Houston County, Tennessee

Houston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,283. Its county seat is Erin.[3] The county was founded in 1871.[1] It was named for Sam Houston.[4]

Houston County
County
Houston County Courthouse in April 2014
Houston County Courthouse in April 2014
Flag of Houston County
Flag
Official logo of Houston County
Logo
Map of Tennessee highlighting Houston County
Location within the U.S. state of Tennessee
Map of the United States highlighting Tennessee
Tennessee's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 36°17′N 87°43′W
Country United States
State Tennessee
Founded1871[1]
Named forSam Houston[2]
SeatErin
Largest cityErin
Area
 • Total207 sq mi (540 km2)
 • Land200 sq mi (500 km2)
 • Water6.7 sq mi (17 km2)  3.2%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total8,283 Decrease
 • Density42/sq mi (16/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district7th
Websitewww.houstoncochamber.com

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 207 square miles (540 km2), of which 200 square miles (520 km2) is land and 6.7 square miles (17 km2) (3.2%) is water.[5]

Adjacent counties

Major highways

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18804,295—
18905,39025.5%
19006,47620.1%
19106,224−3.9%
19206,212−0.2%
19305,555−10.6%
19406,43215.8%
19505,318−17.3%
19604,794−9.9%
19705,84521.9%
19806,87117.6%
19907,0182.1%
20008,08815.2%
20108,4264.2%
20208,283−1.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8]
1990-2000[9] 2010-2020[10] 2020[11]
Age pyramid Houston County[12]

2020 census
Houston County racial composition[13]
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 7,491 90.44%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 200 2.41%
Native American 32 0.39%
Asian 16 0.19%
Pacific Islander 8 0.1%
Other/Mixed 334 4.03%
Hispanic or Latino 202 2.44%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,283 people, 2,878 households, and 1,750 families residing in the county.

2000 census

As of the census[14] of 2000, there were 8,088 people, 3,216 households, and 2,299 families residing in the county. The population density was 40.4 people per square mile (15.6 people/km2). There were 3,901 housing units at an average density of 19.5 per square mile (7.5/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 94.58% White, 3.31% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.78% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. 1.25% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,216 households, out of which 31.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.00% were married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.50% were non-families. 25.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.40% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 25.60% from 45 to 64, and 16.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,968, and the median income for a family was $35,395. Males had a median income of $29,528 versus $19,983 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,614. About 14.30% of families and 18.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.20% of those under age 18 and 20.80% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Like many other rural southern and/or Appalachian counties, Houston County was a Democratic stronghold at the presidential level, but due to a combination of factors (such as the party's national shift on social liberalism, a direct contrast to the social conservatism of the region; lack of support for workers in these counties; and, arguably, racial/cultural animus to Barack Obama's campaign in 2008), the county (and state as a whole) has sped rapidly toward the Republican Party. The county's last Democratic presidential preference, Obama, won here in 2008, but by a much closer margin than any winning Democrat in recent memory.

Today's Houston County is as solidly Republican as historically GOP-friendly East Tennessee.

United States presidential election results for Houston County, Tennessee[15]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 2,718 73.74% 871 23.63% 97 2.63%
2016 2,182 68.88% 866 27.34% 120 3.79%
2012 1,579 52.16% 1,400 46.25% 48 1.59%
2008 1,608 47.94% 1,678 50.03% 68 2.03%
2004 1,440 40.02% 2,126 59.09% 32 0.89%
2000 993 31.76% 2,081 66.55% 53 1.69%
1996 742 26.34% 1,868 66.31% 207 7.35%
1992 648 21.96% 2,012 68.18% 291 9.86%
1988 882 37.26% 1,467 61.98% 18 0.76%
1984 882 33.68% 1,716 65.52% 21 0.80%
1980 738 29.04% 1,757 69.15% 46 1.81%
1976 407 16.77% 1,990 81.99% 30 1.24%
1972 800 46.38% 870 50.43% 55 3.19%
1968 232 12.82% 636 35.16% 941 52.02%
1964 287 15.44% 1,572 84.56% 0 0.00%
1960 366 23.87% 1,150 75.02% 17 1.11%
1956 340 24.55% 1,033 74.58% 12 0.87%
1952 465 27.45% 1,229 72.55% 0 0.00%
1948 202 13.88% 1,159 79.66% 94 6.46%
1944 248 20.26% 976 79.74% 0 0.00%
1940 229 17.21% 1,093 82.12% 9 0.68%
1936 193 19.18% 813 80.82% 0 0.00%
1932 112 12.92% 750 86.51% 5 0.58%
1928 374 59.18% 258 40.82% 0 0.00%
1924 97 16.84% 444 77.08% 35 6.08%
1920 385 32.27% 790 66.22% 18 1.51%
1916 207 23.60% 627 71.49% 43 4.90%
1912 172 18.92% 586 64.47% 151 16.61%
1908 288 29.45% 665 68.00% 25 2.56%
1904 287 32.00% 555 61.87% 55 6.13%
1900 341 30.89% 738 66.85% 25 2.26%
1896 343 26.86% 896 70.16% 38 2.98%
1892 206 20.48% 704 69.98% 96 9.54%
1888 259 25.69% 745 73.91% 4 0.40%
1884 174 21.64% 630 78.36% 0 0.00%
1880 127 19.57% 522 80.43% 0 0.00%
1876 100 16.61% 502 83.39% 0 0.00%
1872 94 17.00% 459 83.00% 0 0.00%

The Board of Commissioners meets at the Houston County Courthouse the third Monday of odd months (January, March, May, July, September, November).

