.html |website=City of Bean Station |access-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204004003/http://beanstationtn.com/pages/history.html |archive-date=February 4, 2005 |url-status=dead}} The vote was carried with 627 in favor of incorporation and 142 against.{{cite news |title=Bean Station votes to incorporate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/775773355/?terms=Morristown%20Annexation%20Grainger%20County&match=2 |access-date=June 4, 2023 |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |date=November 6, 1996 |page=A3}}

{{Further|1972 Bean Station bus-truck collision}}

On May 13, 1972, 14 people were killed and 15 were injured in a head-on collision between a double-decker Greyhound bus and a tractor-trailer on U.S. Route 11W in Bean Station.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/05/14/archives/14-die-in-tennessee-bustruck-crash.html|title=14 Die in Tennessee Bus Truck Crash|date=May 14, 1972|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 6, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Wolfe |first1=Tracey |title=Victim reunites with rescue workers 48 years after deadly crash |url=https://www.graingertoday.com/living/victim-reunites-with-rescue-workers-48-years-after-deadly-crash/article_4fd6e4ec-b5a2-11ea-88d1-f7562b4439a1.html |access-date=June 25, 2020 |publisher=Grainger Today |date=June 24, 2020}} The collision led to protests and calls for traffic safety and infrastructure improvements, including the widening of 11W and other state highways, and the completion of I-81 in Tennessee to alleviate congestion on 11W.{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Bob|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63353062/bus-truck-disaster/ 10]|date=May 14, 1972|title=11-W Disaster Brings New Highway Pleas|work=Kingsport Times-News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63353003/11-w-disaster-brings-new-highway-pleas/|access-date=February 20, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}} The accident remains the deadliest traffic collision in the history of Tennessee.{{Cite news |last=Lakin |first=Matt |date=August 26, 2012 |title=Blood on the asphalt: 11W wreck left 14 people dead |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |url=http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/blood-on-the-asphalt-11w-wreck-left-14-people-dead-ep-360225916-356724551.html/ |access-date=May 6, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Ahillen |first1=Steve |date=October 3, 2013 |title=Jefferson wreck echoes Tennessee's most deadly bus accident |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |url=http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/jefferson-wreck-echoes-tennessees-most-deadly-bus-accident-ep-510319979-355418561.html |access-date=July 14, 2020}}

On May 23, 2013, an armed robbery and hostage-taking occurred at a pharmacy located in downtown Bean Station. The act was committed by an ex-police officer for the town who killed two people in an execution-style shooting and injured two others after robbing the pharmacy for opioids.{{cite news |title=Authorities confirm identities of alleged shooter, victims in Bean Station double homicide |url=https://www.citizentribune.com/?p=58347 |access-date=April 10, 2021 |work=Citizen Tribune |date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608053735/https://www.citizentribune.com/?p=58347 |archive-date=June 8, 2013}} The following day, a vigil for the four victims was held at Bean Station town hall with an estimated 300 people in attendance.{{Cite news|last=Coleman|first=Lance|date=May 24, 2013|title=Police: Bean Station pharmacy victims shot execution-style|work=The Knoxville News Sentinel|url=http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/police-bean-station-pharmacy-victims-shot-execution-style-ep-358220519-355816851.html/|access-date=June 7, 2020}}

{{clear}}

File:Bean Station municipal limit signage.jpg signage of Bean Station]]

