They are overshadowed by stories of blacks and whites living together with a peace and respect uncharacteristic of much of the early 20th century South. Blacks built thriving businesses in this isolated mountain county from at least the early 1900s on. Dr. Dennis Branch, a black doctor, gained national recognition for serving patients regardless of color beginning in 1914, making house calls up into the mountains. In the 1940s and 1950s, independent football teams surprised their opponents by fielding black and white athletes together. He is part of the history people prefer to remember as well.
Dykes is black.
He was elected in 1998 to a four-year term after filling in briefly when the last mayor died. He was an alderman for 12 years, serving as vice mayor the last eight because he was the top vote-getter. Blacks comprise only 2.4 percent of the county's 32,300 residents, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Relationships between blacks and whites help to illustrate Cocke County's sometimes paradoxical past. Spread along the ridges on the Tennessee-North Carolina line, Cocke County was reputed to be home to moonshine stills and the destination of countless stolen cars.