George Roby Dempster

The Dempster Brothers plant on Springdale Avenue in Knoxville consisted of eleven buildings on 27 acres (11 ha), and employed 450 workers.The plant served as a training ground of sorts for welders and machinists who would later work on nearby Tennessee Valley Authority and Atomic Energy Commission projects.Dempster continued to lead the opposition to Mynatt, forming an alliance with Knoxville businessman Cas Walker, who had a strong populist backing in the city.Smith once stated that Dempster should be "relegated to the political ash heap and buried so deeply that one of his own Dumpsters can't dig him out.His tenure was largely stagnant, as two major textile mills closed, and the downtown area declined with the rise of suburban shopping centers.[2] Dempster was named a delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, although he largely retired from city politics after his defeat in 1955.[2] He later rejoined his old nemesis Cas Walker in a successful attempt to thwart city-county consolidation, which was soundly rejected by Knoxville and Knox County voters in a 1959 referendum.Over 1,000 mourners, among them US senators Al Gore, Sr., and Herbert S. Walters, crowded into the St. James Episcopal Church for Dempster's funeral.
Knoxville, TennesseeDemocraticDumpstertrash receptacleAppalachiancity managerCas WalkerKnoxville JournalScottishgristmillingChesapeake and Ohio RailwayWard Linesteam shovelPanama CanalMiraflorestyphoid feverWilliam C. GorgasNorth CarolinaGeorgiaVirginiaKentuckyGreat DepressionFountain CityDempster BrothersWorld War IIpontoon boatsDempster DumpmasterTennessee Valley AuthorityAtomic Energy CommissionDemocratRepublicanillegal whiskeycronyismrecall electionHenry HortonGreat Smoky Mountains National ParkPrentice Cooper1956 Democratic National ConventionAl Gore, Sr.Herbert S. WaltersHenley Street BridgeviaductsBill Meyer StadiumChilhowee ParkOld North KnoxvilleKnights of ColumbusFind a Grave