LA FOLLETTE, Tenn. — On Saturday, a festival is celebrating Italian heritage here in East Tennessee.
The Campbell Co. Historical Society is hosting the Tally Town Festival for the second year in La Follette.
Bill Claiborne is helping organize the event, which recognizes the Italian immigrants who contributed to building Campbell County in the late 1800’s.
During the American Industrial Revolution, the Campbell Co. Historical Society says Italians were recruited by coal companies to work in the mines all through the Appalachian region.
After a significant amount of coal was discovered in Campbell County around 1883, several Italian families settled in the area. After Harvey La Follette started his coal and iron company at Big Creek Gap, even more Italians moved to the area.
Because of the Italian-American population in the area, Claiborne says Campbell County calls itself “the biggest Little Italy in Tennessee.”
To celebrate that history, the group is hosting the Tally Town Festival on Oct. 5 from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Freeman corner in downtown La Follette. The event is sponsored by Iron City United.