Tracy City is a town in Grundy County, Tennessee, United States. Incorporated in 1915, It is named after financier Samuel Franklin Tracy, the city developed out of railroad and mining interests after coal was found in 1840.
History
thumb|left|Arsonists destroyed Tracy City's James K. Shook School in 1976 after this 1971 photo.
In 1840 local boys digging a groundhog out of the ground discovered coal. In the early 1870s Tracy City an experimental blast furnace was built by Samuel Jones and owned by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. The furnace, called "Fiery Gizzard", was built to see if local coal would be used to produce iron. The furnace made 15 tons of iron before the stovepipe fell on the third day. The former location of the furnace is marked with a historical marker. Tracy City is also home to the oldest family bakery in Tennessee, Dutch Maid Bakery. Tracy City was incorporated in 1915.
Geography
Tracy City is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (0.83%) is water.
Demographics
2020 census
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+Tracy City racial composition
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)
| 1,278
| 90.9%
|-
!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
| 30
| 2.13%
|-
!scope="row"| Native American
| 2
| 0.14%
|-
!scope="row"| Asian
| 11
| 0.78%
|-
!scope="row"| Other/Mixed
| 84
| 5.97%
|-
!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino
| 30
| 2.13%
|}
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,406 people, 614 households, and 390 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the census The Marugg Company is headquartered in Tracy City. The company, founded in 1873 by Swiss settler Christian Marugg, designs and manufactures European style scythes. Open to the public for tours,
Arts and culture
Tracy City serves as the location of the Grundy County Historical Society and Tracy City Library. The city has one art gallery named "The Nature Works"[http://www.TheNatureWorks.com] which focuses solely on nature and wildlife. Twelve churches are located in Tracy City, including the Tracy City First Baptist Church, which was founded in 1892.
The town has a road side picnic area and Tracy City Mini Park. The town also has a community center, the Plainview Community Center.
Notable people
American college football player and University of Miami coach Charlie Tate was born in Tracy City. Miss Tennessee 1939 Judy Jones was from Tracy City. Baseball player Phil Douglas is buried in Tracy City Cemetery, even though he died in Sequatchie, Tennessee.
Ernst Leonhardt was born to a Swiss emigrant couple in Tracy City in September 1885. He held dual citizenship and returned to Switzerland as a child. Leonhardt became involved in politics in 1932 when he joined the National Front, and before long he had risen to the rank of Gauführer (equivalent to Gauleiter) in both Basel-City and the Canton of Solothurn. Leonhardt relocated to Germany in 1939 and continued his pro-Nazi activism from there. In his absence, the Swiss courts found Leonhardt guilty of attacking the Swiss Confederation's independence and illegally recruiting for a foreign military (i. e. the SS) and was sentenced to fifteen and a half years in prison. His Swiss citizenship was revoked in 1943. He remained in Germany for the rest of his life, continuing to produce propaganda.