Wartburg, Tennessee
| Wartburg, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Morgan County Courthouse in Wartburg
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| Motto: Mayor= Jonathan Dagley | |
 Location of Wartburg, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates: 36°6′15″N 84°35′31″W / 36.10417°N 84.59194°WCoordinates: 36°6′15″N 84°35′31″W / 36.10417°N 84.59194°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Morgan |
| Established | 1840s |
| Incorporated | 1968 |
| Named for | Wartburg Castle |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.0 sq mi (2.5 km2) |
| • Land | 1.0 sq mi (2.5 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,378 ft (420 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 918 |
| • Density | 929.3/sq mi (358.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 37887 |
| Area code(s) | 423 |
| FIPS code | 47-78100 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1304388 |
Wartburg is a city in Morgan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 918 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County.
In 1805, the Cherokee ceded what is now Morgan County to the United States by signing the Third Treaty of Tellico. The first settlers arrived in the area shortly thereafter.
Wartburg was founded in the mid-1840s by George Gerding, a land speculator who bought up large tracts of land in what is now Morgan County and organized the East Tennessee Colonization Company with plans to establish a series of German colonies in the Cumberland region. German and Swiss immigrants, seeking to escape poor economic conditions in their home counties, arrived at the site by traveling from New Orleans up the Mississippi and Cumberland rivers to Nashville, and then by ox cart to the Cumberland Plateau. The first of these settlers arrived in the area in 1845, and new groups of immigrants would continue trickling in until 1855.
The new settlement, which had already been platted by East Tennessee Colonization Company agent Friedrich Guenther, was named after Wartburg Castle in Germany. The first six streets were initially named for European cities, but the names were changed within a few years to Rose, Church, Maidenland (now Maiden), Kingston, Mill, and Cumberland. As most immigrants lived on farms outside the town, Wartburg grew slowly. By 1850, the town consisted of Gerding's house and store, a church and school building, a doctor's office, and a few small houses. Early residents included a number of professionals trained in Europe, including architect Carl Rothe, musician Gustav Knabe, and physicians Rudolf Knaffl and F.A. Sienknecht.
While Morgan County was generally pro-Union during the Civil War, Wartburg was bitterly divided over the secession issue. Gerding, the city's founder, supported the Confederacy. John Wilken, a prominent Lutheran pastor in the city, supported the Union. F.A. Sienknecht supported the Union, though two of his sons fought for the Confederacy. On January 2, 1862, a Confederate cavalry unit under Colonel J.W. White clashed with the Union Home Guard near Wartburg. In late March 1862, Confederate General Kirby Smith reported that all Confederate citizens had been expelled from the Wartburg area. In June 1863, Union General William P. Sanders marched through Wartburg and captured 104 Confederate soldiers in the vicinity.
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