Philadelphia, Tennessee
city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States
Philadelphia is a city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia had a population of 607. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Philadelphia was founded in the early 1820s by William Knox and Jacob Pearson. The town initially grew quickly and prospered as a center of business in the Sweetwater Valley. By the mid-19th century, Philadelphia had two general stores, a tanning yard, a stillhouse, and a hotel.
On October 20, 1863, during the Civil War, two Confederate cavalry regiments attacked and routed a Union brigade at Philadelphia while conducting maneuvers following the Battle of Chickamauga. The Confederates captured 700 soldiers, six cannon, and 50 supply wagons.
On October 20, 2001, there was a reenactment of the events in 1863.
Geography
Philadelphia is situated along Sweetwater Creek, which empties into the Watts Bar Lake impoundment of the Tennessee River a few miles to the north.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Philadelphia, Tennessee” as city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2490406. VIAF identifies the subject as 142096744. The Library of Congress control number is n2003122254. Authority coordinates are 35.678, -84.401. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1863 and 2001.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Philadelphia, Tennessee”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Philadelphia, Tennessee primary sources, Philadelphia, Tennessee archive and Philadelphia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Philadelphia, Tennessee”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Philadelphia, Tennessee” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.