Chestnut Hill, Tennessee If you're ever driving out to Newport Tennessee way of Sevierville(411), you might just find yourself passing by a large factory on your right in a "town" that's no more than a blink of an eye big. Called the Chestnut Hill community of Jefferson County is how it is known, only six miles south of Historic Dandridge. Now of course if you look up on the hills you will see beautiful hundred plus year old chestnut trees growing, I suppose that would be the reason the area is named such. Walking in the local cemetery ( Chestnut Hill Cemetery ) it's quite easy to see only a few families settled this area way back when, the Bush's, Mcgoig's, Rainwater, Thornton, Acton, Chesteen, Fain, Ethier to name a few. Andrew Jackson Bush ( A.J. Bush ) In 1867 Andrew Jackson “A.J.” Bush was born in the community of Chestnut Hill Tennessee, where he lived for most of his life, leaving only to receive a college education at nearby Carson-Newman College. In 1891 A.J. married Sallie and they rapidly produced 6 children; four boys and two girls. Both A.J. and Sallie had a deep interest in their community and love for their family. In addition to being a mother of 6, Sallie acted as a midwife and nursemaid as well as training young girls the fine art of proper household management. A.J. had been a school teacher since graduating college, and was elected to the local school board. It all started in 1897, when local farmer A.J. Bush founded a general store and, later, a tomato cannery. Partnered with the Stokley brothers in 1904 and business began to grow until A.J. bought out the Stokley's in 1908. He entered a partnership with his sons Fred and Claude,they established Bush Brothers And Company in 1922. In following years the company began to process and can tomatoes,blueberries, corn, hominy, and peaches. Not until 1933 the company began producing pork and beans. This eventually led to a contract with Armour and Company and they started to produced a wide array of canned meats. The company is now in its fifth generation of ownership. In 1947, Bush Brothers’ board of directors decided to sell under a new identity; Bush’s Best. The double-B logo they developed would become a well known trademark all across the southeast for the next 50 years. In the early 1990’s Bush Brothers decided to focus on their line of Bush’s Best Baked Beans as a core product. They touted the secret family recipe, which was originally developed by Kathleen Bush and was truly her secret family recipe. What a true American success story! Tennessee Valley Authority (1942) Douglas Dam needs to be built to meet emergency energy demands at the height of World War II. It will have been built in record time and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Opposed for months, the Federal goverment won it's way and flooded some forty square miles of farmland and local canning industry( Bush's Dandridge Canning Plant ). Over 33,000 acres of land were acquired causing 525 families to be relocated and 32 cemeteries. Not to mention the rerouting of several miles of roadway. The Douglas Dam powerhouse is a hydroelectric power producer with four large water turbines that drive four large electric generators. Their combined peak electric power-production capacity is 146,000 Killowatts. This is the power needed to produced the aluminum needed in aircraft production during the war effort. Once the attack happened on Pearl Harbor we were fully committed and of course war brings industry and business, America loves that right? Going Green
While Bush Brothers is best known for its baked beans, the company also runs a successful side business, a beef cattle farm. Wastewater from the bean plant is recycled and used to water the pastures, Bush Brothers raise a herd of grass-fed cattle on about 2,000 acres in Chestnut Hill and 1,000 acres in neighboring Cocke County. Making use of bean waste and processed water from the manufacturing plant, the cattle farm creates an environmentally sustainable and profitable arm of the business so they claim. But let's face it, raising cattle is NOT green by anyway, waste water run off from the animals, the gases released into the ozone from the animals etc
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