The History of Garage Doors in the State of Tennessee

Tennessee’s garage-door story follows the state’s journey from horse-and-wagon crossroads to logistics and technology hub. From heavy carriage-house doors on Memphis cotton depots to voice-activated openers outside Knoxville, each era left patents, companies, and building codes that still shape how Tennesseans protect cars, workshops, and entire homes.

EARLY YEARS – CARRIAGE HOUSES AND BARN DOORS (before 1920)

Before automobiles reached Tennessee, the typical “garage” door was simply a pair of broad wooden leaves—usually pine or cypress—hung on long strap hinges and secured with an iron cross-bar. These double-leaf doors mimicked barn architecture: they swung outward, were heavy to lift, and became useless if snow or mud blocked the swing arc. Nashville’s Historic Zoning design handbook describes them as “big double-leaf doors… on heavy strap hinges,” noting their vulnerability to winter weather.

A ready supply of lumber helped local craftsmen refine those doors. By the late 1800s rail spurs running through Chattanooga, Nashville, and Murfreesboro funneled cut pine and decay-resistant cypress from East-Tennessee forests into regional planing mills. Portable mills built by the Corley Company of Chattanooga were already turning out finished boards by the 1890s, so blacksmith-carpenters could advertise custom plank doors in small-town newspapers and install them on carriage sheds or cotton-warehouse loading bays.

Function soon pushed design forward. Heavy swing doors were awkward on narrow urban lots, so owners experimented with barn-style sliding panels. By the 1910s many outbuildings in Nashville’s residential alleys had timber doors that slid on iron tracks; some were built in vertical sections so they could follow curved interior rails. The same handbook records how “new sliding doors, divided into vertical sections, could slide around the inside of the garage,” and how spring-balanced sectional roll-up doors—direct ancestors of modern overhead models—were on the market before 1920.

The quest for convenience also spurred mail-order solutions. Beginning in 1908, catalogs from firms such as Sears and Hodgson Portable Homes offered prefabricated “portable garages” and sectional door kits that Tennessee homeowners could assemble in a weekend; Southern Cypress Manufacturers’ Association plans even promoted cypress pergola-garages as an upgrade over plain plank sheds.

These incremental changes—local lumber, sliding hardware, sectional balance springs, and prefab kits—laid the technological and economic groundwork for the fully overhead, power-assisted garage doors that would dominate Tennessee suburbs after World War II [1].

THE OVERHEAD REVOLUTION (1921–1950s)

In 1921 C. G. Johnson patented the upward-acting sectional “overhead” door; his products reached hardware stores in Nashville within a few years [2]. When Johnson introduced the first electric opener in 1926, Tennessee’s expanding Tennessee Valley Authority grid allowed service stations and delivery depots to adopt powered doors quickly.

SUBURBAN EXPANSION AND LOCAL MANUFACTURING (1950s–1980s)

Post-war housing booms around Shelby, Hamilton, and Knox Counties increased demand for lighter, insulated steel doors. Small distributors—including Garage Doors of Maryville (established 1981)—flourished, while national firms such as Wayne-Dalton opened Southeastern distribution centers. Sectional doors with enclosed spring systems became the new norm, reducing maintenance and injury risk.

A TENNESSEE FIRST – ACCESS GARAGE DOORS (2005–PRESENT)

Jesse Cox founded Access Garage Doors in a Chattanooga apartment in 2005 [3]. The company introduced what it markets as the first lifetime installation warranty in the U.S. garage-door industry, still featured on its service pages [4]. A 2021 franchising report highlighted Access as “one of the first companies in the nation” to back both installation and repair with a lifetime guarantee [5]. By 2024 the Chattanooga firm had grown to more than ten national franchise territories and reported average third-year franchise revenues exceeding one million dollars [6].

RESEARCH AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY – OAK RIDGE’S CONTRIBUTION

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) studies of residential retrofits in the mixed-humid climate show that steel-insulated garage-door replacements routinely recoup more than 90 percent of cost at resale and can cut conductive heat loss by over 70 percent compared with non-insulated doors [7]. These data influence builders across Tennessee when meeting local energy-code targets.

SAFETY, STORMS, AND BUILDING CODES

Tennessee lies on the southern fringe of “Dixie Alley,” where straight-line winds and tornadoes threaten large door openings. A 2023 FEMA wind-resilience fact sheet warns that failure of a garage door can dramatically increase internal pressure and lead to roof loss, urging impact-rated doors or retrofitted girts in vulnerable regions [8]. In response, counties such as Hamilton and Bradley now require wind-rated doors for new construction, and many installers offer reinforced track upgrades.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

State labor and franchise disclosures indicate that garage-door manufacturing, distribution, installation, and service support more than 2 300 direct jobs in Tennessee. The sector benefits from steady housing growth, TVA energy-efficiency incentives, and ongoing storm-hardening programs that keep demand for door upgrades high.

Conclusion

From hand-hewn carriage panels to lifetime-warrantied smart systems, Tennessee’s garage-door timeline blends national invention with local entrepreneurship. Innovations such as Access Garage Doors’ warranty model and ORNL-backed efficiency research show how regional needs can influence an entire industry, ensuring that Volunteer-State garage doors open more smoothly—and close more safely—than ever.

References

[1] Historic Outbuilding Study, Nashville Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission. https://www.nashville.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Historic_Outbuilding_Study_for_LSEE.pdf?ct=1663276989
[2] History of Overhead Door. Overhead Door Company of Nashville. https://overheaddoornashville.com/history-of-overhead-door/
[3] About Access Garage Doors. https://bestgaragedoorfranchise.com/about-access-garage-doors/
[4] Lifetime Warranty on All Installations – Access Garage Doors. https://accessdoorcompany.com/services/installation/
[5] Access Garage Doors Celebrates 10th National Location. Franchising.com news release, 22 Feb 2021. https://www.franchising.com/news/20210222_access_garage_doors_celebrates_10th_national_location_with_new_franchise_in.html
[6] One More for ’24! Access Garage Doors Wraps Up a Record Year. https://bestgaragedoorfranchise.com/franchising-opportunities-blog/one-more-for-24-access-garage-doors-wraps-up-a-record-year-with-10th-new-location-in-2024/
[7] Energy-Efficient Opportunities During Remodeling or Replacement. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Publication 40044. https://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/files/Pub40044.pdf
[8] Improving Windstorm and Tornado Resilience. FEMA Fact Sheet, 2023. https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_improving-windstorm-resilience-fact-sheet_022023.pdf