Bean Station is located in rural easternmost Grainger County, {{convert|45|mi|km|abbr=out}} northeast of Knoxville,{{cite web |title=Locator Map |url=http://beanstationtn.com/pages/map.html |website=City of Bean Station |access-date=December 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204005359/http://beanstationtn.com/pages/map.html |archive-date=February 4, 2005 |url-status=dead}} where it borders the unincorporated community of Mooresburg at the line between Grainger and Hawkins Counties. The town is situated in the Richland Valley, which is also known as Mooresburg Valley, with Clinch Mountain to the north and Cherokee Lake to the south.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Bean Station has an area of {{convert|14.0|sqkm|order=flip|abbr=out}}, of which {{convert|1763|sqm|acre|order=flip|abbr=out}} (0.01%) is covered with water. The town limits include Wyatt Village, which is located next to an arm of Cherokee Lake along US 25E south of downtown, and portions of Tate Springs, which is located near US-11W and Briar Fork Creek on Cherokee Lake. The town limits stretch {{convert|8|mi|spell=in|abbr=out}} along the heavily trafficked US 25E to Olen R. Marshall Memorial Bridge across Cherokee Lake,{{cite news |last1=Jacobs |first1=Dan |title=Murder Mysteries: Bean Station slaying still unsolved |url=https://archive.knoxnews.com/news/murder-mysteries-bean-station-slaying-still-unsolved-ep-408400031-358718501.html/ |access-date=December 3, 2020 |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |date=May 23, 2010}} and {{convert|4|mi|spell=in|abbr=out}} along US 11W to Bean Station Elementary School. Since 2014, portions of unincorporated Hawkins County in the Mooresburg area have been annexed into the town limits.{{cite news |last1=Bobo |first1=Jeff |title=Bean Station will seek referendum to annex Hawkins plant |url=https://www.timesnews.net/news/local-news/bean-station-will-seek-referendum-to-annex-hawkins-plant/article_181ab848-869d-55fb-b644-5e9c80dfca3e.html |access-date=December 10, 2020 |work=Kingsport Times-News |date=August 27, 2013}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• Bayside
• Campbell Heights
• Clinchview Landing
• Country Club Hills
• Crosby Park
• Gammon Springs
• Hillview Acres
• Lakeview Estates
• Leon Rock
• Livingston Heights
• Meadow Branch
• Meadow Creek Estates
• Shields Crossing
• Tanglewood
• Tate Springs
• Wyatt Village

{{div col end}}

{{US Census population

|1990= 2356

|2000= 2514

|2010= 3092

|2020= 2967

|footnote=Sources:{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 4, 2012|title=Census of Population and Housing: Decennial Censuses}}{{cite web|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=P1_001N,NAME&for=place:*&in=state:47&key=5ccd0821c15d9f4520e2dcc0f8d92b2ec9336108|title=Census Population API|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 15, 2022}}

}}

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,967 people, 1,144 households, and 774 families residing in the city.

{{unreferenced|section|date=March 2024}}

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 3,092 people, 1,149 households, and 827 families residing in the town; 96.8% were White, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.7% of two or more races, and 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 the town was 47.8. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18, and 16.2% were age 65 years or older.

Bean Station has a small selection of restaurants and stores. A large cluster of fireworks stores are located throughout the town due to Grainger County allowing the year-round sale of fireworks.{{cite web |title=Bean Station, TN to Tazewell, TN |url=https://walkoverstates.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/day-36-apr-3rd-%E2%80%93-bean-station-tn-to-tazewell-tn-over-the-hill/ |website=Walk Over States}} A family-operated IGA Market is the only grocery store in the Bean Station area.{{cite web |title=Holt's Food Center IGA |url=https://holtsfoodcenter.iga.com/ |website=holtsfoodcenter.iga.com/ |access-date=June 26, 2020}} Bean Station includes a furniture manufacturing facility,{{cite web|title=Sexton Furniture Manufacturing LLC|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0253415Z:US|access-date=June 26, 2020|website=Bloomberg}} a Clayton Homes manufacturing facility,{{Cite web|title=Norris Homes by Clayton Homes|url=https://norrishomes.com/|website=Norris Homes|access-date=May 8, 2020}} and a construction materials supplier.{{cite web |last1=Vulcan Materials |title=Facilities |url=https://www.vulcanmaterials.com/construction-materials/facilities/view/grainger-county |website=vulcanmaterials.com |access-date=June 7, 2020}} In 2010, 72% of the town's population commuted outside Grainger County for work, with most finding employment in Morristown.{{Cite web|title=Grainger County 2010 Census Report|url=http://www.etdd.org/wp-content/uploads/Grainger-Count-2010-Census-Report.pdf|last=East Tennessee Development District|date=April 1, 2012|website=ETDD.org|access-date=May 8, 2020}} The average commute time for Bean Station residents is 24 minutes.{{Cite web|title=Bean Station, TN|url=https://datausa.io/profile/geo/bean-station-tn/|website=DataUSA.io|access-date=May 18, 2020}}

