Jellico: Rebirth of a Community

This is a great video from late 1973 or early 1974 talking about the revitalization of downtown Jellico, Tennessee. For those interested in the history or geography of Jellico, Campbell County, or East Tennessee, it's definitely

From LaFollette Press
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 3:42 pm (Updated: July 27, 3:43 pm)

Old film may contain footage about Jellico’s past
by Peter Sawyer

Two copies of an old film entitled, “Jellico: Rebirth of a Community” have sparked curiosity in Jellico.

Both copies are currently at the Jellico Public Library under the care of library director Mark Tidwell.

Jan Newson brought one copy of the film to the planning commission at the July 7 meeting. She found it when she was cleaning out the local planning office.

Mayor Les Stiers gave this to Tidwell to take care of.

Tidwell then found another copy of this film at the library.

“This one has been in our possession since probably January,” Tidwell said.

When Stiers took office, the safe at the Jellico Municipal Building was cleaned out.

A copy of the film was found and sent to the library.

There were three copies of this film in the original shipment, Tidwell said.

The library has two of the original three, and Tidwell does not know location of the third.

The shipping date for these films was June 20, 1974, and the reel was dated 1970.

Tidwell guesses the film was made in 1973 or 1974.

Both copies at the library came in a tin casing. On this casing the title was written in black marker.

The title was also written on the film, where the word “Jellico” was misspelled, “Jelico.”

“Tennessee State Planning Office, Local Planning Office 660 Capitol Hill Building” was also written on the film casing in black marker, and “Motion Picture Library, Memphis TN” was written in red stencil.

The film’s title, and its manner of discovery, intrigued people at the planning commission meeting. Tidwell also feels it may contain interesting footage.

“It would be very, very interesting to see (what’s on there),” Tidwell said. “Could bring back some pretty cool characters from the past.”

Tidwell guessed the film might contain shots of what buildings looked like.

The title mentions rebirth, what kind of rebirth occurred during the time the film was shot?

And how can anyone know without watching it?

Tidwell speculated again that because the mines had gone through boom and bust, the film might have to do with “booming” back from that.

Nobody’s curiosity can be indulged further until this film can be viewed.

“There’s just nothing to play it on,” Tidwell said.

Tidwell has examined both copies.

The film is probably .16 mm, Tidwell said, and there is probably about 1,000 feet of it.

Tidwell looked at a business in Knoxville, “Digital Conversion Knoxville,” that charges $49 per 100 linear feet.

At that price it would cost around $500 to convert the film to digital.

Tidwell is looking for somebody with a projector that can play the film.

“I am sure in a garage somewhere in Jellico, LaFollette or Jacksboro, somebody has an apparatus to play it on,” Tidwell said.

This film could contain interesting footage or it could be nothing special, Tidwell said. Until someone is able to view it, nobody will know.