Bluff City is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee. The population of this town according to the 2024 census is 1,839 occupants. It is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.

History

Bluff City underwent several name changes before incorporating on July 1, 1887, under its present name. The town was originally known as Choate's Ford, and later took the name Middletown. After the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad was built, crossing the Holston River at the town site, the name Union was adopted. During the Civil War it was called Zollicoffer after Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer, but became Union again at the end of the war and until 1887.

Geography

Bluff City is located at (36.463352, -82.275049).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (3.21%) is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Bluff City had a population of 1,822 people in 800 households, including 541 families, and the median age was 39.2 years.

20.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.7% were 65 years of age or older; for every 100 females there were 94.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.0 males.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census

! Race !! Number !! Percent

|-

| White || 1,665 || 91.4%

|-

| Black or African American || 23 || 1.3%

|-

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 4 || 0.2%

|-

| Asian || 21 || 1.2%

|-

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0%

|-

| Some other race || 10 || 0.5%

|-

| Two or more races || 99 || 5.4%

|-

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 27 || 1.5%

|}

2000 census

As of the census

Police department

The town has a police department. On January 1, 2010, the department installed a speed camera on US Highway 11E that reportedly issued 1,662 tickets in its first six months. The town splits the revenue with the operator of the camera. In 2014, the town expected to gain less than $100,000 from the cameras. However the town's budget for FY 2017 reports expected "Speed Cameras" revenue of $600,000. This represents the largest single income line item for the city at 35% of total operating revenue.

In 2010, Gray, Tennessee resident Brian McCrary bought the former police department website after police failed to renew it. He used it to post information about fighting camera tickets. Police, lacking education on website matters, assumed they had been hacked. Negotiations to regain control of the domain name were unsuccessful.

References

  • Official site
  • City charter