Following the opening of the last section of I-81 in Tennessee in December 1974, Bean Station experienced a 60% decline in business as a result of decreased traffic on US 11W. Most truck stops, gift stores, and motels in Bean Station closed in the following years. US 25E experienced an opposite scenario to US 11W in Bean Station; the completion of I-81 led to increased congestion on this highway from its junction with I-75 in Kentucky through Bean Station into Morristown due to the route becoming a popular alternate corridor for truckers bypassing I-75 in Knoxville. Increased, sprawling residential development in Bean Station and residents commuting to neighboring Morristown led to overcapacity on two-lane 25E. In the 1980s, US-25E was widened to a four-lane limited-access highway from Lakeshore Drive to across Cherokee Lake into Morristown, and from the gap at Clinch Mountain to the base near the westernmost junction of 11W and 25E in Bean Station.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6U1AQAAMAAJ&dq=grainger+county+tennessee&pg=RA2-PA4|title=SR-32, US-25E, Appalachian Corridor S, Grainger County: Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2|publisher=Federal Highway Administration|others=Tennessee Department of Transportation|year=1981|via=Google Books}} In 1995, US 11W and US 25E were relocated and widened into a four-lane limited-access highway, bypassing Bean Station's central business district and prompting several businesses to relocate near the new bypass.

File:East Tennessee Crossing - Battle of Bean Station Re-enactment - NARA - 7718106.jpg]]

Since 1996, Bean Station's downtown district has hosted an annual harvest festival celebrating the area's agriculture and craftsmanship. Thousands of guests attend.{{cite news |last1=Littleton |first1=Wade |title=Harvest Pride Festival attracts hundreds |url=https://www.citizentribune.com/news/local/harvest-pride-festival-attracts-hundreds/article_0e786be8-f2e7-11e9-8d45-d38882b2a1ea.html |access-date=June 17, 2020 |publisher=The Citizen Tribune |date=October 19, 2019}} In 2007, a Guinness World Record for the largest pot of beans was established at the 11th Harvest Pride festival, with the pot holding {{convert|600|usgal|L|abbr=on}} of baked beans.{{cite web |last1=Cason |first1=Steve |title=City to cook the world's largest pot of beans |url=http://www.beanstationtn.com/pdfs/PR_Bean%20record_4-7.pdf |website=City of Bean Station |access-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509185125/http://www.beanstationtn.com/pdfs/PR_Bean%20record_4-7.pdf |archive-date=May 9, 2008 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |last1=Branston |first1=John |title=Tennessee City Gassed Over World Record Pot of Beans |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/TheDailyBuzz/archives/2007/09/07/tennessee-city-gassed-over-world-record-pot-of-beans |access-date=July 12, 2020 |work=The Memphis Flyer |date=September 7, 2007}}{{cite news |title=Bean festival scores an appropriate sponsor |url=https://www.adweek.com/creativity/bean-festival-scores-appropriate-sponsor-16730/ |access-date=July 12, 2020 |work=AdWeek |date=October 23, 2007}}

Bean Station is popular with boaters and anglers due to its access to Cherokee Lake.{{cite web |title=About Bean Station |url=http://beanstationtn.com/pages/about.html |website=City of Bean Station |access-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204001052/http://beanstationtn.com/pages/about.html |archive-date=February 4, 2005}} A public golf course is located within the town limits. Parks and public recreation areas include Bean Station Town Park, Harris Court Park, and public access to Cherokee Lake via a fishing pier and boat launches.{{cite web |title=Cherokee Reservoir |url=https://lakeinfo.tva.gov/web/sites/cherokee.htm |website=Tennessee Valley Authority |access-date=July 14, 2020}}{{cite web |title=Boating Ramps and Access |url=https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/twra/documents/boating/boatramps.xlsx |website=Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency |access-date=July 14, 2020}}

