Alexander Arthur

For other people named Alexander Arthur, see Alexander Arthur (disambiguation).
Alexander Arthur
Born(1846-08-30)August 30, 1846
Glasgow, Scotland
DiedMarch 4, 1912(1912-03-04) (aged 65)
Middlesboro, Kentucky, USA
Occupation(s)Business, Engineering
Spouses
  • Mary Forrest
  • Nellie Goodwin
Parent(s)Alexander Arthur and Catherine Allen

Alexander Alan Arthur (August 30, 1846 – March 4, 1912) was a Scottish-born engineer and entrepreneur active primarily in the southeastern United States in the latter half of the 19th century. Flamboyant, charismatic, and energetic, Arthur used his prominent American and European financial connections to fund numerous business ventures, most of which were overly ambitious and ultimately failed. A proponent of economic advancement in what became known as the New South, Arthur played a primary role in the development of the Cumberland Gap area, and in the course of his endeavors established the cities of Middlesboro, Kentucky and Harrogate, Tennessee.[1] The community of Arthur, Tennessee, is named for him.[2]

After spending his early life migrating back and forth between Scotland, Canada, and Scandinavia, Arthur moved to Boston in 1879, and accepted a position as the general manager of the Scottish-Carolina Timber and Land Company's American operations.[1] In the early 1880s, Arthur identified a rich stand of timber in the upper Blue Ridge Mountains along the Tennessee-North Carolina border, and devised a boom system to extract the timber from the difficult mountain terrain.[3] Later in the same decade, Arthur identified the abundant iron ore deposits in the Cumberland Gap region, and established a multimillion-dollar iron production operation in hopes of making Middlesboro the "Pittsburgh of the South."[1][4][5]

While he never experienced great financial success, Arthur's endeavors were a harbinger of the great logging and mining operations that became major economic forces in Southern Appalachia in the early 20th century.

  1. ^ a b c "Alexander Alan Arthur," The Kentucky Encyclopedia (Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, 1992), p. 35.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference manning was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Wilma Dykeman, The French Broad (New York: Rinehart, 1955), 167–174.
  4. ^ Edgar Holt, Claiborne County (Memphis, Tenn.: Memphis State University Press, 1981), pp. 44–49, 73.
  5. ^ Gaventa-, John (1980). Power and powerlessness : quiescence and rebellion in an Appalachian valley. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252009851. OCLC 6194316.