Gideon Morris, for whom the town is named, was granted a tract of land by North Carolina in 1787. The settlement flourished because important early travel routes intersected here, and in 1855 Morristown was officially incorporated. The city's continued growth coincided with the coming of the railroad to east Tennessee. Over the next 50 years, Morristown blossomed into a retail center for surrounding communities. Influences of war heroes, entrepreneurs, musicians, early aviators, and other big-time personalities have stemmed from the town's humble beginnings. Civil War battles such as the Battle of Morristown and Gilliam's Stampede were fought here. In the 1940s, during the height of World War II, the Tennessee Valley Authority created Cherokee Reservoir in order to help meet its emergency energy demands. Today, the downtown SkyMart system is world famous for its unique design of second-level sidewalks.