• Battle of Bean's Station site{{cite web |last1=Morfe |first1=Don |title=Battle of Bean's Station |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=69551 |website=The Historical Marker Database |access-date=December 28, 2020 |date=October 20, 2013}}
• Original Bean Station settlement site, Bean cabin site, and historical marker{{cite web |last1=Morfe |first1=Don |title=Bean Station |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=69549 |website=The Historical Marker Database |access-date=December 28, 2020 |date=October 20, 2013}}
• Tate Springs resort site and Tate Springs Springhouse

Bean Station uses the mayor-aldermen system, which was adopted in 1996 when the town was incorporated. The town is governed locally by a five-member Board of Mayor and Aldermen, who are elected by residents to four-year terms. The board elects a vice mayor from among the four aldermen.{{cite web |title=City Government |url=http://beanstationtn.com/pages/government.html |website=City of Bean Station |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422015910/http://beanstationtn.com/pages/government.html |archive-date=April 22, 2011 |url-status=dead}}

Bean Station is represented in the 10th district of the Tennessee House of Representatives by Rick Eldridge, a Republican. It is represented in the 8th district of the Tennessee Senate by Frank Niceley, who is also a Republican.{{cite web |title=Senator Frank S. Niceley |url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/S8.html |website=capitol.tn.gov |access-date=June 25, 2020}} The town is part of the state's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, which is represented by Republican Tim Burchett.{{cite web |url=https://burchett.house.gov/about/our-district |title=Our District|website=Congressman Tim Burchett |access-date=June 25, 2020}}

Bean Station Elementary School, which is located in the westernmost part of the town, is operated by the Grainger County Department of Education. Middle-school students attend Rutledge Middle School, and high-school students attend Grainger High School in Rutledge. All of these schools are part of the Grainger County Schools District.{{cite web |title=Schools |url=http://www.grainger.k12.tn.us/?DivisionID=10210 |website=Grainger County Schools |access-date=July 3, 2020}}

Kingswood Home for Children is located in the Tate Springs area of Bean Station.{{cite news |last1=Lakins |first1=Laura |title=Kingswood Home for Children receives sidewalk and gazebo |url=https://www.graingertoday.com/news/kingswood-home-for-children-receives-sidewalk-and-gazebo/article_15300690-0dca-11eb-9804-a3fcdf6c4734.html |access-date=October 17, 2020 |work=Grainger Today |date=October 14, 2020}}

• Grainger Today, a weekly news publication based in Bean Station reporting on Grainger County related news; in operation since 2004.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.graingertoday.com/site/about.html |website=Grainger Today |access-date=May 6, 2021}}

• WJDT
• WBGQ

Bean Station Utility District, a municipal utilities company, connects the town and portions of eastern Grainger County with municipal water services.{{cite web |title=Business & Industry |url=http://www.graingertn.com/pages/business.html |website=Grainger County, Tennessee |access-date=September 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060115170902/http://www.beanstationtn.com/pages/links.html |archive-date=January 15, 2006 |url-status=dead}} Appalachian Electric Cooperative provides electricity and broadband internet services.{{cite web |title=Outage Map |url=https://www.outageentry.com/Outages/outage.php?Client=appalachian |website=Appalachian Electric Cooperative |access-date=August 8, 2020 }}{{cite web |title=Facts About Your Cooperative |url=http://appalachianelectric.coop/sites/aecoop/files/PDF/facts_about_coop_june_2018.pdf |website=Appalachian Electric Cooperative |date=June 30, 2018 |access-date=August 8, 2020}} {{As of|2021}}, Bean Station does not have access to public sewers.{{cite web |author1=Fulghum MacIndoe & Associates Inc. |title=Bean Station, Tennessee Wastewater Treatment Master Plan |url=http://environment-online.state.tn.us:8080/pls/enf_reports/BGWPC.GET_WPC_DOCUMENTS?p_file=789945317026538683 |website=Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation |access-date=August 10, 2020 |format=PDF |date=March 12, 2019 }}

