Johnson City, city, Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties, northeastern Tennessee; incorporated as a city 1869. Situated in a valley, it is a distribution center for agricultural and manufactured goods. Its diverse manufacturing base includes firms producing metal products, electronic components, building materials, clothing, and textiles. Johnson City is also a health care center for the surrounding area. East Tennessee State University (1911), with its James H. Quillen College of Medicine (1978), is here, and Milligan College (1866) is adjacent. Nearby are Rocky Mount, the first capital (1790-92) of The Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio, and several lakes. Settled in the 1780s, the community began to expand in the 1850s, when Henry Johnson, for whom it is named, built a railroad depot here. Population 39,753 (1980); 49,381 (1990); 55,469 (2000).
