Jackson County, Tennessee

Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 11,617 at the 2020 census.[2] Its county seat is Gainesboro.[3] Jackson is part of the Cookeville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Not to be confused with Jackson, Tennessee.

Jackson County
County
Jackson County Courthouse in Gainesboro
Jackson County Courthouse in Gainesboro
Map of Tennessee highlighting Jackson 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°22′N 85°40′W
Country United States
State Tennessee
Founded1801
Named forAndrew Jackson[1]
SeatGainesboro
Largest townGainesboro
Area
 • Total320 sq mi (800 km2)
 • Land308 sq mi (800 km2)
 • Water11 sq mi (30 km2)  3.5%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total11,617 Decrease
 • Density38/sq mi (15/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district6th
Websitewww.jacksoncotn.com

History

Jackson County was created by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly on November 6, 1801. It was the 18th county established in the state. It was formed from part of Smith County plus Indian lands. The name honors Andrew Jackson, who by 1801 had already served as a U.S. Congressman and Senator from Tennessee, a Tennessee Supreme Court justice, and a colonel in the Tennessee militia. He became more widely known as commander at the Battle of New Orleans and as the seventh President of the United States.[4]

In the 1790s, an Army outpost named Fort Blount was built 10 miles (16 km) west of Gainesboro on the Cumberland River, in what is now western Jackson County. Fort Blount was an important stop for travelers on Avery's Trace. Williamsburg, a town developed around the fort, served as the Jackson County seat from 1807 to 1819.[5] The county's early records were all lost in a disastrous courthouse fire on August 14, 1872.[6]

The 1970 Movie "I Walk The Line" starring Gregory Peck was filmed in Gainesboro and Jackson County.

Geography
Cummins Falls

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 320 square miles (830 km2), of which 308 square miles (800 km2) is land and 11 square miles (28 km2) (3.5%) is water.[7]

Adjacent counties

State protected areas
  • The Boils Wildlife Management Area
  • Cummins Falls State Park
  • Cordell Hull Wildlife Management Area (part)
  • Washmorgan Hollow State Natural Area

Highways

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18105,401—
18207,59340.6%
18309,69827.7%
184012,87232.7%
185015,67321.8%
186011,725−25.2%
187012,5837.3%
188012,008−4.6%
189013,32511.0%
190015,03912.9%
191015,0360.0%
192014,955−0.5%
193013,589−9.1%
194015,08211.0%
195012,348−18.1%
19609,233−25.2%
19708,141−11.8%
19809,39815.4%
19909,297−1.1%
200010,98418.1%
201011,6386.0%
202011,617−0.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]
1790-1960[9] 1900-1990[10]
1990-2000[11] 2010-2014[12]
Age pyramid for Jackson County[13]

2020 census
Jackson County racial composition[14]
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 10,778 92.78%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 31 0.27%
Native American 35 0.3%
Asian 17 0.15%
Other/Mixed 511 4.4%
Hispanic or Latino 245 2.11%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 11,617 people, 4,566 households, and 2,745 families residing in the county.

2000 census

As of the census[15] of 2000, there were 10,984 people, 4,466 households, and 3,139 families residing in the county. The population density was 36 people per square mile (14 people/km2). There were 5,163 housing units at an average density of 17 units per square mile (6.6/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 98.63% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.12% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 0.81% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,466 households, out of which 28.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.70% were non-families. 25.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.30% under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 26.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% 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 94.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,502, and the median income for a family was $32,088. Males had a median income of $24,759 versus $19,511 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,020. About 15.10% of families and 18.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.10% of those under age 18 and 22.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Town

Census-designated place

Unincorporated communities

Politics
United States presidential election results for Jackson County, Tennessee[16]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 4,118 77.36% 1,135 21.32% 70 1.32%
2016 3,236 72.46% 1,129 25.28% 101 2.26%
2012 2,383 56.96% 1,739 41.56% 62 1.48%
2008 2,185 48.54% 2,224 49.41% 92 2.04%
2004 2,026 40.07% 2,998 59.30% 32 0.63%
2000 1,384 29.11% 3,304 69.50% 66 1.39%
1996 944 22.69% 2,889 69.43% 328 7.88%
1992 708 16.63% 3,208 75.34% 342 8.03%
1988 1,168 37.15% 1,962 62.40% 14 0.45%
1984 1,544 34.42% 2,894 64.51% 48 1.07%
1980 995 28.15% 2,480 70.16% 60 1.70%
1976 591 16.56% 2,959 82.91% 19 0.53%
1972 956 45.98% 1,085 52.19% 38 1.83%
1968 673 24.90% 1,122 41.51% 908 33.59%
1964 551 19.39% 2,291 80.61% 0 0.00%
1960 1,049 39.80% 1,539 58.38% 48 1.82%
1956 881 33.13% 1,743 65.55% 35 1.32%
1952 1,138 40.25% 1,686 59.64% 3 0.11%
1948 536 24.51% 1,502 68.68% 149 6.81%
1944 695 32.88% 1,407 66.56% 12 0.57%
1940 605 22.74% 2,046 76.92% 9 0.34%
1936 422 19.83% 1,702 79.98% 4 0.19%
1932 256 12.89% 1,726 86.91% 4 0.20%
1928 614 42.17% 827 56.80% 15 1.03%
1924 354 24.62% 1,074 74.69% 10 0.70%
1920 1,187 51.97% 1,097 48.03% 0 0.00%
1916 740 32.95% 1,506 67.05% 0 0.00%
1912 743 31.78% 1,344 57.49% 251 10.74%

As a secessionist Middle Tennessee county, Jackson County was historically one of the most Democratic in the state. Only once up to 2008 did a Democrat lose the county – when Warren G. Harding carried Jackson County by ninety votes in his record popular-vote landslide of 1920, due to large increases in voter turnout for the isolationist cause Harding espoused.[17] Along with Lewis County it was one of two Tennessee counties to be carried by both Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and George McGovern in 1972.

However, like all of Appalachia and surrounding areas, Jackson County has since 2000 seen a very rapid shift towards the Republican Party due to opposition to the Democratic Party's liberal views on social issues.[18] Whereas Al Gore (who grew up in nearby Smith County) won almost seventy percent of the vote in 2000, Barack Obama won by only thirty-nine votes in 2008, Mitt Romney became only the second Republican to carry the county in 2012 and Donald Trump four years later received a proportion of the vote for the GOP historically associated with Unionist East Tennessee counties.

See also

References
  1. Moldon Tayse, "Jackson County," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved: 17 October 2013.
  2. "Census - Geography Profile: Jackson County, Tennessee". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  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. 167.
  5. Benjamin Nance, Fort Blount. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 5 February 2010.
  6. Jackson Historical Society, Jackson County Family History Book, 1996. Retrieved: 17 October 2013.
  7. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  8. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  9. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  10. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  11. "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 7, 2015.
  12. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  13. Based on 2000 census data
  14. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  15. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  16. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  17. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 287-288 ISBN 1400852293
  18. Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’, New York Times, April 24, 2014
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