Pittman Center is a town in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 454 at the 2020 census and 502 at the 2010 census. The town is 8 miles east of Gatlinburg and borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. U.S. Route 321 passes through the town.
Emert's Cove is situated in Pittman Center, a broad valley along the Middle Fork of the Little Pigeon River. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park borders Pittman Center to the south, and the town's history and economy are largely intertwined with that of the Smokies.
It is also the birthplace of American country music singer Dolly Parton.
History
thumb|right|Burnett Memorial Chapel
Like much of Sevier County, Emert's Cove was a Cherokee hunting ground before the colonization of the area. After the Battle of Boyds Creek and several violent incidents between the Cherokee and the settlers to the west in what is now Cocke County, the Cherokee were induced to sign the Treaty of Dumplin Creek in 1785, ceding what is now Sevier County to the State of Franklin. Among the first Euro-American settlers to move into the newly gained territory was Frederick Emert (1754–1829), who arrived with his family sometime between 1785 and 1793.
Emert was born in Pennsylvania to German immigrants. He fought in the American Revolution for the Continental Army, and probably saw action at the Battle of Brandywine Creek. In 2000, the residents of Pittman Center erected the Emert's Cove Covered Bridge in his honor.
Other settlers arrived in Emert's Cove with Emert in 1785. Among them was Johan Martin Shultz (1740–1787), a Revolutionary War surgeon that had served alongside Emert and John Sevier in the "Overmountain Men" in the Battle of King's Mountain. Shultz's son, Martin S.E. Shultz, would go on to marry Emert's daughter, Barbara Ann.
Another important settler was Daniel Wesley Reagan (1803–1892), whose parents and grandparents were among the first settlers in what is now Gatlinburg. Many residents of Pittman Center are descended from these early settlers.
The Pittman Community Center
thumb|right|Pittman Community Center in 1938
In 1910, a survey of Tennessee found Sevier County to be most in need of educational facilities. In spite of the establishment of a settlement school in Gatlinburg by the Pi Beta Phi fraternity in 1912, education in the region was still appallingly lacking. To help remedy this situation, Dr. John Burnett, a Methodist minister who visited the Smokies in 1919, envisioned the establishment of a large-scale school in the area that would operate with virtually no tuition rates. Later that year, the Methodist Episcopal Church endorsed Burnett's plan at its annual meeting, and with the help of Reverend Eli Pittman of Elmira, New York, Burnett secured $15,000 for the project. In 1920, Burnett purchased Garfield Scott's farm just above the confluence of Webb Creek and the Middle Fork of the Little Pigeon River. This plot of land would become the core of the new school's campus.
In late 1920, Burnett's new settlement school, which he named "Pittman Community Center" in honor of Reverend Pittman, opened with an enrollment of 100. The school eventually expanded to include , 15 buildings, and 240 students operating on an annual budget of $9,000. The buildings included a general store, post office, and a small hospital. The Pittman School supported itself by canning tomatoes and growing apples, with students doing all the maintenance work.
thumb|right|Emert's Cove Covered Bridge in Pittman Center spans the Middle Fork of the Little Pigeon River.
2020 census
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+Pittman Center racial composition
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)
| 423
| 93.17%
|-
!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
| 4
| 0.88%
|-
!scope="row"| Native American
| 4
| 0.88%
|-
!scope="row"| Asian
| 4
| 0.88%
|-
!scope="row"| Other/Mixed
| 9
| 1.98%
|-
!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino
| 10
| 2.2%
|}
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 454 people, 212 households, and 148 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the census
Education
Pittman Center is the location of Pittman Center Elementary School.
Gatlinburg-Pittman High School is located less than a mile from the town limits in nearby Gatlinburg which serves the small amount of Pittman Center's high school students. However, all schools in Sevier County are "county schools" as no municipality in Sevier County operates a separate school system.
Notable people
- Dolly Parton, country music singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman. She was born in a one-room cabin in Pittman Center in 1946.
References
External links
- Municipal Technical Advisory Service entry for Pittman Center — information on local government, elections, and link to charter