Ducktown, Tennessee

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Ducktown is a city in Polk County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 427 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Ducktown is located at 35°2′3″N, 84°23′3″W (35.034162, -84.384275)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.0 km² (1.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] History

Ducktown was the center of a major copper-mining district from 1847 into the 1970s. The district also produced iron, sulphur and zinc as byproducts.^[1]

[edit] Early Years

The copper was discovered in 1843 by a prospector, presumably panning for gold, who found nuggetts of native copper. The first shipment of copper ore was taken out on muleback in made in 1847. More than 30 mining companies were incorporated between 1852 and 1855 to mine copper at Ducktown. Development was speeded by a road built in 1853 connecting the area with Cleveland, Tennessee. The first smelter was built in the Ducktown district in 1854.

Mining ceased when Union troops destroyed the copper refinery and mill at Cleveland, Tennessee in 1863. Mining resumed in 1866, and continued until 1878, when the mines had exhausted the shallow high-grade copper ores.

[edit] Open Roasting of Copper Ore

In 1889, the Ducktown Sulphur, Copper, and Iron Company bought the properties, and began producing copper and iron from the deeper high-sulphide ores, which previous companies were unable to work successfully. The ores was treated by open roasting in which the ore was piled in large stacks with alternating layers of wood, and burned. The method released large quantities of sulphur dioxide, which killed much of the vegetation in the immediate area.

[edit] Later Years

Open roasting was replaced by pyritic smelting in 1904, and the smelters began recovering the most of the sulphur in the form of sulfuric acid rather than releasing it to the atmosphere. Froth flotation was added in the 1920s.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 427 people, 209 households, and 105 families residing in the city. The population density was 85.4/km² (221.5/mi²). There were 230 housing units at an average density of 46.0/km² (119.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.19% White, 0.94% Native American, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.94% of the population.

There were 209 households out of which 16.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.3% were non-families. 46.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 27.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city the population was spread out with 17.3% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 21.8% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 27.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females there were 75.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 69.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $18,125, and the median income for a family was $27,045. Males had a median income of $25,833 versus $19,688 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,113. About 20.4% of families and 25.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.4% of those under age 18 and 37.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] References

^ Maurice Magee (1968) Geology and ore deposits of the Ducktown district, Tennessee, in Ore Deposits of the United States 1933-1967, New York: American Institute of Mining Engineers, p.207-241.