Tennessee
Postal Abbreviation: TN
Natives: Tennessean
Estimated pop. 2020: 6,910,840
Legal Driving Age: 16
Age of Majority: 18
Median Age:38
State Song:
“My Homeland, Tennessee”
Lyrics & Music: Nell Grayson Taylor and Roy Lamont Smoth
Median Household Income:$50,972
Capital..... Nashville
Entered Union..... June 1, 1796 (16th)
Present Constitution Adopted: 1870
(*amended most recently in 1978)
Nickname: Volunteer State
Mother of Southwestern
Statesman
Motto:
“Agriculture and Commerce”
Origin of Name:
The Cherokee Indian name for
this region.
AGRICULTURE: cattle, chickens, corn,
cotton, hay, milk, soybeans, tobacco,
wood.
MINING: coal, stone, zinc,
MANUFACTURING: chemicals,
electronics, food processing,
machinery, metal products, printed
material, rubber, transportation
equipment.
Total Area: 42,145 sq. miles
Land area: 41,219 sq. miles
Water Area: 926 sq. miles
Geographic Center: Rutherford
5 mi. NE of Murfreesboro
Highest Point: Clingman's Dome
(6,643 ft.)
Lowest Point: Mississippi River
(178 ft.)
Highest Recorded Temp.: 113˚ F (8/9/1930)
Lowest Recorded Temp.: –32˚ F (12/30/1917)
Tennessee is divided into a number of different sections, on the eastern border there is the Great Smoky Mountains. The Cumberland Mountains cross the state. The western portion of the state is part of the vast Mississippi floodplain.
Memphis, 650,618
Nashville-Davidson 669,053
Knoxville, 187,500
Chattanooga, 180,557
Clarksville, 132,939
Murfreesboro, 108,755
Jackson, 65,211
Johnson City, 63,152
Franklin, 62,487
Bartlett, 54,613
1682 La Salle claimed Tennessee for France and constructed Fort Prud’homme.
1756 Fort Loudon was established by Sout Carolina.
1796 Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state.
1843 Nashville became the capital of Tennessee.
1861 Tennessee seceded from the Union.
1862 General Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. Confederates were
defeated the Battle of Shiloh. Memphis fell to union forces.
Union and Confederate forces fought the Battle of Stone’s River or
Murfreesboro.
1863 Union forces are victorious at the Battle of
Chattanooga this opened the way to Atlanta.
1864 Fort Pillow was captured by Confederate forces, many of its defenders were
killed after surrendering. --Confederate troops were decisively defeated at
the Battle of Nashville.
1925 John Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution.
1926 The Great Smoky National Park was established.
1933 The Tennessee Valley Authority was created by an act of Congress.
1942 Work was begun at Oak Ridge to develop an atomic bomb.
1968 Reverend Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis.
Davy Crockett
David G. Farragut
Abe Fortas
Al Gore, Jr.
Cordell Hull
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Johnson
Dolly Parton
James K. Polk
Carl Rowan
Dinah Shore
Tina Turner
Alvin York
1) Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
The 17th President of the United States is buried in downtown Greeneville. The cemetery together with Johnson’s tailor shop and the two homes that he lived in make up this historic site.
2) Fort Donelson National Battlefield
On February 16, 1862 Union troops commanded by General Ulysses S Grant captured Fort Donelson from the Confederate forces. It was the first Union victory in the west. Today the 543 acre park preserves many of the earthworks and other structures of the battlefield.
3) Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The national park the largest East of the Mississippi covers the highlands of the Appalachian mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. Today the area looks much as it did before the first settlers arrived. The park covers 522,000 acres has 800 miles of trails, 700 miles of streams and over sixteen peaks over 6,000 feet.
4) Shiloh National Military Park
The first truly bloody battle of the war was fought here on April 6 and 7th 1862. Federal casualties totaled 13,000 while confederate casualties were 10,700. This park tells the story of that battle
5) Stones’ River National Battlefield
This battlefield tells the story that took place between December 31, 1862 and January 2 1863 at Stones River near Murfeesboro. The battle was a Union victory.