All U.S. routes and state routes in Bean Station are maintained by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) in TDOT Region 1, which consists of 24 counties in the East Tennessee region.{{cite web |title=Find Information |url=https://www.tn.gov/tdot/find-local-information.html |website=Tennessee Department of Transportation |access-date=July 22, 2020}} Streets in the town are maintained by the Bean Station Street Department.{{cite web |title=Street Department |url=http://beanstationtn.com/index.php/departments/street-department |website=Town of Bean Station |access-date=September 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221160225/http://beanstationtn.com/index.php/departments/street-department |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |url-status=dead}}

In the western of portion of the town, adjacent to Kingswood Home for Children on the Tate Springs resort site, two major highways merge; U.S. Route 25E enters from the northwest and U.S. Route 11W enters from the southwest. From this point, US 25E traverses Clinch Mountain to Tazewell in Claiborne County, while US 11W runs west through the Richland Valley to Rutledge. The highways split again just south of Bean Station's central business district (CBD); US 11W bypasses the CBD and continues northeastward to Rogersville, and US 25E continues southward across Cherokee Lake into Hamblen County to Morristown. Tennessee State Route 375 (SR 75, Lakeshore Drive) also intersects US 25E south of the CBD and traverses several of Bean Station's affluent outskirt lakefront neighborhoods and subdivisions.

• {{jct|state=TN|US|11W}} / {{jct|state=TN|TN|1}} (Lee Highway)
• {{jct|state=TN|US|25E}} / {{jct|state=TN|TN|32}} (East Tennessee Crossing Byway, Appalachian Development Corridor S)
• {{jct|state=TN|Sec|375}} (Lakeshore Drive)

• Peter Ellis Bean – filibuster{{cite encyclopedia |title=Bean, Peter Ellis |last=Weems |first=John Edward |encyclopedia=Handbook of Texas Online |access-date=July 30, 2020 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbe07}}
• William Bean – longhunter, namesake, and town founder
• Leanne Morgan - comedian
• Robert E. Preston – Director of United States Mint{{cite book |title=Current History and Modern Culture: 1893 |volume=3 |publisher=Current History Company |year=1894 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRVIl63TOCEC&pg=PA181 |pages=499|via=Google Books}}

Bean Station was referenced on the NBC police procedural comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine; one of the show's secondary characters Bill Hummertrout cites it as his hometown.{{Cite web |last=Payne |first=Alex|date=June 6, 2020 |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Secondary Characters, Ranked |url=https://www.cbr.com/brooklyn-nine-nine-secondary-characters-ranked/ |access-date=September 7, 2020 |website=CBR}}

{{Reflist}}

• Tennessee Valley Authority. Population readjustment studies of Bean Station community, Grainger County, Cherokee area 1940.
• Tennessee Valley Authority. The Bean Station Tavern restoration project 1944.
• Coffey, Ken. The Wilderness Road, The First Family of Tennessee: and Other Stories That Need to be Told 2013.
• Ball, Randy & Wolfe, Terry. Tate Springs 1898: Town of Bean Station, Tennessee 2013.

{{Commons category|Bean Station, Tennessee}}

• [http://graingercochamber.org/ Grainger County Chamber of Commerce]

{{Grainger County, Tennessee}}

{{Hawkins County, Tennessee}}

{{Knoxville Metro}}

{{Morristown Metro}}

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Category:Towns in Tennessee

Category:Towns in Grainger County, Tennessee

Category:Morristown metropolitan area, Tennessee

Category:Populated places established in 1996

Category:1996 establishments in Tennessee

Category:Knoxville metropolitan area

Category:Towns in Hawkins County, Tennessee

Category:Populated places inundated by the Tennessee Valley Authority