Elected officials
  • County Mayor: Joey Brake [16]
  • County Clerk: Robert Brown[17]
  • Administrator of Elections: Annette Pulley
  • Property Assessor: Joy Hooper
  • Register of Deeds: Sherrill Potts Moore
  • County Trustee: Jimmy Lowery
  • County Highway Department Superintendent: Teresa Alsobrooks
  • County Circuit Court Clerk: Donna Potts Vincent
  • General Sessions & Juvenile Judge: W. Sidney Vinson
  • Sheriff: Kevin L. Sugg

Commissioners
  • District 1: William C. Agy and Ann Fielder[16]
  • District 2: Randall French and J. Steve Hall
  • District 3: Glen Baggett and Danny Warren
  • District 4: Charles Darrell Kingsmill and Howard Spurgeon
  • District 5: Lance Uffelman and Vickie Reedy
  • District 6: Joey Brake and Chris Pitts
  • District 7: Brant Lamastus and Tony Hayes

Politics

Houston County was historically one of the state's most Democratic counties, however, like other socially conservative rural counties, it has trended hard right in recent years. Formerly a part of Tennessee's 8th congressional district, which was represented by Blue Dog Democrat John Tanner, Houston County is now part of Tennessee's 7th congressional district and is represented by Republican Mark Green.

The county was formerly among the most consistently Democratic in the state on presidential elections. Democratic candidates failed to carry Houston County at the presidential level only twice prior to 2012. In 1928, Herbert Hoover became the first Republican presidential candidate to ever carry Houston County, due to anti-Catholic voting against Al Smith in this "Bible Belt" region.[18] The second non-Democrat to carry Houston County was George Wallace of the American Independent Party during the 1968 presidential election, following which Houston County became one of only six Wallace counties to vote for George McGovern against Richard Nixon's 3,000-plus-county landslide of 1972.[lower-alpha 1]

In the 2008 presidential election, when most other traditionally Democratic counties in the state voted for John McCain, Houston County supported Barack Obama. However, the county's vote has been shifting Republican as reflected by Barack Obama's winning margin of barely more than 2%, the lowest margin among all Democratic presidential candidates who have carried Houston County since its creation.[19] In the 2012 presidential election, Mitt Romney became the first Republican in 80 years to win the county.[20] Republican Senator Bob Corker[21] and Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn also won the county.[22]

In 2016, the county swung hard to the right, with Republican Donald Trump winning it by more than 40 percentage points, a massive shift from Romney's margin of less than 6 points. As such, the county has become substantially more Republican than the state as a whole, voting similarly to the rock-ribbed Republican counties of East Tennessee.

Education

Public high schools

Public primary/middle schools

Media
  • FM radio: WTPR-FM 101.7 (website) "The Greatest Hits of All Time"
  • Weekly newspaper: Houston County Herald
  • ""Tv Station""Wells Creek Basin Network

Communities

City

Town

Unincorporated communities

See also

Further reading
  • History of Houston County, Tennessee 1871 - 1996 - History and Families. Nashville: Turner Publishing Company (1995). ISBN 1-56311-194-2

Notes
  1. The others were the fellow secessionist white-majority Middle Tennessee counties of Perry and Stewart, plus the three Alabama Black Belt counties of Bullock, Lowndes and Wilcox where Negro voter registration was severely delayed after the Voting Rights Act.

References
  1. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Genealogical "Fact sheets" about counties. "Houston County: Houston County was formed in 1871 from Dickson, Humphreys and Montgomery Counties. Acts of Tennessee 1870-71, Chapter 46." Retrieved December 7, 2010
  2. Charles Lovelady and Nina Finley, "Houston County," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved: 17 October 2013.
  3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 161.
  5. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  6. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  7. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  8. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  9. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  10. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  11. "2020 Census Data". data.census.gov.
  12. Based on 2000 census data
  13. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  14. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  15. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  16. "County Mayor & Commissioners - Houston County Area Chamber of Commerce Website". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  17. "County Officials - Houston County Area Chamber of Commerce Website". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  18. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 212 ISBN 1400852293
  19. David Leip’s Presidential Election Atlas (Election maps for Tennessee)
  20. CNN results for Tennessee
  21. CNN Results for Senate
  22. CNN results for Tennessee's 7th district
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36.28°N 87.71°W / 36.28; -87.71

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