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Family and friends gathered May 14 to officially name the bridge located on Old Watauga Road the Harry T. Stout Memorial Bridge.

The commission approved the renaming on April 18.

Stout, born on Sept. 18, 1927, to T.O. and Stavania Hatcher Stout, was raised in Carter County and attended the former Lynn Avenue Elementary and Range Elementary Schools. He was a member of the first freshman class to attend the newly built Elizabethton High School (now T.A. Dugger Junior High).

After high school, Stout served his country in the United States Army in both World War ll and the Korean War. Stout was a member of the U.S. Constabulary which was charged with policing the portion of Germany which was in the U.S. zone of occupation, and he served with an artillery unit during the Korean Conflict.

After leaving the service in 1954, Stout became a truck driver delivering rayon for Beaunit Fibers across the eastern portion of the United States.

During his spare time on the weekends, Stout began working as a locksmith and opened Harry T. Stout Locksmith in 1967. He turned that spare time venture into a full-time occupation as he became a full-time master locksmith operating his business for more than 50 years in Carter County.

Stout also served as the voting machine technician for the Carter County Election Commission for many years.

He was a member of the VFW, American Legion, and the Disabled American Veterans; founded and was a lifetime member of the East Tennessee Locksmith Association; and was a member of Fairview Baptist Church for over 80 years before his death on Feb. 20 at the age of 94.